Bit of Analysis: Rifts

[Ahriman238]

Kolodenko for me as well. Flying would be sweet, but the mix of some stealth with serious armor, firepower and speed is too attractive if lives will be on the line.

Ever wonder what a 12-foot cyborg does when he's off duty? Is there a massively reinforced pub somewhere they go to unwind?

Apparently, like Juicers, there's a Cyborg sports league.

SAMAS, I wasn't particularly going to get into War Knights more than I have already. They're the Warlords officers/elite troops, and the most likely place to find rare and precious power armor. I was planning on doing Mega Steeds, but you seem to have the basics, large sentient MDC mounts, some with light magic or psionic powers.


Now for some of that Old World charm. The demons roaming Russia aren't associated with the Four Lords of Hades, or the Yama Kings, deevils or any other supernatural evil. They don't really organize or conquer land. They are quite intelligent, and as prone as any demons to cruelty for creulties' sake, but their behavior is often more like predatory pack animals. They run in groups typically ranging from 3 to 160, and can stake out a territory and bedevil a handful of the same villages for generations, or roam all over the Asian continent looking for trouble.



Unclean Spirits

Basically the troublesome imps of the Russian demon set. They shun the light of day, and even a campfire or a torch makes them uncomfortable and weaker than normal. They normally roam in groups of 3-8. They normally look like 4-5 foot tall ugly satyrs, with a variety of horn/antler types. They can shapeshift into a black rat, cat, pig or dog, but daylight (including the globe of daylight spell) or lightning will force them back into their true form. Their favorite bit of mischief, by far, is forcing a human community to destroy itself in greed, hatred, envy and/or paranoia. The Unclean are particularly antagonistic to Gargoyles and Brodkil, whom they consider sub-demons and inferior.

The Unclean can speak and understand all languages magically, but are illiterate. They are very good at climbing and swimming, can run and hold their breath for long periods of time, they have a special ability that lets them fly, but only in a storm and only as long as they go in the storm's direction. Ley line storms count for this purpose, and can move them around twice as fast as any non-hurricane storm. They also have (as many of the Russian demons) some very curious limited invulnerabilities. MD weapons do half damage, standard weapons none. They are impervious to heat or cold but MD fire can hurt them at half damage. They react normally to magic and psionics, and are vulnerable to daylight, silver, Millenium, birch and juniper wood and lightning. They can cast fool's gold, multiple images, mask of deceit, repel animals, compulsion, levitate, spoil, sickness, cloak of darkness and shadow meld, as long as they have the PPE.



Demon Claw

Giant crab-things that normally hang out alone in or near any body of water, salt or fresh. Demon Claws are hatred and rage personified, and will attack without mercy at the first sighting of anything beautiful or good. However, they will ally themselves with people consumed with hatred, and aid them in their vengeance. Demon Claws are common minions of Shifters, summoners, Necromancers, Witches and, of course, Greater Demons.



So let's see these 12 foot tall, half ton monstrosities are tough armored and regenerate. They can regrow a limb in 24 hours. They can swim, breathe underwater, and even float using an air bladder and dive down to 3000 feet. They can engage in any strenuous activity, swimming, running or fighting for a full day without exhaustion. They also have some demonic abilities, gnossolalia and dimensional teleport. They have a special power that lets them walk or run on top of water, or be swept away by the currents or tide as fast as the water itself moves. Demon Claws are vulnerable to silver, ash, juniper and birch and magical fire. They can cast chameleon, levitate, float in air, agony, fear, spoil, fireball and fire bolt.



Devil's Mount

Also called Demon Steed or Hell Horse, the Russian is apparently Chertu Baran. Legend holds they are the souls of suicides, driven to murderous envy of the living. In any case, they are kickass demonic horses that know all languages and dimensional teleport, and can run over the ground or air with tremendous speeds (80 mph on the ground, 150 in the air) and teleport up to a hundred miles via lightning. Naturally they serve as the steeds of wicked sorcerers and demons.



They can shapeshift to look like a normal horse at night, but daylight reveals their true form. They are impervious to lightning and electricity, as well as standard weapons (unless silver, juniper, birsch, or Millenium) but otherwise normal. Oh, and MDC and regenerating, if that wasn't obvious.



Il'ya Demons

Flying hunchbacked demons with animal heads. In Russia, a dozen or so of these things seem to get Rifted in with every major thunderstorm, and 75% of them vanish with the storm. The remaining ones, of course, seek out human life to torment and kill. Most Il'ya can only transform into the beast they have the head of, but canine Il'ya can look human too. All such transformations can be maintained indefinitely. Il'ya cannot enter homes or even camps without an invitation, but invitations can be pretty vague, even a "come here" gesture, offering meat to the stray dog or leading a horse you found into camp counts. The Il'ya's preferred tactic is to kidnap a child, elder or similar helpless person and then ambush and pick off the rescue party one by one.



Impervious to cold, heat and electricity, vulnerable to Millenium Tree weapons, juniper, birch and silver. They can dimensional teleport and speak all languages. Il'ya can fly normally but can go much faster in a storm, similar to the Unclean. Il'ya can cast heavy breathing, thunderclap, gust of wind, fingers of wind, wind rush, float in air, electric arc, call lightning, sickness, spoil, compulsion and influence the beast.



Kaluga Hag

Bitter demonic hags who put most witches to shame with their magical ability and sheer malevolence. They're really the most obsessive of all demons about getting revenge for every defeat or slight, which is saying something. They also really love to corrupt heroes, or force them to serve the Hag through manipulations, torture, with hostages etc.



Great endurance compared to humans, regen, gnossolalia and dimensional teleport. Their long tongue is highly poisonous and they can kill with a kiss or lick, or poison a drink by sipping from it once. Their many pimples are full of a potent acid that inhibits normal healing and regeneration, and doesn't hurt the hag. Twice a night, they can assume the shape of a beautiful woman, daylight reveals their true form. Kaluga Hags are immune to all diseases, poisons, drugs, pollution, magic potions, heat and cold. They are vulnerable to silver, juniper, birch, and lightning. Daylight weakens them considerably.

Every Kaluge Hag is a master Necromancer and can cast all 12th level and lower Necromantic spells. Also fly, repel animals, fear, trance, calling, compulsion, domination, agony, life drain, negate magic, sickness, spoil, minor curse, luck curse, negate curse, commune with spirits, negate poison, cure minor disorder, cure illness, cleanse, watchguard, forcebonds, plane skip, distant voice, instill knowledge, horror, aura of death/doom/power and death curse.



Kladovic Guardian Demons

Extremely bloodthirsty and impatient demons who normally have to be restrained from charging in, Kladovics make surprisingly good guards for unholy sites and evil lairs. Killing anyone that's not on the approved list is certainly a plan they can get behind, and when they Rift in they generally just go on a murderous rampage until stopped. They have two serious weaknesses, one they don't really have the patience for magic and two, they can never let a challenge pass or an insult slide. They're like the kid you knew in 5th grade, who could be talked into anything if you called him a chicken.



Kladovics regenerate, have gnossolalia and dimensional teleport. They're very fast and strong, and can fight for 12 hours straight before becoming fatigued. They don't need to breathe, except to track by scent. They can turn into a spider twice a night, but only at night. Impervious to normal weapons, heat, cold and poisons. Weak against silver and all forms of wood, doubly so for Millenium Tree wood. Casting abilities are minimal; shatter, fear, death trance, fists of fury and magic shield.



Midnight Demon

A dreamwalker demon specializing in mindgames. Normally about twice a man's mass in black mist, a Midnight demon can only partially solidify between midnight and 3 AM. They like to play with people's doubts and insecurities, if they can drive someone mad so much the better. With the odd child-snatching for variety's sake.



Regeneration, gnossolalia and dimensional teleport. Can also see invisible, fly around and slp through cracks. Though the natural form is a gas, or sometimes a sort of imp, the Midnight Demon can also turn solid twice a night by taking the shape of a raven. Daylight, per standard for Russian Demons, forces it back.

All the dream-walking stuff is referencing a book I haven't read. They have the casting abilities of a 4th level "Dream-Maker" and can also cast see aura, sense magic, sense evil, death trance, fear, fingers of wind, levitation, astral projection, ley line transmission (teleport along ley lines) calling, sleep, apparition, compulsion, sickness, spoil, shadow meld, wieght of duty, aura of death/doom, disharmonize, id alter ego, enemy mind, mental shock, mindshatter, soul twist, superhuman strength, beat insurmountable odds, swap places, distant voice, and instill knowledge.



Nalet

10 feet tall and looking like a classic devil with wings, even glowing like a coal, Nalet are smart and bloodthirsty warrior-demons, the natural captains of the lesser Russian demons. Nalet are probably the most hated demons in all Russia, they have a bad habit of fermenting revolt against the Warlords and leading bands of demons to attack the Warlords in their own homes.



Sigh, regen, gnossolalia and teleport. Nalet have a special ability to shrink down to 3 feet tall to help them sneak around. Invulnerable to cold, heat, disease and standard weapons. Weak against juniper, birch and silver. Resistant to MD weapons. Can cast see aura, see invisible, sense magic, blinding flash, ignite fire, fuel flame, fireball, fire bolt, circle of flame, fireblast, fire blossom, fire gout, lightblade, aura of power and wind rush.

[Ahriman238]

There's a whole family of Russian demons that possess a particular rock, tree or body of water. These demons are very territorial about the ten miles or so around their dwelling, and can form temporary bodies from their native element. Of course, being demons they are not simply territorial but sadistic but they generally settle in one area and don't go looking for people to hurt outside their turf. By virtue of inhabiting bodies formed from the natural world, they are not vulnerable to silver or wood, nor do they suffer any adverse effects from daylight. The downside is, they lose out on invulnerabilities too, and normally just take half damage from most things.


Stone Demon



The bodies regenerate, naturally, and dimensional teleport. Being basically a stone golem animated by a demon, it has no particular need to breathe, and is immune to all gasses, drugs, and poisons. It's connection to the earth gives it a handful of powers, like ID-ing every mineral, tremorsense, and sensing underground threats like burrowing monsters and landmines. It cannot regenerate if separated from the earth. MD and magic weapons, magic and psionics do normal damage, everything else is half. As for spells it gets most Earth Warlock magic plus chameleon, fool's gold, repel animals, spoil, sickness, negate poison, flesh to stone, manipulate object, shatter, create wood, ironwood, throwing stones, lifeblast, bottomless pit, mystic fulcrum, influence and tame the beast.



Water Demon

Again, a demonic essence that possesses a body of water, but can form a body made of water to interact with the world and can leave the wet for up to three days. Seems to favor a feminine appearance.



Regen and dimensional teleport. Great swimmer that never tires, has no need to breathe and can survive at any depth. Water Demons can identify all fish, are 50/50 on minerals, sense pollution and major disturbances in water, and can always tell the time by sensing the tides. Oh, and they can sense hidden sources of water. Takes normal damage from bullets and other kinetic weapons, MD and magic weapons, falling, magic and psionics, and double damage from magical or MD flame. All other damage is halved. Water Demons can cast most Water Warlock spells, and then lantern light, globe of daylight, globe of silence, turn dead, energy bolt, float in air, seal, escape, water into wine, summon fog, summon storm, negate poison, spoil, cleanse, electric arc, sustain and lifeblast.



Wood Demon

Unlike the others, Wood Demons are very active in finding people to hurt for their amusement.



Regen and dimensional teleport. Like the Stone Demon, it has a connection to the earth, and if removed from the ground loses half it's physical strength and spellcasting. Trees can ID all plants, tell the time and direction from looking at the sky, sense approaching storms and seismic disturbances. MD and magic weapons, psionics and magic do full damage, fire does double and all others are halved. Has the casting abilities of a 4th level mage, mostly air and earth elemental spells, and then ironwood, mend the broken, mystic fulcrum, life source and lifeblast.

[Connor MacLeod]

Just a suggestion, you might want to cut out at 10 threads or so. Big 'analyiss' threads tend to get unwieldy, and hard to dig through with seacrh functions if you have to dig through 20 or so pages to find something

[Simon_Jester]

Or you could just post an index post with individual post links...

[Ahriman238]

Just a suggestion, you might want to cut out at 10 threads or so. Big 'analyiss' threads tend to get unwieldy, and hard to dig through with seacrh functions if you have to dig through 20 or so pages to find something

I'll take it under advisement. I still have to finish up Russia, then do 2 China books and one each for Japan and Australia and I'll be back to the Americas for the long haul. It seems a logical place to start a new thread.

Or you could just post an index post with individual post links...

I like the idea, Simon, but it really only makes sense to do it at the end of a thread, else the thread marches on and the index gets lost in the middle. Definitely something to remember later though.


One thing I hadn't counted on when I started this was just how interconnected these books can be. Phase World mentions Wormwood, Russia has a brief section on how Russians have never heard of Biomancy like they use in South America, the Midnight demon above? It's powers are derived from the Nightbane RPG, as amended in Psyscape. Oh, and the standard spell list I copied from the latest edition main book is basically the one from the old book with just a few of the additions from Federation of Magic! The more interested and observant of you will have noticed I've been mentioning spells that aren't from the list for a while now, and I've been meaning to correct that soon. I'm particularly fond of the spell 'Annihilate' which conjures a baseball-sized orb of antimatter and encases it in magic to keeping anything from touching it, at least until you're done ramming it down that monster's throat.

...

Okay, that's really much, much to close to stand to a baseball made of antimatter. But Rifts has ever valued the awesome over the pragmatic.

But now I'm absolutely certain with everything I do that there's something, somewhere I'm missing. Oh well, what can you do?


Serpent Hound

Ugly, mean and cunning, but the Serpent Hound usually prefers the role of minion to another demon or caster, they'll work for Shifters, Necromancers, Witches, even the Unclean, who are generally dumber and less powerful than they are. Probably another alien mindset thing, but nice to see that even demons don't necessarily have consistent priorities. About a thousand at some point migrated from their normal Eurasian haunts to roost in the Rocky Mountains in the States.



As you can see, it's snakelike, 15 feet long, with a sort of vaguely humanoid torso and wings. The hands are great for tearing out throats, not so much for picking up a pencil. They can speak all languages, dimensional teleport, and regenerate. Aside from flying up to 2 days without rest, Serpent Hounds have no need to breathe and can survive up to a mile underwater. The cool bits though? Serpent Hounds can breathe fire, get thermal-vision, and can turn into a large snake or dog (specifically, an elkhound) and maintain that form indefinitely, even in daylight. Serpent hounds are impervious to all forms of heat and flame, and ordinary weapons if not made from silver, birch or juniper wood. They remain quite vulnerable to MD and magic weapons, magic, psionics and electricity, and are weak against cold. Their native spellcasting includes most low-level fire magic, plus dispel barrier, negate magic, energy disruption, call lightning, reduce self and lightblade.



And now we get into the Greater Demons of Russia.

Khitaka

"Kidnapper" in Russian if the book doesn't lie to me. So named because Khitaka are pretty stealthy for 9 foot (3 m) Greater Demons and love taking people in the dark of night, sometimes to extort or blackmail people, sometimes to punish a slight real or imagined, and sometimes just to kick over the hornets nest. Khitaka usually attract small gangs of lesser demons, Ill'ya, Unclean and Serpent Hounds are the most common, and are one of the few Russian Demons that are likely to declare themselves king of some human village in the boonies. Khitaka are bullies and thugs, but love being in charge and generally avoid large gatherings of demons, where they might have to be subordinate to someone more powerful. Abductors truly hate Atlanteans and Temporal Raiders, ancient enemies of theirs.



Regen, gnossolalia and dimensional teleport, check. Stunning nightvision, good for a mile's distance, doesn't need to breathe, can run and fight for a full day without issue. Oh, and the shoulder spikes make lovely handles for an Unclean or Ill'ya to ride them. Khitaka have a funny ability where they can turn invisible, but only in darkness. I guess it helps with creatures that have good nightvision or cameras. They can ride storm winds, just like the Unclean and have what seems to be the standard invulnerabilities and weaknesses. Casting abilities are considerable, they can fire off see aura, sense magic, blinding flash, firebolt, levitation, magic net, carpet of adhesion, escape, magic pigeon, calling, spoil, purify, sickness, chameleon, shadow meld, cloak of darkness, mystic portal, greater and lesser teleport, mystic fulcrum, armor bizarre, distant voice, sheltering force, crushing fist, phantom mount, powerbolt, power weapon, and forcebonds.



NightFeeder

Some of the ugliest, most frightening demons in all Russia. Nightfeeders love to feast on the flesh of mortals, not because they need to eat anything, but simply because they like the flavor and the terror it inspires in people. They're way too petty and cruel, and fond of executing subordinates, to ever make effective leaders, but tend to pick up gangs of lesser demons and human minions anyways. Shifters and Necromancers in particular seem to empathize with them. They crave power over others, and really don't care what their minions do with the magic items and gold they recover. If a Nightfeeder is in a group and not in charge, they get be Starscream and undermine their own side with treacherous bids for power.



Nightfeeders do not become tired and can engage in any activity indefinitely. Naturally they regenerate, slightly better than most demons, speak all languages and dimensional teleport. Oh, and they also have no need to breathe. Nightfeeders can ride storm winds like the Khitaka and the Unclean. Once a night, the Nightfeeder can take the appearance of a sickly old man or woman, but daylight will force them back. Nightfeeders are vulnerable to silver, juniper and birch, particularly vulnerable to lightning, and take normal damage from magic, psionics, magical and MD weapons. They are immune to heat and cold. Magic has a noticeable bent towards illusion, with fool's gold, multiple image, distant voice and mask of deceit, plus levitate, spoil, cloak of darkness, shadow meld, repel animals, influence and tame the beast, compulsion, sickness, fire blast, ballistic fire, frequency jamming, negate machine, crushing fist, magic shield, aura of power, and D-step.



Koshchei

The Deathless Ones are the elite commanders of the demon horde, generals and frontline fighters rolled up into one. The entire Megaverse doesn't hold a thousand Koshchei, you can tell because it's still around and not ruled by the Lords of Hell, but Earth has almost a hundred, which is a serious problem. A given Koshchei has millennia of experience in war and politics, is one of the most skilled swordsmen found anywhere at any time, is virtually indestructible, and spends his free time crafting powerful magic items to hand out to worthy champions of evil. Which in this context means villains who demonstrate creativity and effectiveness. They have all the cold, ruthless calculation of a Thrawn or Scorpius, and never hold a grudge or let emotion cloud their judgement. Koshchei, thanks to their innate understand of exactly what motivates and inspires humans and demons, have little trouble raising armies wherever they go. So it's almost unheard of to meet one with less than 600 or so friends. On the other hand, their desire to be personally in command and lead from the front, a general preference for a small force that can travel light, and starting their army from scratch on each new world generally come together to cap their force before it reaches 4000 souls. That limit can be overcome, but it's really rare because Koshchei prefer to know the face and name of everyone under their command, and to have the army extremely well trained, disciplined and motivated. These armies will be 50-65% demonic (counting sub-demons like Gargoyles and Brodkil) with the remainder being monsters or humans, spellcasters are particularly valued.

Koshchei respect courage, and conversely hold cowards in contempt. They are famous for ordering their forces not to pursue, or even fire upon, an enemy that retreats without so much as a shot fired (more common then you might think, when a Koshchei is in town) in a gesture of mocking 'respectful' salute as they totally dismiss the cowards as a threat.

It should come as no surprise that Koschei are the most hated and feared of demons, at least by the Warlords and their camps, civilians tend to dread Wolf-Serpents more for reasons that will be clear shortly. In personal combat, there are stories of Koshchei taking on entire companies alone and winning, and even the most conservative estimates of the Warlords rate 1 Koshchei at the value of 40 men. Hells, given their personal powers, the kind of armies they can raise and train, and their ability to return from death, in a fight between a single Deathless One and the Phoenix Empire, my money's on the Koshchei.



Surprisingly human scale, a bit imposing at 7 feet tall, but that's a human scale nonetheless. Koshchei have gnossolalia, vampire-grade regen, and dimensional teleport, can fight 12 hours without exhaustion, and have no need to breathe. They're also a fair bit faster than non-Juicer humans. Koshchei are impervious to heat, cold, any negative effects from daylight and all diseases and poisons. They are vulnerable to silver and lightning, all other things effect them normally. They aren't called the Deathless Ones as a joke, if killed the Koshchei is reborn three days later. The only way to permanently kill one is to find his soul-bottle (phylactery, horcrux, in this case a duck's egg) and smash it. Even then, it's said a new Koshchei is born to replace each fallen, leaving a constant number throughout history. The soul-bottle is usually given to a trusted lieutenant who hangs out in a safe place with many guards, the Koshchei and his soul-bottle cannot be separated by more than 300 miles.

Koshchei have serious magical mojo, to begin with they have all the abilities of an 8th level Kuznya, the mystic blacksmith class from earlier. After that? The Temporal magic spells time slip and time hole, eee aura, sense magic, sense evil, detect concealment, turn dead, call lightning, energy disruption, fireball, fly, fly as eagle, spoil, dispel barrier, negate magic, close Rift, light target, reflection, deflection, ricochet strike, ballistic fire, barrage, spinning blades, power weapon, powerbolt, speed weapon, frost blade, frequency jamming, energize spell, implosion neutralizer, summon ally, sorcerous fury, and enchant weapon.

[Ahriman238]

Morozko Frost Demon

Russian folklore speaks of Morozko, sort of a Jack Frost/Old Man Winter, and generally accepted as the root of those stories. Morozko is absolutely an individual in RIFTS, the most powerful of the frost demons that bear his name, their king and some say their father. Morozko are not sociable demons, they rarely congregate except when summoned by Lord Morozko. They are cruel, as demons will be, and one of the few types of Greater Demon that see the benefits of technology and rarely underestimate humans.



Morozko regenerate and dimensional teleport, and surprise speak all languages. 12 hours of exertion without rest, doesn't need to breathe, see invisible and nightvision and a lovely selection of ice-related abilities. To start with, they can skate over any ice or snow even uphill at a rapid pace and leave no trail or trace. They can be absolutely undetectable in a snowstorm or buried in the snow. At a moment's notice, as many times as they like they can create a magic MD frostblade that does extra damage to fire elementals. They can easily climb trees and sheer ice faces, and never fall through ice or snow. They know temperature, wind speed and direction and can sense incoming storms instinctively, and they further always know their precise position. They can also ride the winds of blizzards and snowstorms. They are invulnerable to standard weapons (aren't all MDC creatures, more or less?) unless silver, birch or juniper wood and are vulnerable to fire. Morozko can cast most air and water Elemental spells plus cleanse, light target, chromatic protection, wave of cold, ice, frostblade (but they can make it for free anyways) sheltering force, house of glass and phantom mount.



Whirlwind Demon

Roughly as predictable as the winds they control, with serious mood swings and changes of loyalty, the only things really consistent are that Whirlwind Demons are vicious, cunning and selfish. They fear greater power and may be drawn into a Demon Lord's service, but sooner or later will forget the whole thing, betray their leader or simply get bored and wander off. They usually travel in groups of three for unknown reasons. They tend to consider human warriors and leaders as arrogant upstarts, and particularly hate demon-slayers of all types.



Gnossolalia, including Air Elemental, regen, and dimensional teleport. Can fly with decent speed (65 mph, 104 kph) for 24 hours nonstop. See invisible, hawk-like vision and very good nightvision. They can sense all weather patterns, odors, pollution and atmospheric impurities for a hundred miles. Know the precise time, date and their location if they can see the sky, and their vision cannot be impeded by clouds or fog. They take the shape of a human or a Tamanian Devil style mini-tornado. They are invulnerable to cold, winds, and lightning, as well as all standard weapons. MD and magic weapons, magic and psionics do regular damage, and Whirlwinds have no special weaknesses. Whirlwinds know all Air Warlock spells and cleanse, lantern light, heavy air, electric arc and wall of wind.



Wolf-Serpent

No picture for this one. Ok. Imagine a Chinese dragon some 30 feet (9 m) long. Now give it a very scary wolf's head, a rattlesnake's rattle on the end of it's tail and four more limbs, like spider's legs in addition to the more reptillian ones and you're there. Wolf-Serpents are master tempters, corrupters and schemers, Xanatos on his best day. They go in big for the Faustian deal, but they don't want anything as harmless as your immortal soul they'll demand... a favor to be repaid later. If you're somewhat less dumb and desperate than their usual customers, you'll demand a clear and specified task before you sign anywhere, but you'll get screwed nonetheless. In case there's ever any question, it's even written into the rule that you cannot outwit a Wolf-Serpent. You cannot get anything more than they meant to give, you cannot welch and anytime you seem to have got the better of one, that is the surest sign that you are severely screwed. Wolf-Serpents can be found all over the Eurasian continent, mostly in Russia, it's true, but they are known in China and even Germany.

Regen, gnossolalia, dimensional teleport, good nightvision and sense of smell, doesn't need to breathe. They have extremely potent venom, and can shapeshift 3 times a day into a wolf or rattlesnake and hold that form for 12 hours. They are weak against items from Millenium trees, silver and birch and juniper wood, otherwise most things effect them normally. They cast all first level standard spells, then second sight, oracle, create scroll, amulet, sanctum, charismatic aura, lesser and greater invisibility, eyes of Thoth, ley line transmission, commune with spirits, dispel magic barrier, negate magic, mystic portal, constrain being, banish, control entity, befuddle, agony, blind, life drain, sickness, spoil, mute, minor curse, luck curse, phobia curse, remove curse, healing touch, restoration, armorbane, reflection, house of glass, wall of defense, wall of not, create wood, create steel, mend the broken, sustain, distant voice, speed weapon, power weapon, energize spell, implosion neutralizer, fireblast, summon and control serpents and re-open gateway.


Whew, and that's Russian Demons done. There are still woodland spirits that are sort of like Fairies, some good, some bad, all alien with incomprehensible motives.

[Ahriman238]

After some time and toil, here is the revised, definitive, standard spell list. I have bolded the additions, like before. Most of them seem to consist of either ripping off Temporal Magic or novel ways of setting things on fire. Still, the thought that people are running around who can just whip some of these out almost justifies all the hand-wringing and paranoia of the Coalition.

Level I

Death Trance- stasis, like the psychic power
Blinding Flash
Lantern Light
Cloud of Smoke
Globe of Daylight- like lantern light, until you run into vampires.
Sense Evil
Sense Magic
See Invisible
Thunderclap- very loud noise
See Aura

As you can see, most 1st level spells help you perceive the world around you as it is, or prevent your enemy from doing the same. Mostly by acting as a poor man's flash-bang. No real additions at first level.


Level II

Aura of Power-glow and look intimidating
Climb- climb quickly and skillfully
Levitation
Cleanse- removes dirt and lice
Chameleon- blend into surroundings, poor man's invisibility
Cloak of Darkness- shroud 5' area in shadow
Concealment- put TARDIS perception filter on a small inanimate object
Detect Concealment
Extinguish Fire
Befuddle- confuse people
Fear- scare people
Heavy Breathing- illusory sound of, well, heavy breathing
Manipulate Objects
Mystic Alarm- set a magic silent alarm that lasts 1 year/level
Shatter- break clay, china or brittle metal and stone with a glance, 50 kg limit
Throwing Stones- conjure throwing rocks that do considerable damage (as much as a cannonball)
Turn Dead- like DnD Turn Undead

2nd level spells have a touch more oomph and utility. Manipulate objects is a form of TK that can't throw things, but can fetch them from hard-to-reach places. A few spells that increase mobility and a number of stealth-oriented magics.


Level III

Armor of Ithan- magic forcefield, the go-to spell for wizards under attack.
Breath Without Air
Create Wood- conjure wooden logs or planks
Energy Bolt
Finger of Wind- conjures breeze strong enough to shut doors, knock over light objects and mess up papers.
Float in Air- sort of a Feather Fall, also lets you cross water and ground hazards.
Fuel Flame- double fire size
Ignite Fire
Impervious to Fire
Impervious to Poison
Magic Shield- conjure buckler to tower shield of magic energy
Mystic Fulcrum- lift heavier weight than normal
Negate Posion
Life Source- burn life force (hp) to create PPE
Light Healing
Light Target- make designated person glow, so they're easy to track/shoot
Lesser Paralysis- paralyze a limb
Orb of Cold- conjure magic snowball that does considerable cold damage when thrown
Resist Flame
Simple Invisibility
Telekinesis (spell)
Wave of Frost- snap freeze for damaging plants

Now we're talking. A mage should never be without the Armor of Ithan, Energy Bolt finally gives you a magical attack, you can add a bit of healing to your arsenal plus some more general utility spells like Invisibility and TK, or Fulcrum to make life a bit easier.


Level IV

Astral Projection (spell)
Blind
Charismatic Aura
Chromatic Protection- protection spell, attackers are blinded by flash of light tailored to their vision
Cure Minor Disorder
Carpet of Adhesion- an object or 200 sq ft of a surface covered in magic glue
Deflect- caster can maybe deflect projectiles, energy beams and hostile spells
Electric Arc- Force Lightning
Energy Field- small area forcefield
Fireblast- shoot 3' wide and 50' long burst of MD fire from hands
Fire Bolt
Fist of Fury- did you ever read the Iron Fist comic? It's lke that.
Fool's Gold- illusion makes object appear golden
Magic Net- a net. Made of magic. Magic Net.
Ley Line Transmission- send message using Ley Line as phone line
Multiple Image- illusory doubles of caster.
Reflection- make your reflection appear on any reflective surface or freeze it for posterity
Repel Animals
Ricochet Strike- enchant a throwing weapon to bounce and hit three people
Seal- magically seal a door, window, gate or jar. Escape is ineffective, Dispel Barriers will work.
Shadow Meld- become invisible in shadows (circumvents See Invisible and other counters for invisibility)
Swim as Fish- great speed and skill in swimming, 5 min breath holding, dive to 600 ft (180 m)
Trance- magical hypnosis
Watchguard-more sophisticated mystic alarm, only goes off for hostiles, gives their numbers
Weight of Duty- make intelligent honorable beings feel the task before them is hopeless

So very many useful abilities, but mostly the level where you gain a lot of attack spells. Carpet of Adhesion and Magic Net are musts for any caster, letting you immobilize and restrain even powerful enemies with ease. Shadow Meld is great for getting around all the enemies that can see through invisibility, but is easily disrupted by any form of light.


Level V

Armor Bizarre- like Armor of Ithan, bit tougher and made of hideous writhing tentacles.
Aura of Death- appear dead to psychic senses and magic
Calling- the DnD "Sending" spell. Send a one-way audio message anywhere in the world.
Charm- convince a person/animal you are an old and trusted friend.
Circle of Flames
Death Curse- curse the person who killed you with your dying breath
Distant Voice- like Calling, but less PPE and line-of-sight only
Domination
Energy Disruption- also known as 'Cast EMP' Coalition got you down? Fry their equipment!
Escape- open any lock or restraint
Eyes of Thoth- read any language. No help for the spoken form.
Featherlight
Fly- turn object into flying carpet/broomstick equivalent
Heal Wounds
Horrific Illusion
Horror
House of Glass- damage done to caster is also done to whomever hurt him. Caster appears as a man of glass
Implosion Neutralizer- turn half an explosion into an implosion, canceling both forces
Influence the Beast- animals see human as a superior and will obey simple commands as if tamed.
Instill Knowledge- temporarily loan another a skill or detailed knowledge
Mend the Broken- repair inanimate objects
Mental Blast- mental attack bypasses armor, does much damage and can confuse the victim besides.
Lifeblast- bolster the living and burn the undead
Sleep- turns food/drink into magic sleep potion
Superhuman Speed/Strength/Endurace- temporary buffs
Sustain- suspend the need for air/water/food for a few days
Superior Swim as Fish- like swim as fish, but you can't get tired and can dive down to 2 miles

It's so hard to pick just a few. Look at some of these, really look at them. There's Fly, and House of Glass, Escape will certainly be needed at some point, ditto Eyes of Thoth. To say nothing of a spell that can neutralize any sort of explosive. Oh, and magic mind control becomes more powerful and refined too.


Level VI

Apparition- very realistic illusion of a formidable opponent (a mech, a dragon, whatever)
Barrage- machine gun small force bolts
Call Lightning-
Compulsion- sudden inexplicable desire to do what the caster wants
Create Water- condense 2 liters of water per level, half as much in a desert, twice as much in rain forest
Crushing Fist- charge fist for extra damage or to throw a punch from across the room
Cure Illness
Energize Spell- burn an extra 12 PPE to double a spell's duration
Fireball-
Fire Blossom- make a candle flame that won't burn or spread, until it explodes into a fireball on activation
Fortify Against Disease
Frequency Jamming- dick around with radio, radar and other sensors
Frostblade- magic sword made of ice
Ice- create walls of MDC ice, freeze existing water or cover existing surfaces with slippery ice.
Illusion Booster- doubles duration of illusion spells
Illusory Wall-
Impervious to Energy- including heat, electricity, lasers. Not so much arrows, bullets and knives.
Lesser Teleport- self only, 5 mile (8 km) range
Magic Pigeon- conjure a Pigeon that will record a message and find whoever you want to get it.
Mask of Deceit- illusory disguise
Memory Bank- suppresses a memory that can later be retrieved easily
Power Bolt- shoot energy bolt as powerful as a tank weapon
Reduce Self- shrink to 6 inches (15 cm) tall
Sheltering Force- magic forcefield tent
Targeted Deflection- like deflection, but now you can deflect attacks back at your attacker
Lesser Teleport- teleport with 50 lbs of cargo up to 5 miles per level.
Time Slip- freeze time for 7 seconds, can't hurt anyone during this time
Tounges- speak any language, doesn't help with the written form.
Words of Truth- force person to speak the truth, can be resisted.

Lot more spells that play to the adventurer's core competencies, hurting people and breaking things. Even in it's lesser form Teleport is awesome, Mask of Deceit and Tounges are pretty handy to. I'd skip Words of Truth, you'll never know if the guy made his save. Targeted deflection, more even than House of Glass is sweet, sweet karma working for you.


Level VII

Agony
Animate and Control Dead
Ballistic Fire- it's raining, but it ain't raining rain it's raining 7-15 fireballs.
Constrain Being- bind imps, minor demons and elementals to obey simple commands (stop. back away.)
Dispel Magic Barriers
Fire Gout- magic flamethrower, bit tame compared to previous fire spells
Fly as Eagle- fly faster, higher, nimbler than Fly
Globe of Silence- because they'd be sued if it was a Cone
Heal Self
Invulnerability- impervious to cold/fire/energy weapons/disease/poison/drugs and a 50 MDC forcefield
Ley Line Fade- turn completely insibile and phased, but immobile, on a ley line
Life Drain
Lightblade- magic version of the psi-blade
Mental Shock- cause amnesia, or just daze someone who manages to resist
Metamorphosis: Animal- turn self into animal
Negate Mechanics specify one component of a machine, that part is frozen for 15 seconds
Purification- remove dirt, poison, bacteria
Second Sight- see through another man's eyes
See Wards
Sonic Blast- deafen everyone
Spinning Blades- turn a knife or sword into a whirling multi-bladed implement of death
Sub-Particle Acceleration- create tank-scale particle beam to kick ass or recharge E-clips
Superior Invisibility- now proof against IR, thermal, motion detectors, scent and leaving tracks.
Wind Rush- conjure 60 mph (96 kph) winds, single target or wave of your arm.

7th level, halfway there. Constrain can restrain minor supernatural creatures to a point, but they'll still attack if you come within reach, and attacking them ends the effect. Superior Invisibility is a rush, but still vulnerable to See Invisibility, making a ruckus, and closed doors. Agony and Animate/Control Dead will make others look at you askance, but all of these spells are useful in most circumstances.


Level VIII

Commune With Spirits- as psychic power, see and speak to invisible entities and astral travelers
Exorcism- liberate the possessed
Expel Demons- banish minor to mid-level demons from this plane for 1-6 hours
Eyes of the Wolf- nightvision, tracking, identify plants/poisons, see invisible
Forcebonds- magically reinforce ordinary restraints
Fire Globe- fire blossom's bigger, meaner cousin
Hallucination- illusion that's really hard to shake
Greater Healing
Invincible Armor- Armor of Ithan upgraded, regnerating environmental armor, 25 MDC/level
Ley Line Tendril Bolts- ball of PPE which arcs and strikes up to 4 targets
Ley Line Time Capsule- remove a small box from the normal flow of time for decades or centuries
Lifeward- spell on MDC armor that turns armor breaching attacks into SD
Lightning Arc- Electric Arc's big brother
Locate- sense the location of objects and people
Luck Curse- give bad luck
Magic Adrenal Rush- Not pretty. Gives super strength, boosts speed, immunity to drugs/poison/mind control
Metamorphosis: Human- impersonate any human with a disguise that stands up to detection
Minor Curse- give fever, hiccups, gas, pimples, rashes, nausea, cough or ingrown toenails
Negate Magic- dispel
Oracle- magic version of clairvoyance
Power Weapon- weapon glows and gets a major damage increase
Shockwave- powerful shockwave kicks the crap out of everything within a wide radius
Sickness- inflict disease
Sorcerous Fury- wizard MDC berserker mode with levitation and much spamming of lightning bolts
Spoil- ruin food/water
Stone to Flesh- unpetrify
Wall of Wind- a wave of wind strong enough to send people bowling over 10-60 feet
Winged Flight- grow wings and fly, can be used on power armor/mecha
Wisps of Confusion- confusion inducing mist
World Bizarre- illusion spell turns the entire world into a horror show

Eighth level. Locate is highly useful, as is Meta:H and Negate Magic. Luck Curse can be pretty situational, but nice to have when it's useful. The real exciting part is gaining the means to communicate with and/or kick the crap out of ghosts, poltergeists and minor demons.


Level IX

Aura of Doom- makes one seem impossible to defeat
Beat Insurmountable Odds- probability manipulation, 1000 to 1 odds are now 60%, million to one are 5%
Create Steel- reclaim and repair scrap metal, 100 kg per level
Curse: Phobia- give someone a phobia of your choosing
D-Step- step into another dimension to escape attack or detection
Desiccate Supernatural Creature
Dragon Fire- "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'Dragon of the West?'" Breath fire. Lots and lots of fire.
Familiar Link- bond with a familiar
Illusion Manipulation- effect illusions so they seem to interact with the victims
Ley Line Phantom- turn intangible on a ley line, can cast spells but not outside the line
Ley Line Time Flux- speed or slow time on a ley line
Metamorphosis: Insect- turn into an insect or arachnid
Mute
Phantom Mount- conjure a horse
Purge Self- remove all disease, poison, drugs or artificial elements
Realm of Chaos- send your enemies to the Realm of Chaos to fight their greatest fears and most hated foes.
Simple Protection Circle
Speed of the Snail- drastically slow others
Summon and Control Canines
Swords to Snakes- turn swords into snakes
Tame Beasts- months of training and bonding happen inside an hour
Transferal- store PPE inside someone else, good way to spoof Psi-Stalkers and Dog Boys
Wall of Defense- conjure a magical wall that has mostly the same effects as a stone one.
Water into Wine- good for impersonating Jesus?

Not a ton to say here. Familiar Link is so useful, most classes gain it at 3rd level. Desiccate is a lot less useful than it sounds, there are tons of defenses and counters, and the 'supernatural creatures family is a lot smaller than you probably think it is. Still, if it gets through it's a pretty nasty spell. Mute is a good spell for shutting down most casters, Dragon Fire is lots of fun and Wall has it's uses. After some weeks of thinking about it, I still have no idea what purpose Water into Wine serves.


Level X

Armorbane- weaken armor
Banishment- like Expel, but keeps away for 2 weeks.
Control & Enslave Entity- bind a creature previously summoned
Deathword- Power Word Die in a new wrapper
Enemy Mind- mind control, the victim sees the caster's enemies as his enemies
Havoc- confusion fear, and taking random damage every few seconds
Illusory Forest- half a square mile of fake spooky forest springs from the ground
Ley Line Ghost- when dying, save yourself as a spellcasting ghost bound to a ley line (like LL Phantom)
Giant- gain 10 feet (3 m and change) and great strength, temporarily lose spellcasting (can casto n others)
Magic Warrior- conjure an armored warrior, can't move more than 100 feet away
Meteor- sometimes you just need an army killer spell
Mystic Portal- open a portal to go through a wall, or to any location within 1000-1500 feet (300-460 m) depending on level
Plane Skip- when forced to another plane (banishment, thrown into a Rift) travel to a random plane instead of the one you're sent to
Purge Other- like Purge Self, but you use it on other people
Reality Flux- turn enemy's MD weapon into SD weapon
Restore Limb- in case you know any amputees
Speed Weapon- magic weapon moves really fast, not particularly gracefully
Summon & Control Rodents- ritual lets you summon 300-450 mice and rats who will obey any command.
Summon & Control Greater Familiar- summon a minor demon to be your new familiar, if you can best him first
Summon & Control Shadow Beast
Super Healing
Superior Metamorphosis- turn into any living thing, doesn't copy mystic or psionic powers
Wall of Not- invisible wall made of any material you like
Wards- contingent spells left on an area to trigger on intruders
Warped Space- trap people in a Warp Space where they are mostly helpless, but maybe used against you if time warps or similar effects occur.

Lots of good spells here. Almost all will add significantly to your abilities.


Level XI

Anti-Magic Cloud
Astral Hole- step into the hole for short ranged teleport, or to escape harm
Bottomless Pit- portal sends enemies falling through the abyss until the spell wears off
Create Mummy
Create Scroll- record spell onto a scroll where anyone who can read can use it
Curse of the World Bizarre- like illusion spell, but doesn't wear off. psychosis likely even if eventually saved
Disharmonize- makes members of a group or unit unable to react quickly or coordinate their actions
Energy Sphere- create floating PPE battery
Firequake- an earthquake with sulphur and gouts of fire exploding from the ground
Id Alter Ego- create evil/good opposite of spell's victim
Illusory Terrain- like illusory forest, but can create any environment
Ley Line Storm Defense- protect yourself from LL storms
Mindshatter- reversible magical lobotomy
Remove Curse
Re-Open Gateway- *69 for all Rifts and portals
Rift to Limbo- pocket dimension big enough to hold a platoon. Good for ambushes.
Rift Teleportation- open portal between any 2 nexus points, large and open long enough to move a small army through
See in Magic Darkness
Summon & Control Animals- summon and control any kind of animal in the vicinity
Summon Fog

Not a ton of spells in the highest level brackets, before the add-ons anyway. Firequake is a classic, of course, and Anti-Magic Cloud is invaluable when fighting large numbers of magical beings. Rift Teleportation seems like the obvious winner though, it lets you move armies with ease.


Level XII

Amulet- imbue trinket with: see invisible, detect spirits, turn dead, protection against supernatural/insanity/disease.
Calm Storms- turn a storm to light rain, light rain to drizzle etc.
Create Zombie- all the resilience and regen of a mummy, with a bit of intelligence
Ensorcel- ensorcelled being cannot harm you, gets no save against your spells but awesome saves against all others.
Heavy Air- air seems too hot, humid and heavy to do much of anything
Ironwood- turn ordinary wood (trees, objects) into MDC wood.
Metamorhposis: Mist- to slip through small cracks
Null Sphere- blocks summoning, mind control and magical attack, not so much physical attacks.
Soultwist- does damage that doesn't heal and causes profound doubt in a character
Summon & Control Entity- summon and bind one of a wide variety of beings for a few days
Summon & Control Rain
Summon Ley Line Storm
Swallowing Rift- Rift that sucks things in.
Time Hole- another pocket dimension
Wall of the Weird- magic wall of grasping tentacles

Level 12, Amulet lets you produce mystic protection for your friends or to sell. Ensorcel is an awesome control spell because the victim can't resist your control spells and is protected from magics that would liberate them, even if the only thing it makes someone do is not harm you.


Level XIII

Collapse- destroy all supports for building or bridge
Create Golem
Restore Life
Shadow Wall- blocks all sensors, halves damage, people can pass through but slowly and get energy drained
Superior Protection Circle- no supernatural creature can come within 20 ft of circle's edge, including Demon Lords
Sanctum- protect a room from all scrying and the undead.
Summon Lesser Being- summon demons, dragons and supernatural creatures
Summon & Control Storm
Swap Places- physically swap places with someone you can see
Talisman- turn a tchotchke into a PPE battery or store one spell that can be activated 3 times in it.

Superior Circle provides bonus PPE/ISP, and lesser entities cannot bear the sight of it, while even the most fearsome creatures cannot breach it. Which are the only differences from Simple Circle.


Level XIV

Annihilate- Conjure. Antimatter. 'Nuff said?
Close Rift- seal a Rift, requires permanent PPE sacrifice, cannot close permanent gateway
Id Barrier- wall emanates magical fear, if you pass through it creates an illusion of your greatest fear
Impenetrable Wall of Force- actually indestructible, dispel barriers or negate magic alone can pass
Restoration- completely heal all wounds, regenerate limbs if severed less than 48 hours ago
Resurrection- raise the dead
Rift Triangular Defense System- where 3 ley lines make a triangle an (almost) impenetrable shield can be raised
Summon & Control Sea Serpents- the King of the Seas... is you.

There are a couple classes and races that can use Close Rift without the permanent sacrifice, like the Shifter. You get three shots at Resurrection, then another caster can take three tries, after that, the person isn't coming back. Annhiliate seems like tons of fun, but is sort of short range for what it's supposed to do.


Level XV

Circle of Travel- make two circles and you can open portals from one to the other anytime
Dimensional Portal (Rift)- open a Rift to another dimension.
Dimensional Teleport- like Portal, but you don't have to open a Rift and you can't take anyone else
Enchant Weapon- make standard weapon MD
Ley Line Restoration- like Restoration, but now we get serious about it
Ley Line Shutdown- 'short' a ley line for a few minutes
Summon Ally- summon a friend to help you
Superior Teleport- teleport with 8.5 ton and 4500 mile (7240 km) limits.
Transformation- turn an ordinary person into a powerful, mindless monster-slave
Void- imprison victim in the void between worlds for 5 months

In short, 15th level is officially when no one can stop you from going wherever you want to go, and help is just a ritual away. There's some pretty evil things you can do too, like turning people into monsters or sending them out of the universe.


Spells of Legend

Barrier of Thoth- barrier is 400 MDC/ level, completely impervious to magic and blocks teleport
Blight of Ages- kill all plants in an ever-expanding area
Blood and Thunder- remember Sorcerous Fury? Give every caster in a half-mile radius that.
Crimson Wall of Lictalon- wall of fire and lost souls does massive damage to anyone trying to pass, and eats souls
Superior Doppleganger- perfect duplicate with half the strength of original, only one at a time
Hivemind- bind everyone in half-mile radius into a hivemind dedicated to one predetermined objective
Ley Line Resurrection- like others, with greater chance of success and no penalty
Metropolis- turns a city's worth of buildings or walls MDC, requires permanent sacrifice
Mystic Quake- shake the earth and air, incapacitating on a massive scale, but not damaging
Sanctuary- prevent any fighting in vast area, those who try to break the peace are quickly paralyzed
The Slowness- freeze time
Steel Rain- rain blades
Vicious Circle- magic trap does damage, incapacitates with pain, prevents magic and psionics
Warrior Horde- Magic Warrior, now in full company strength

Spells of Legend are more-or-less RIFTS version of Epic Magic, being ultrapowerful spells that can only be learned at the highest level. Unlike Epic Magic, you can't make up your own spells and have to learn the above piecemeal. Metropolis in particular was used a ton in the Siege of Tolkeen.

[The Dark]

Potentially the most useful single page for figuring what sort of damage MDC actually does comes from Coalition Navy. They use Tomahawk missiles with 200 kiloton nuclear warheads. These warheads deal 3d4x100 MD in a 1000 foot radius, and 1d4x100 MD to a 3 mile radius. Another weapon on the same page has a 100 kiloton warhead, which deals 2d4x100 in a 1000 ft radius and 5d6x10 in a 3 mile radius.

[Ahriman238]

Potentially the most useful single page for figuring what sort of damage MDC actually does comes from Coalition Navy. They use Tomahawk missiles with 200 kiloton nuclear warheads. These warheads deal 3d4x100 MD in a 1000 foot radius, and 1d4x100 MD to a 3 mile radius. Another weapon on the same page has a 100 kiloton warhead, which deals 2d4x100 in a 1000 ft radius and 5d6x10 in a 3 mile radius.

There's not going to be a quantification of Mega-Damage that doesn't contradict some other figures, but why let that stop us?

Ok, so 200 KT nuke does 300-1200 MD to everything within a thousand feet of initiation, and 100-400 for the next 3 miles, while leaving everything outside that largely untouched. a warhead of half that yield (100 KT) does 200-800 MD in that same thousand feet, and 50-300 for 3 miles.

According to the GAW bit from RIFTS Mercenaries, an M1A1 Abrams tank has an armor of 300 MDC. If you feel the need for an armor baseline to wrap your head around MDC, that's probably a good figure. By contrast most infantry armor is in the 90-100 range, 180-240 for SAMAS and related flying armors and 770 for Glitter Boys. But if we take these numbers literally, we can see an Abrams has a 33% chance of surviving a 100 KT nuke at ground zero. And, just making random association here, a Glitter Boy would have to be pretty unlucky to die from a 100 KT nuke, though he'd definitely come out the other side banged up.

[Terralthra]

2d4x100 isn't exactly the same as an even distribution of 200-800. There are 16 possible outcomes to that roll, 1 of which doesn't destroy the tank: 1, 1. 2 more rolls (1,2 and 2,1) result in the complete destruction of the tank, but per your GM, might let passengers inside survive and escape (into a radioactive nightmare), while the rest obliterate the tank entirely. 6.25% chance the tank survives, another 12.5% chance it's "just barely" destroyed, 81.25% chance it gets obliterated. The Glitter Boy at (iirc) 700 MDC has those odds reversed: 81.25% chance it survives banged up, 12.5% chance it is "just barely destroyed", 6.25% chance of obliteration.

[Simon_Jester]

There's not going to be a quantification of Mega-Damage that doesn't contradict some other figures, but why let that stop us?

Ok, so 200 KT nuke does 300-1200 MD to everything within a thousand feet of initiation, and 100-400 for the next 3 miles, while leaving everything outside that largely untouched. a warhead of half that yield (100 KT) does 200-800 MD in that same thousand feet, and 50-300 for 3 miles.

The nuke should do SDC damage outside that radius, but it wouldn't reliably demolish tanks or concrete bunkers or anything.

http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Science/Nuke.html

0.2-megaton warhead gives a fireball roughly 1000 meters across, which nothing reasonable is going to survive inside unless it's on the other side of an epic amount of wall or something.

20 psi overpressure out to one mile, which will destroy almost any vaguely normalish building: the equivalent of taking every square yard of the building and having a pair of elephants jump up and down on it. On the side of the building. Large structures as boned in this situation. Tanks can survive that- the limit on tank survival in a nuclear battlefield is the crew's exposure to radiation, more than anything else.

Fatal radiation doses out to about 1.5 miles. Your mileage may vary: how well do Splugorth or whatever take gamma rays and neutrons?:D

5 psi overpressure out to a bit less than three miles- one jumping elephant per two square yards of building. Most normal structures can't survive this either. People can, because we have limited surface area and tend to get pushed rather than shattered by shock waves. This is a reasonable place to put the outer limit of MDC damage from the blast.

Third degree burns from the flash out to about four miles- but that's definitely SDC damage; an armored structure or giant demonoid could laugh that off.



Another note is that any sensible DM will rule differently for a nuclear bomb physically duct-taped to the Glitter Boy (or Vampire Intelligence or whatever) than he would for a blast that happens several hundred feet away. At least that's my opinion.

[Ahriman238]

Oh, nuking a Splugorth or VI is a whole different story. Supernatural Intelligences are the littlest Great Old Ones and insanely resilient. More so than dragons, more so than most gods. Splugorth start out at ~50,000 MDC.

Even a 200 KT nuke is going to piss them off more than anything. Oh, you might blind them (all logic says you really should) but it won't be a serious threat to their lives.

Radiation won't actively harm beings like the Splugorth, but it will suppress their ability to regenerate until they escape it or find an impervious to radiation charm, which some Splugorth minions have. It's debatable whether this is because the regen is occupied healing ongoing radiation damage (which doesn't explain the uniformity) if this is some interaction between radiation and supernatural beings or just one of those things like vampires and running water.

I said once when I started Vampire Kingdoms that killing a Supernatural Intelligence is a once-in-an-epoch event (everywhere, it seems, except Phase World.) There's a reason for that.

[The Dark]

Fatal radiation doses out to about 1.5 miles. Your mileage may vary: how well do Splugorth or whatever take gamma rays and neutrons?:D

Nuking an Alien Intelligence is like nuking Cthulhu - you might slow it down for a little while, it might even be stunned and leave to regroup. But in the long run, all you've really done is piss it off.

[Simon_Jester]

Oh, nuking a Splugorth or VI is a whole different story. Supernatural Intelligences are the littlest Great Old Ones and insanely resilient. More so than dragons, more so than most gods. Splugorth start out at ~50,000 MDC.

Yep. I knew it was something in that range. So the answer is "quite resistant, thank you very much."

Solution? Fire more missiles, with proper strategic warheads. At the very least, they'll get discouraged and go away after the eighth or tenth direct hit from a fusion bomb.

[Ahriman238]

Ok, I'm not feeling terribly moved to catalog the woodland spirits, who are really just fairies of Eastern Europe flavor. The Soviets have a handful of vehicles in the back of Mystic Russia, a tank, a hovercycle and hey! They mounted the Thunderstorm Cannon (from the Cyborg of the same name) onto a half-track. I'm sorry, that just seems like such a vast improvement in nearly every way.

So yeah. Russia. Done.


Now we come to something I admit I've been dreading a bit. I like to consider myself an educated man, and the Massachusetts DOE even gave me a license to teach history (the fools!) despite not having a degree in, or more than 4 or 5 college classes on the subject. But more than that, I am the product of an American education, where World History translates into "Western Civ."

Oh, I've heard of some things, mostly really ancient or recent, inevitable really. I have a small section on my philosophy/religion shelf with the Bhagavad Gita, Analects of Confucius, Tao te Ching, 3 books on Buddhism and 2 translations of the Art of War, all of which I've read, plus a (translated. much abridged) version of Journey to the West. I know who a few of the more famous Emperors were, the name Lu Pei Wei and a few other trifles. I can recognize all of 5 Chinese ideographs by sight.

Still, my first source for anything regarding ancient China is Larry Gonick, who I do not believe is highly regarded, however thoroughly cited his work is. If you, right now, dropped in front of me a detailed and well-researched precois of Chinese history and culture, a clever parody of same, and something belted out over a lunchbreak with 20 minutes of googling trivia, I cannot say with confidence that I would know the difference. I understand if it seems like I'm harping on this point, but the same people gave us the lovingly researched Russian folklore, in the same book where the gypsies are all thieves and fortune tellers.

On the other hand, I'm probably worrying too much. Siembienda had little to do with the China books, beyond suggestions, editorial control and the entire concept of Geofront. Most of the book was written by Erick Wujcik, who created Palladium's Ninjas and Superspies, has been heavily involved in the mechanics of many Palladium games, and most importantly for my purposes, lived in Hong Kong for a year just before starting these books. Still, if anyone who knows anything about China sees anything obviously wrong, please speak up.

For now, let's get Siembienda's major contribution out of the way.


China


China is not a very happy country in the far future. An estimated 70-80% of China died in the first 24 hours of the Cataclysm. It's not made exactly clear how, there a number of suspects. A whole lot of someones died in the initial nuclear exchange to create the Rifts, that's the bloody premise, but it's never said who or where the nukes fell. Flooding when Atlantis reappeared and the oceans rose is likely, I couldn't find a map showing elevations, but like most places China's population centers are close to the shore or a river. Or maybe it was the demon/undead invasion. Or any combination thereof. Whatever the case, the immediate die-off of the Cataclysm was far greater in both proportional and absolute terms than anywhere else.

Because the day wasn't bad enough, Rifts to 10 different Hells opened up and the 10 Yama Kings (I thought Yama was a singular entity?) came thorough with their legions of demons and most all of the dead and damned. The Yama Kings are rivals, fighting for land, souls and to establish who is lord of the One True Hell. And they effectively control China, joy of joys. That same day (seriously, worst. day. ever.) a magic mist sprang up in a barrier a mile thick all around China. The entire land isn't covered and the sun even shines normally, the mist having only one purpose: it is a wall impassable to the Celestial Emperor, Sun Wukong, the Enlightened and any other god (of light) that might intervene on behalf of the Chinese. The Gods cannot fly over the barrier, nor can they teleport or Rift inside, or tunnel below. They are forced to watch all the Yama Kings do in horror and perplexity. The Yama Kings really shouldn't have anything like the power to do this, so how are they doing it and who is helping them?

The Gods can still see events inside clearly, and they can still appear in dreams and to soothsayers to dispense intel, they can even send limited avatars but for now most of their support is cheerleading and trying to set up events indirectly.

It's not all doom and gloom though, Henan province was liberated throuh the joint efforts of a Taoist Immortal and a Dragon Kung-Fu Nun. You read that correctly. The Yama Kings only control 10 provinces, somewhat swelled, and all others are Dragonlands where people live in comparitive peace and security as long as they pay homage to their scaly overlords. As is only just and proper.

And then there's Geofront.


Geofront

20 years before the Cataclysm, China perfected an ultra-safe and reliable Geothermal powerplant capable of providing for a third of all China's energy requirements. Facing an overpopulation problem, they combined it's trial phase with one in urban engineering, building an underground city around the plant. It was hoped this would be the first of many, providing room for all China, and might even be viable for off-world colonies. A generation of the finest minds built the thing, and it was decided they would announce the results after 25 years, where if nothing went wrong they would proclaim the thing indefinitely habitable. Well, before that could happen the world ended.

The entrance cave to Geofront collapsed at the same time they lost contact with Beijing (Geofront is inside the expanded Longong caves in Guizhou) and it took almost a decade to dig themselves out and, like ARCHIE and Angel Herrenisel before them, they were shocked to find a world where magic was a thing and everyone they knew was gone. Because Geofront was hidden underground, it wasn't conquered by the Yama Kings and remains a high-tech bastion, and by luck (or ancient conspiracy, believe what you will) the cave system of Geofront is near a magic cave that continues to hide them from magical scrying or detection. Geofront leadership quickly realized A.) they were the last remnant and only heirs to the People's Republic and B.) they had to save the rest of China, literally from hell. With this in mind, they settled to collecting intelligence and for 3 centuries have waged a shadow war, disguising their troops as rival factions, brigands, aliens from the Rifts, even other demons. Anything to keep the Yama Kings from suspecting that there is a vast, united, and well-organized human resistance.

In that time, the 5 million strong trial city has become a mega-city of almost 18 million souls (almost twice as big as NYC or London) with a standing army of 1.5 million troops who are arguable better trained and equipped than any other army on RIFTS Earth, plus 4.5 million reservists. Compulsory service and all. Geofront has a few satellite villages and protectorates on the surface, allies in Henan and the Dragonlands and right now an internal conflict over whether to launch the campaign to liberate China today, or give it a few more decades of confirming assumptions and whittling the Yama Kings down.



Before the Cataclysm, the Chinese military came up with Mo Fuqian (Demon Skin) a sort of adhesive second skin that bonds over the real epidermis, and is a regenerating armor with 22-42 MDC, all without decreasing sensitivity or restricting movement at all. Everyone in Geofront receives Demon Skin during military training. There is a heavier version, Mo Fuqian Kai, that goes on over the Mo Fuqian and doesn't perfectly imitate the wearer's shape and complexion. This is how Geofront can disguise it's soldiers as demons. The down side is that the two skins bond to each other. Spend 4 days in Mo Fuqian Kai, and they'll have to painfully cut you out. Spend 12 days in the armor, and that demonic mug is yours forever.



Past that, China has 'Shadow Armor' which is an MDC cloth, so their standard uniforms are an MDC armor that's a bit less than half the armor Triax or Coalition grunts get, but it more or less evens out with the Demon Skin, and if that's maxed out or they get an officer's more heavily armored jacket a Geofront soldier is actually more armored than his counterparts.

It turns out an intensive program of meditation and martial arts from a young age can let anyone develop a decent store of ISP to use in boosted martial arts. The downside being that if you were already psychic the training pretty much scraps any chance of developing traditional psychic powers. Geofront embraces this training in their schools, and the average soldier is quite good at martial arts and knows one mystic martial art, usually cotton fist. More on that later.

The standard issue weapons are called Hound's Fangs. They're an interesting sort of transition weapon. It's basically an AK-47, with a pair of rails along the barrel. It fires traditionally, and then the rails boost it's speed for greater range and damage. If the rail system fails or runs out of juice, it's still an AK-47, just no longer a Mega Damage one. It fires standard bullets, silver nitrate, DU and U rounds (like Triax, hot uranium bullets to inhibit demonic regen) and soldiers normally carry 4 standard and 2 special clips. There are pistol and auto-mag versions of this weapon.

They also use lasers, mostly in pistol form. Geofront has created a nuclear battery that holds 12-15 times the juice of a standard E-clip. But a weapon can only be made to use one type, and only Geofront has the infrastructure to recharge the things. Geofront uses particle beam and ion guns as options for heavy weapon troops.


A much weirder option is a chi gun. To make a chi gun, you have to dip an ordinary firearm into melted demon flesh, then bury it in one of the small caves that serve as crypts/ancestral shrines for a year. Now I'm really curious what happened to the first person to try this. After a year, the bad demonic chi has been purified and the melted viscera has congealed into a demon-head.



The gun will now charge bullets it fires with chi, making them Mega Damage tiny fireballs that do extra damage to supernatural creatures and extra-extra damage to demons. There are auto-mag and pistol versions (must be a bitch to get a holster for) and even a mini-gun. But the prize of the set has to be the Demon Eye Sniper Rifle (pictured) which does serious anti-tank damage to demons, plus the chi-charged bullet is more resistant to wind and gravity, meaning a flatter trajectory and more accuracy at long ranges, and the "scope" of looking through the demon eyes provides great telescopic and flawless nightvision. It'd be a perfect sniper rifle if it didn't give away your position with every shot. Chi weapons are a pain and a half to produce, with dead demons as an ingredient and a production time of over a year for one unit. So they remain rare, and are frequently handed down in families, there are less than 5,000 of the sniper rifles, which are prized most of all.

Alright, I'll have to cut this short for now. Closing thought- yes, Crossroads, Geofront vs. the Phoenix Empire would be incredibly sad. Rama-set's Legions would be outnumbered by over 700 to 1, by troops far better than all but their two elite units. Geofront vs. the entire population of the Phoenix Empire would be a different matter, but even outnumbered, Geofront has equipment, training and organization the Egyptians lack.

Geofront vs. the Coalition might be more interesting, the last two superpowers as it were. Geofront has an edge in numbers, even before bringing in reservists and more advanced technology. The Coalition has a real navy, air force, and the world's last stockpile of strategic nukes and ICBMs.

I'm off to supper, tonight or tomorrow I'll talk about what more Geofront has than grunts. I'm sure SAMAS is hopping up and down like a 4 year old about to announce he has to pee, so I'll give you this: I thought the Cosmo-Knight was fairly reasonable, and even I think this one class is cheese.

[The Dark]

the 10 Yama Kings (I thought Yama was a singular entity?)

The Hindu Yama is a single entity. In Chinese mythology, a Yama King is a ruler of a province of Diyu, the realm of the dead. Diyu is ruled by Yan (the Chinese equivalent to Yama, syncretised from Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religion). He created ten "provinces" within Diyu, each ruled by a King.

[Highlord Laan]

If you had to pick one of these to be your new body (say, there was an alien invasion and you had one chance to turn yourself into something capable of ensuring you and your loved ones survive) which would you choose and why?

As with SAMAS, my first actual choice isn't in Warlords of Russia, but of all the Cyborg Shocktroopers, I'd probably go with Burgosov and go for the Butcher. It's a solid all-rounder and in the what is probably the best combined-arms army in Russia.

[Ahriman238]

Ah, thanks Dark!

Aside from a vast army of regular* soldiers, Geofront employs a number of specialists. Shadow Warriors are special forces but remain the same as ordinary grunts with better training and maybe better gear. Metal Warriors pilot the best power armor and mecha the Whack-Jobs (no seriously, that's what Geoforce scientists and engineers are called) can provide, Lightning Warriors are Crazies, Geo-Borgs are Cyborgs, and there is one more, the cheesiest. But we'll get to that. For now, enjoy.

* MDC, mystic martial arts wielding


Mystic Consultant

Geofront citizens don't use magic. It's not like it's illegal, or frowned upon exactly. It's more like a strong cultural belief that magic is the realm of gods and demons, and men should stick to what they can understand and control, technology and chi (ISP) manipulation. But since Geofront doesn't even really look down on magic users, and has many allies that use magic, they have no problem bringing in mages from the surface as well-paid consultants to fix problems they can't solve normally or help them improve security. They know what a force multiplier sorcery can be, so it's rare but not unheard of for these consultants to accompany Geofront into battle.


Shan Tung Pei (Black Tiger) Armor

The Pre-Cataclysm Chinese Government's answer to the frightening abilities of the West's Chromium Guardsman (Glitter Boy) armor. One small problem I have is how little the suit seems to have changed in 3 centuries of being used as a weapon platform, by a modern science-driven society, against threats the original was never designed for. America has an excuse, having scientific knowledge and methods generally downgraded to 'wretched medieval serf.' You can argue it away pretty easily. It's mentioned, for instance, that Geofront doesn't have the resources to make tons of power armor, so they're generally stockpiled for the eventual open campaign against the Yama Kings with 10% kept active for training and operations. Maybe no one wants to tinker with a vital national resource and maybe wreck it. I don't know, it just bugs me.



It's, uh, a lot bigger than a Glitter Boy at 16 feet tall, and weighs 2.5 tons with a robotic strength sufficient to lift 1 ton. But it's a lot less armored than a GB (475 MDC vs 770) and slower too at 55 mph (88 kph) vs a GB's 60 (96 kph) and the user tires twice as fast as a GB's, so whats the extra space for? The suit can jump 10 feet high/long, 70 with rocket assist.

The thing's raison d'etre is the Wang Pei "King Cannon." The base is like a Boom Gun seriously watered down (If you're still interested in figures, Boom Gun = 3D6x10 MD, Wang Pei = 2D4x10) which is actually weak enough it doesn't need to anchor itself to the ground but can remain stationary with recoil-countering jet thrusters alone. Then they added a laser cannon on top and a mini-gun slung below the main part of the gun. 500 rounds for the railgun portion, 1000 for the minigun and unlimited for the laser. The suit also has 40 mini-missiles in 2 shoulder launchers.

The only two additions to mark advancing technology are the addition of a lightsaber Geofront reverse-engineered from D-Bee pirates called the Horune, and the development of a forcefield from plans Chinese spies stole from Triax centuries ago. Funny, they just got theirs working too... Anyways, the forcefield adds another hundred MDC, but let's talk about the lightsaber. The one problem the Whack Jobs have is giving it a portable power source or a battery that lasts long enough to be useful, I guess it's a real power hog. So for right now, the only practical way to wield them is to hook them up to the power supply for power armor. Still, with working models of an actual lightsaber, I expect any engineer in the world is going to be extremely motivated to solve any problems.

Geofront has carefully saved the 6000-ish Black Tigers they started with, and all the ones they've made since. The total is now a bit in excess of 34,000 Black Tigers, and they have pilots for all of them. Sure, most are reservists, but they'll be the first called in.


Hong Ying (Red Falcon) Armor

No picture this time, I'm afraid. The Falcon is again Pre-Cataclysm's China playing keep up with SAMAS technology and either they blew past the competition without a backwards glance or someone's sure as hell been tinkering with these suits in the meantime, cause damn me if they didn't take the stats straight from the latest V-SAMAS, give it a lightsaber and a short paragraph of flavor text and call it a day.

Mind, all other things being equal, one armor having a lightsaber makes it much cooler than the other.

It is said there are only half as many Falcons as Tigers in Geofront, so 17,000.


Chiang Long (Gun Dragon) Mech

Geofront's only mecha, the Gun Dragon was designed and built by Geofront, by a generation that expected to kill the Kings of Hell with it. It has three mission profiles, any one which would normally be plenty for one platform. 1.) It is a siege engine meant to crack open the forts of the Yama Kings when the time comes. 2.) It is an artillery platform capable of supporting troops in the field. 3.) It can engage Dragons, Greater Demons, and Demon Lords one-on-one with a fair chance of victory. So far it hasn't been field tested against a Yama King. So far.



The Dragon is 77 feet long, 32 feet wide and 24 feet tall at the shoulders (24x10x7 m) and weighs 20 tons. It walks at 30 mph (48 k) and doesn't really run, jump or swim, though it can walk along the bottom of rivers and lakes just fine. It could lift a ton and a half, if the legs were much use at lifting things, but they can exert great force in other ways.

Armament-wise, this thing has more guns than a B-17. What I'll call the main guns, the AT/Artillery ones are 2 double-barreled ion cannon turrets and 2 laser cannon on the shoulders. They can rotate to hit targets all around, especially if aided by the dragon standing or twisting. The ion cannon are more powerful, but the lasers have double the range. For anti-personnel and point defense, there 2 lasers at the end of the tail, 2 turreted halfway down the tail, 10 lasers on the head, 2 ion guns on each leg (not turreted, they have to point the limb at something to fire.) In the "not quite sure, please let it not see me" category we have Mega Damage flamethrowers in the mouth, 40 mini-missiles in a retractable box launcher on the back, and 120 shots of smokescreen.

Geofront has produced 2,000 Gun Dragons, though only a dozen have seen action on the surface. Even when the campaign against the Yama Kings begins, Geofront commanders plan to hold back 90% of the Dragons as a strategic reserve.


Lightning Warriors

Yes, Juicers are a bit too European, but the Chinese government kept very up to date on MOM conversion as it developed. Perhaps because they have a tradition that's now proven to unlock psychic potential? Just a thought. Lightning Warriors can't use mystic martial arts, but all that training and discipline may not be wasted after all. It seems it helps to prevent mental deterioration. It will happen eventually, but Chinese Crazies are sane and useful for longer, and more functional with less quirks. Yes, they can be aloof from other people, twitchy and impatient, and frequently seem reckless in combat but they're not manic-depressive, or schizophrenic, or obsessed with weird things.

Of course, that also means they're less fun than the flamboyant, crazy and loving it Crazies we know.



Spot review, Crazies are twice as strong as their fellow man with ten times the endurance, seriously boosted senses and insane enough reflexes to get the auto-dodge. What's the auto-dodge? Well, normally you can choose to dodge an attack or dive for cover, but it costs you an attack, you lose an opportunity to strike because you were dodging instead. With auto-dodge, Juicers and Crazies have such good reflexes they can bob and weave through incoming fire without needing to bring a weapon off-point or take cover, stop moving or any of the things people normally do when being shot at. They can and do get an excellent chance to evade any attack, even one launched from ambush, it's a bit like taking pot-shots at Jedi.

Oh, and they need half as much sleep as normal people, can go longer without, heal very quickly (10x normal healing) through meditation, and get psychic powers. Yeah, Crazies in general can be pretty tough, trained and focused Crazies are a new level of scary, more like Juicers than ever.


Geo-Borg

We are the Geo-Borg, lower your- I'll stop.

In general, Geofront citizens aren't particularly attracted to cybernetic enhancement, most will only get implants or prosthetics if strictly needed. With the exception of Whack Jobs, who are now more machine than man. The only full-conversion Cyborgs are career soldiers and they're still pretty rare, though still among the best demon-hunters Geofront has. In fact, they tend to be a bit on the fanatical side of demon-hunting. Sure nothing could ever go wrong there. There are 3 Cyborg types used by Geofront.



The one that looks like it should be chasing Ripley through dark corridors is a Demon-Eater, they look like that so they can easily pretend to be outsiders not associated with humanity. 12 feet tall and weighing a ton, Demon-Eaters have as much MDC as a Black Tiger and can run 60 mph (96 k) and jump 50 feet high/long. They can easily climb most surfaces, and skitter silently along ceilings faster than you can run. They have a particle beam in each forearm, plus very sharp teeth, claws, tail blades, a 2 foot prehensile tongue that ends in a sharp point and laser eyes. Other standard features include integral radio, loudspeaker, nearly-universal translator, multi-optics, clock-calender, gyro-compass, a grappling hook launcher and 200 feet of cord in the left arm, and a garrote wire in the right. Players who want to play this can choose to add 3 non-combat add-ons, and 4 weapons or limb options.

Assault Geo-Borgs are what the Russians would call light machines, a more human scale cyborg who can blend in if she shows her face and wears concealing clothes. Her armor is only equivalent to a SAMAS, but she can run up to 120 mph (192 kph) and jump 60 feet high and 100 long. There is a laser in each forearm equivalent to a normal laser pistol, plus leg compartments for 4 explosive throwing weapons (that's not a giant crescent blade in the picture, it's one of these heading for you.) Also has a loudspeaker, translator, headjack, boosted radio with scrambler, enhanced hearing and filter, multi-optic eyes, clock-calender, gyro-compass, depth gauge, grappling hook, and garrote wire. A PC can add 5 weapons and 4 non-weapons.



The Lion Geo-Borg was going to be tiger, but the People spoke and they wanted a lion guardian like the temples. Lions are pretty brand new, with 200 in service and only another thousand on order. You can see size for yourself, and like the Assault Borg it has SAMAS grade armor. The reason an animal form was chosen was the mechanical simplicity and the raw power they could give it. Lions run at 140 mph (224 k) and swim at 40 mph. They can jump 20 feet high and 30 across, and their strength is ample for lifting a ton, one bat of a paw will knock your head right off. It has a pair of extendable arms inside it's chest that let it use tools and manipulate the enviroment, but are only rated to lift ~50 lbs. The two gem things above the eyes are lasers, and it has all the same sensors as the Assault Borg, plus one of the mane adornments is a camera on an extending rotating stalk. They also get a warm and furry coating.

[Ahriman238]

And here we go, the last bit from Geofront, and the most insane. I understand New West had a gunslinger class and this was an effort to turn the dial up past 11, and also 12, 13, and 14. I am, of course, referring to the Chinese Gun Master. Now, Siembienda's never made any secret of his contempt for traditional concepts of game balance. To his way of thinking, it's every GM's responsibility to see that every player gets his moment in the sun without dominating the game. Mostly by exploiting weaknesses in the classes, or forcing players to deal with situations where no amount of brute force can help. So yeah, you can play as a dragon, but every government can detect a dragon trying to enter one of their cities, there are dragon hunters who are very good at what they do, draconic-specific disabling diseases and the virtual certainty of having at least one older, more powerful dragon as your personal nemesis. Any or all of these can create situations where you'd need saving, even if a teammate took the Hobo class. Now, this one doesn't even have suggested ways of negating it's advantages, though I can think of a couple, but it's overpowered enough you'd need all the help you can get.


Gun Master

Geofront's only mystic (chi-manipulating) martial art, as distinct from any practiced on the surface, or rather the master of said style. Up-thread, Barricade mentioned Equilbrium and though I didn't know what he was talking about then, I'm forced to agree-



Preston is an amateur by comparison. The only skill he has a Gun Master wouldn't by third level is anticipating his opponent's aim (a 7th level skill.) Since so many new abilities get piled on level by level, I'm just going to assume a true master here. I should say that these are finesse skills and don't really apply to machine guns, rocket launchers or other heavy weapons. Handguns, automatic weapons, and sniper rifles, all these can be used.

One fun feature of the Gunslinger was that you could pick a handful of really weird circumstances where hitting someone would be unlikely and minimize or outright ignore the penalty. Well, the Gun Master gets all of them. The closest thing to a real penalty is firing from horseback or a moving vehicle, which forces the Gun Master to switch to center of body mass shots instead of perfect headshots, and they do get a penalty. They take half the normal penalty for firing blind or at invisible targets. They take no penalty from: two gun mojo, firing a two-handed weapon with one hand, rolling forward and firing while springing to their feet, shooting behind them or around a corner at a target they can see the reflection of, shooting while standing on their head or dangling upside down, and they can accurately hit people with ricochet shots.

Gun Masters train so obsessively, they wield any firearm as though they'd been training with it since birth. They can sense the moment they touch a gun if it's loaded, and if it's damaged or poorly maintained in any way, just by it's weight and feel. So great is this skill, the Gun Master can reliably hit targets at 2.5 times the weapon's normal maximum range, and correct for any damage, flaws or poor maintenance. He can reload in a tenth the time a normal person can. Ditto for un-jamming, stripping, cleaning and any other form of repair or maintenance. He can fire a special warning shot that does exactly 1 point of damage, leaving his target the equivalent of a shaving nick.

Gun Masters can also palm their personal firearms, a sleight-of-hand trick where they move the gun from one hiding place to another so quick they seem not to have moved. They're so good at this trick only a Master Psychic or another Gun Master has any actual chance of catching it, and the odds are still stacked against the searchers. So really, if you capture a Gun Master the only use for one on your team is he that he knows he only found the piece he was meant to, and will continue to treat the hostile Master as an armed and extremely dangerous enemy. Or to advise you to hit him with a stun weapon, THEN search him.



A Gun Master at max level can take 15 seconds to breathe and be and set up a perfect shot, that's a guaranteed crit, and can hit any arbitrary target within his weapon's (extended) range, no matter how small or fast moving. Remember the old Mike Finn story where he shoots the stinger off a bee so it won't distract him later by stinging? Imagine if the bee was a mile away and doing half the speed of sound, and now a Gun Master might find the shot somewhat challenging.

I will say this, compared to other mystic martial arts, the Way of the Patient Gun is short on melee. Early on, the Gun Master gets the ability to parry melee weapons with his firearms without them getting damaged. Past that, he only gets a pistol whip that does MD to supernatural beings, a punch "with the force of a bullet" and a snap-kick "with the the strength of an exploding grenade."

But all of these abilities could, in (gaming) theory be achieved through rigorous training. Hardly enough to qualify as a mystic martial art. Gun Masters learn to channel their chi (ISP) into their weapons for a variety of effects. The most basic is to turn a normal bullet into an MD bullet, but they also learn to force a gun to fire normally however deplorable it's condition, to fire chi bolts when they run out of bullets, charge bullets so they can hit intangible spirits, and to accurately hit targets at six times the weapon's normal range. As their affinity for all things "gun" increases, they learn to predict shooting angles and can parry or dodge any shot they see coming, can summon any gun that isn't held, securely holstered or tied down and make it fly into their hands, and can psychically sense exactly how much ammo they have left. The level before the last, they gain the ability to teleport their weapons and ammo to and from a secure location within 10 miles (16 km.) The guns in question have to actually belong to them, no sending the enemies' guns somewhere else.


Put it all together, and you have Preston and the guys from Wanted in a cold sweat. Imagine a sniper that can hit any target within 6 times his rifle's normal range. Imagine a person who can dodge bullets, one-shot tanks, almost never misses and never seems to run out of ammo. Imagine 4 of these men on a squad with 6 Crazies, 2 Demon-Eater Cyborgs, maybe a normal special forces guy or two for variety, and a powered armor platoon on the speed-dial for backup and you begin to approach the insanity that is Geofront's Special Forces Demon Hunters.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I think a fun campaign would be where the Coalition, NGR, Geofront, the New Navy, and whatever is left of Japan started exchanging information and coordinating attacks.

[Ahriman238]

I think a fun campaign would be where the Coalition, NGR, Geofront, the New Navy, and whatever is left of Japan started exchanging information and coordinating attacks.

It does seem logical that they'd work together to survive all the horrors of Rifts Earth. That said, remember that all most people know about China is it's shrouded in mist and people that go there almost never come back, so Geofront is unlikely to be part of any such alliance anytime soon.


the Dead and Damned

Alright, let's talk about the dead, who far outnumber the living in China. The Yama Kings have literally brought Hell to Earth in that they have set up earthly kingdoms, but can't neglect their work of torturing the damned. The dead are much as they were in life. Now they're minor MDC creatures (if they weren't so resilient, Hell would be an endless repetition of swift and relatively painless deaths) and when they do manage to die they are reborn exactly 48 hours later to be tortured to death all over again. They can choose whether to appear as they did in life or as an animated corpse, it makes no real difference, except in corpse form they are surrounded by the Stench of the Dead effect forcing the living to retch and probably draw back. Sometimes the dead are used for labor gangs or as cannon fodder for the demonic armies, which at least breaks up the monotony of damnation.

The Yama Kings sometimes use humans as agents where demons couldn't or wouldn't work, or as technical specialists. If a human is valued enough, the Yama King may extend to them a sort of pact. If the human pledges eternal loyalty to the Yama King in life, they shall be damned to his specific hell when they die, so the Yama King can continue to make use of their services in place of eternal torment. Such people are called the Undying.


Yama Kings

The Yama Kings are vastly powerful, but too varied to be easily covered with a standard power package, but here goes. One can generally say that a Yama King will be a master psychic and can use all the standard spells, save spells of legend which are more variable. They will also have far more ISP, PPE, MDC (enough to tank 5-10 nukes) and strength than mere Demon Lords. Plus a long list of immunities that really varies from one to another. Some are totally immune to magic and psionics, some can be harmed no other way etc. Perfect nightvision, dimensional teleport, gnossolalia and impressive regen. Each Yama King can summon and command any demon (save one of his peers) he can name, and has a 75% with any demon he can describe but not name ("bring forth the demon that waylaid this traveler three days ago.") Each Yama King has a beefed up shapeshifting that lets them assume any form, indefinitely, and lets them copy any special abilities the person or creature imitated has. They typically stick to either a human shape or a charred and faintly metallic skeleton. They cannot grow bigger than 200 feet. Finally, if a Yama King is killed he persists as a bodiless spirit until he can possess a man or demon and, over the course of a painful month, remake the body in his image with all his powers.

Each Yama King has a Mandate from the Celestial Emperor, a document defining their precise duties and the rules laid down by the gods. This document is the source of their power, aside from elevating their strength beyond other Demon Lords, quoting the relevant section of the Mandate can compel the obedience of any of their minions and passages can also be used to ward their personal space against minions. It seems even Yama Kings need a safe place.

The Mandate is also their weakness. If you accuse a Yama King to his face of violating some specific section of his Mandate (and almost all of them have, just by being on Earth) you are personally inviolate. The Yama King cannot harm you, or order any of his demonic or dead minions to do so, though living minions are fine, until an envoy of the Celestial Emperor can determine his guilt of innocence (never, basically, until the shroud of mist is lifted.) If you accuse the Yama King of neglecting his duties or overreaching his remit, and can back it up with location, date, time and name witnesses to his offense (all must be correct) you are personally inviolate AND can command the Yama King. If you accuse him of three offenses and provide all the above information correctly to an Envoy of the Celestial Emperor (a tricky summoning ritual, doubly so since the mist went up) the Yama King will be stripped of his Mandate and his powers. His MDC is halved, he loses all psychic, magic and natural abilities as well as his great strength, shapeshifting, immunities and ability to summon and control lesser demons.

It's very important to know the precise text of the Mandate, they are all very individualized and if you accuse a Yama King and the magic of the Mandate doesn't kick in, you're eleven different kinds of screwed. The Yama Kings guard their Mandate carefully, some carry the scroll on their person at all times, others hide it or place it under highest security. Most of them became Yama Kings by first stealing their master's Mandate and using it against him.


Enlightened Demon

As a final aside, there's a class in RIFTS China called the enlightened demon, that lets you play as one of the minor demon types who's realized since coming to Earth that there's more to life then tormenting the damned and obeying their Lords, developing recognizable human emotions. As you level up, you lose spells, abilities and MDC and gain weaknesses like needing to eat and sleep, until at max level you become an ordinary human being. It's an interesting subversion of the normal roleplaying dynamic, where you bust your hump for XP to become more powerful and skilled. It's something I've not seen before, and it joins the list in my head of 5 or 6 things I'd like to try if I ever got to play RIFTS again.

[Ahriman238]

Martial Arts

Okay, mostly how martial arts works in RIFTS is you get a style, then you get some bonuses to things like tumble or disarm as you level, a couple extra attacks per round to reflect your growing speed and confidence, and maybe a couple of special moves. I have no interest in just recounting bonuses, so let's just do the moves and a touch of background for now. The first few styles are mundane, then we get into mystic martial arts that grant special supernatural moves.

In college I had a friend who was a bit of an MMA nut, and I'm surprised to see how much of this I recognize from my association with him. That and fifteen minutes of google assure me I've done at least as much research into Chinese Martial Arts as Siembienda and Wujick.


Tai Chi
The "basic" martial art everyone knows. Not so much a fighting style as a way of getting out an moving. Moves are a grab and throw, and an open palm push, each costing an opponent some initiative next round.

Dog Boxing
In real-life, a style heavily focused on fighting effectively while on the ground, allegedly came from women needing to defend themselves without standing or running around after having their feet bound and warped. Here, a style about feigning weakness, with special moves faking injury, growling and frothing at the mouth and a disorienting barking noise.

Drunken Fist
A style based on unpredictability, here it seems to be taken too literally and involve actually faking drunkenness with moves like controlled staggering, faking alcohol sickness, and projectile vomiting.

18 Weapons
Proficiency in the 18 weapons of traditional China. Mostly works like weapon proficiency, with a huge stack of bonuses and one special attack, which does no damage whatsoever but make a loud cracking noise.

White Jade Fan
Fighting using fans. Start with the ability to disarm with a fan, upgrade to 2-fan fighting, and finally a sleight of hand trick where one flips the fans rapidly open and shut until the eye is lockedo n the fan, and it takes a moment to notice the fan wielder has left.

Da Sheng Pi (Monkey Style)
Involves a lot of feigning weakness, and controlling th pace and location of a battle by falling back. If you watched TPM, Ray Parks (Darth Maul) uses textbook Da Sheng staff technique. Select from a list of special moves including a berserker rage, flip attacks, climbing with one hand, shrieking and playing dead.

Shaolin
Probably the first thing you thought of, in terms of Chinese Martial Arts. If you saw AtlA, this is the style firebending was based on. It's a hard style, meaning it focuses on training to deliver fast, hard strikes and a solid defense, as opposed to soft styles which usually involve evasion. A few attacks to start with, just punches and kicks with a bit more damage. Lot's of bonuses to strength and speed. Base style for Geofront soldiers.


Mystic Martial Arts

Ba Gua
Ba Gua is hard to describe to someone whose never seen it. Imagine someone constantly walking in a circle exactly 6 feet across, with exactly 8 paces. He is always stepping and twisting, so it's surprisingly hard to land a solid hit or get a good grip, and he keeps building momentum until he grabs you, brings you into his circular motion, and twists you into a fall or a hold. In RIFTS, this circle once described becomes an area of virtual omniscience for the maker, who can dodge most any attack if he remains in the circle. He can also engulf the circle in darkness, make it an impenetrable shield to magic or psionics, damage anyone trying to enter, and create entire illusory worlds inside the circle.

Bok Pai
Crane style is a soft style, very popular in women's self-defense because you evade attacks and retaliate against overextended opponents, so it;s a great leveler for people who can't necessarily take a hit. Crane style allows Mega Damage strikes, including an energy fist attack, Two stances that temporarily turn the user into a minor MDc creature, flight (at 90 mph.144 kph) and finally the ability to turn into an immortal white crane with 600 MDC, half again as swift flight, strength enough to lift a ton and punch out light tanks, and solid stat boosts.

Gui Long
Dragon Blade (made up, I'm pretty sure) infuses a sword with chi until it becomes a living thing. The sword becomes nearly indestructible, can return if lost or stolen, heal, do MD, and alert to enemies sneaking up on it's master. At higher, levels, the user can empower a second and third blade, and the swords become sentient.

Hsien Hsia
Gates of Immortality (couldn't find anything) apparently turns you into a Taoist immortal. Can calm any fight, astral project, resistant to mental attack or control, conjure amped-up sunlight to bedevil demons, take other people's curses upon yourself, dispel all illusions in the area, and finally turn intangible.

Mien Chuang
Cotton Fist in real life involves carefully evaluating an opponent through a series of probing strikes before attempting a serious attack. Can do the probing strike, gain a mystic "dragon skin" of 16-186 MDC, an ISP/PPE draining strike, an armor-shattering strike, and an exorcism punch. That last might take a few tries. Preferred mystic martial art of Geofront.

Pao Chih
Lets you create an "animus" artificial spirit made of ISP. See through the Animus' senses to sense spirits, living things, PPE, ISP and ley lines. The animus halves damage from magic or psionics, and can be raised like a shield providing 30 MDC. Animus can be used for astral projection, can mooch PPE off ley lines and convert it to ISP, and can take over your body if you are rendered unconscious to get you to safety.

She Shen
Snake Style. Good skill at hiding, chilling touch, see IR, stances that grant MDC and Mega-Damage attacks, including a bolt of energy launched from the hand. Study 4 of several arts, most centered around hiding like evasion (hide by standing behind the one searching for you) hiding, sneaking and a true invisibility that only works 75% of the time when there's light.

Tieh-Hsueh
Pressure points. Healing, blinding, disabling electronics, paralysis, exorcism, body control, getting around MDC armor, disrupt magic, withering touch and the curing of all of the above. All done by manipulation of pressure points.

Tong Lun
Praying Mantis. Begins with manifesting a bight green exoskeleton (20-300 MDC) Hooking attacks, and creation of a man-sized, than giant Mantis Animus.

Xian Pu
Drunken Style, the mystic version of Drunken Fist. Can fall from any height with minimal injury, climb as fast and easily as walking, turn an ordinary stick into an MDC staff, neutralize poisons, exude a slippery ethereal slime, belch poison gas, self-inflict blindness, confuse onlookers, instant disgusie as some other drunk, trace ley lines while drunk, and finally get up to 6 people soused without their touching a drop.

Xian Tai Chi
Mystic upgrade to Tai Chi. Now with kamehameha chi ball, that can also be used as a tool to calm people, a lens to see the truth (free of illusion) through, and a shield. Oh and you can levitate by holding the ball and commanding it to do so. Masters can create two Chi balls.


Body Hardening

Sometimes Mystic Martial Arts aren't enough. Here's some hardcore training to make people tough enough to survive in a land overrun by demons. Most characters will get 2-4 of these exercises. DO not try these at home, they are best counterproductive, at worst suicidally stupid.

Control Revulsion: Being exposed to the most horrible things so you won't be easily scared, or likely to vomit at the smell of entrails.

Demon Digestion: Ability to eat all sorts of disgusting and inedbile things, awareness of poison, and the ability to belch, fart, or make one's stomach growl on demand.

Dislocation Training: Having every joint dislocated, so you know how to pop them back in and can resist pain. Also makes it easier to escape being tied up.

Feign Death: so good there's no discernable breathing or pulse.

Hardened Organs: Learn to shift your organs out of the way of a blade, so stabbing does exactly 1 point of damage.

Heal Internal Injuries: meditate to stop bleeding in 30 seconds to 4 minutes.

Laugh At Pain: get tortured to the point where all injuries or torments, just tickle.

Life Stone a mystic stone is taken from a riverbed and placed under a flap of skin cut from over your heart. Every day, men spend several hours pounding on that spot, until the stone sinks harmlessly into your heart and you gain 7-12 MDC.

Resist Psychic Drain: meditate under cold waterfalls until you tire at half the normal rate and can reist energy draining attacks.

Vital Breath: exhale automatically when encountering gasses, double the ability to hold your breath.

Eternal Clarity: Learn how to drink demons under the table. A more useful survival skill than it sounds.

[Ahriman238]

Jian Shih

More or less a Chinese Paladin, in much the same vein as the Cyber Knight, Cosmo-Knight, Bhlaze, Knight of the White Rose etc. A Jian Shih is a chosen warrior of the Celestial Emperor who appears to him in a dream. He then receives a jian (Chinese short sword) made by the finest Chinese alchemists, which has 200 MDC and does triple the damage of a normal blade. A Jian Shih might be poetically translated as the Sword of Heaven, at least according to this book, I speak slightly less Chinese than Elvish. Jian Shih learn to meditate to regain ISP, and sense ISP use (psychic powers or mystic martial arts) they can learn either Tai Chi, Shaolin, or 18 weapons as their base fighting skill, Gui Long is their mystic martial art, making their gifted sword ever more special and powerful. From the very beginning, they can channel ISP into their sword to make it deal Mega Damage.

In another age, the Jian Shih would wear special MDC armor adorned with the crest of the Celestial Court, and announce themselves at every opportunity to oppose evil and fight injustice head-on. But in demon-overrun China, even Champions of the Celestial Court have learned the value of inconspicuous clothing, forged travel papers and copious amounts of looking the other way for minor to moderate injustices so they can be around to stop the major ones. This part really burns, since each Jian Shih is chosen as someone who still believes in justice and heroes, who wants to save people and give them hope again.

A Jian Shih's charge from the Emperor and priorities are first, find a way to dispel the mist barrier surrounding China and keeping the gods out. Second, prevent the Yama Kings from expanding their dominion over the rest of the world. Third, protect the innocent as much as reasonably practical, without risking themselves or their mission to save China/the world.



Chun Tzu

A warrior-philosopher, the Chun Tzu believe that a war of reckoning with the Yama Kings is inevitable. Maybe it'll be Geofront, maybe a popular uprising, maybe the mist goes away and the gods return. Point is, sooner or later it'll come down to humanity versus demons for all the marbles, and they mean to be ready. Specifically, they mean to serve as frontline officers in this war, and to that end they obsessively study all military writings from Sun Tzu to Mao Zedong. They also try to learn everything they can about psychology, technology and magic, so as to have at least a vague idea of capabilities, their own and their enemies.

A Chun Tzu's first priority is intelligence-gathering against the Yama Kings. Second is to engage their minions when possible to thwart their schemes, and judge their abilities in combat. Finally, while a Chun Tzu knows that he cannot save everyone, or even most people so long as the Yama Kings reign, he feels a duty to keep hope alive in the common man, so when the time comes they'll rise up and fight for the right side.

Chun Tzu start with one mundane martial art, any one of your choosing, at 5th level proficiency. They make study a single mystic martial art, any but Ba Gua, Hsien Hsia, and Xian Pu. Their special weapon is a short spear, really just a sharpened bamboo staff with a cap on one end. This is reinforced with cloud characters (magic calligraphy) giving it 80 MDC, and in expert hands can do MD to MDC opponents.



Nei Chia Wu Shih

The Meditative Warrior. A few people are reasonably happy to live in modern China. Now their lives have both purpose and challenge. A Nei Chia Whu Shih believes in combat as a sort of meditation, the only time when the mind is absolutely serene and focused, the senses totally aware and the body's movements swift, precise and graceful. So they seek out battle at every opportunity, looking for worthy causes and challenging foes.

A Nei Chia Wu Shih's only true concerns are finding strong opponents to beat down, not for glory or revenge, for their own growth and in cause that helps people. They will usually seek a group with a strong and honest leader, who can handle all the decision-making leaving them room for more training and battle free of a leader's concerns.

A Nei Chia Wu Shih is the only class in RIFTS China that gets two normal martial arts. 18 weapons is the primary, with a secondary either Dog Boxing, Drunken Fist, or Da Sheng. They can also meditate and charge weapons with ISP. Though skilled in all in all classical Chinese weapons, the class is especially good with the sword, bamboo spear and steel whip. Like a Jian Shih, the Nei Chia Wu Shih's mystic martial art is Gui Long, they even get the same Taoist blades (200 MDC, triple damage.) The main difference is that a Jian Shih will use his sword to protect the innocent and slay evil demons, while a Nei Chia Wu Shih will only ever drawn his special sword against a worthy opponent.

[mr friendly guy]

Ba Gua
Ba Gua is hard to describe to someone whose never seen it. Imagine someone constantly walking in a circle exactly 6 feet across, with exactly 8 paces. He is always stepping and twisting, so it's surprisingly hard to land a solid hit or get a good grip, and he keeps building momentum until he grabs you, brings you into his circular motion, and twists you into a fall or a hold. In RIFTS, this circle once described becomes an area of virtual omniscience for the maker, who can dodge most any attack if he remains in the circle. He can also engulf the circle in darkness, make it an impenetrable shield to magic or psionics, damage anyone trying to enter, and create entire illusory worlds inside the circle.

Since we are going into Avatar the Last Airbender references, this is the style airbending is supposed to be inspired from, with the ability to dodge.

[Ahriman238]

There are four broad groups of Chinese classes (not relating to Geofront.) You've seen the basic warriors, then there's two monk classes, 3 diviners, and 3 demon quellers. Was Hoping to get these 1 post to a group, but the board was down so you get a twofer. So here's the monks, followed by diviners.

Monks grow up in isolated monasteries, there are a lot of secure monasteries in China, at least one can be found in each province, up in the mountains where the demons prefer not to go. This leads them to be very familiar with martial arts and chi manipulation, and very much a fish out of water when encountering the casual brutality of present China.



Wai Chia Wu Shih

Which I guess is Chinese for "Grumpy Old Man." This class of luddite monks are devoted to combating demons yes, but also the evil that they think brought the demons, namely everything invented after the 12th Century. After all, technology is destructive to tradition (I guess?) and without tradition, and reverence for the ancient temples, the Gods have turned their backs on the Chinese people. So they train to show people that you can defeat the evils of this world without technology, without tools or weapons of any kind. I'll give them this, they're less inconsistent than, say, your average Star Trek luddite strawman, in that they don't think all technology is bad, they just don't understand the forces driving innovation. In their ideal world, all new devices would undergo a century of study, and rigorous debate of the pros and cons, before ever seeing mass production.

Their objectives, in order, are to dispel the Mist, prove the way of the empty hand can overcome evil, and support the oppressed, whether their oppressors be demonic, human or other. They study Tai Chi and the mystic version of Tai Chi, and are particularly adept at healing using their chi balls. As monks, they also develop Levitation, 3 healing and 3 physical powers of choice.



Chi-Gung Seng Ren

A tradition started by the Monk Seng Ren, who in meditation found not enlightenment, but a deep wellspring of power (chi-gung.) They've been popping up for a while now, the pattern is always the same. A youth is taken in and sheltered from the world, spends much time in austerity and meditation, discovers the power, and is expelled from the monastery so he can do some good in the world and stop interfering with everyone else's meditations.

It's not so much that the Seng Ren has an amazing pool of ISP, compared to a Burster or Mind Melter it's quite small, but they refill it faster than anyone else. They can take any base martial arts style except Tai Chi and White Jade Fan. Most are adrift in the world with nothing but a vague mission to do good, seek their destiny and maybe some worthwhile company.

There are a series of Chi-Gung powers available only to the Seng Ren. A Seng Ren takes 2 of these powers each level, but cannot have two active at once.

Attack Damage SDC- add extra standard damage to an attack.

Attack Damage MDC- attacks charged with Chi-Gung do 2-12 MD.

Chi-Gung Blast- 4-24 MD, as much as a lightning bolt.

Chi-Gung Energy Channeling- drain power from something by touch and power a different device with the energy.

Chi-Gung Energy Parry- encase hands in Chi-gung energy "mittens" that can deflect or catch MDC attacks and energy blasts, adds nothing to offence.

Chi-Gung Energy Powering Touch- power small devices directly with Chi-Gung.

Chi-Gung Enticement- creates a lure to Entities (bodiless spirits) seeming like a strong body, open to possession.

Chi-Gung Erase Self- turn invisible to magic, psionics, normal sight and mechanical detection. Reasonably expensive to maintain.

Chi-Gung Exorcism- remove possessing spirits.

Chi-Gung Healing- cure disease, fix 2-12 SDC or MDC.

Chi-Gung Heat- can generate inner heat to stay warm, radiate a bit of heat (enough to melt snow, not do damage) and boil (10 gallons or less) liquids by touch. No setting things on fire.

Chi-Gung Ice- freeze up to 10 gallons of water, ice up floors and visors/viewports.

Chi-Gung Ignition- turn on any machine with an on/off switch, revive people from unconsciousness, coma or shock.

Chi-Gung Lightning- generate enough voltage to shock whoever touches you, throw lightning bolts, and call down lightning on yourself to disharge into a nearby object/person.

Chi-Gung Lightning Fists- charge fists with electricity, doing 2-12 MD, and double that to things with an earth/wood elemental association.

Chi-Gung Mystic Body- temporarily turn into an MDC creature.

Chi-Gung Purification- expel spirits from inanimate objects (doing 2-20 MD) remove poison from food and drink, protect self from possession or demonic curses, or hit demons with a powered punch doing 5-50 MD. Very flexible (and expensive) power.

Chi-Gung Sense- find an opponent's weaknesses.

Chi-Gung Sparks- create sparks by rubbing your fingers. No damage, but provides light and can kindle a fire. Also impresses the peasants.

Chi-Gung Spirit Defense- total immunity to possession, increased resistance to all forms of mind control, even drugs and alcohol.

Chi-Gung Shared Spirit Defense- Like Spirit Defense, but share the effect with 1 friend per level.

Chi-Gung Tough Skin SDC- toughen skin enough to ignore fists, blades and arrows, but not MD attacks. Can be used with other powers.

Chi-Gung Tough Skin MDC- adds 31-180 MDC temporarily, can be used with other powers.

Chi-Gung Turn Away Dead- create an aura that scares off the undead, guarenteeing they won't return for at least a day. Extra damage to undead.

Chi-Gung Vibrating Palm SDC- shatter all inanimate objects that aren't MDC with a touch.

Chi-Gung Vibrating Palm MDC- shatter all inanimate objects with a touch. 4x the ISP requirements of the SDC version.

Chi-Gung Ward Body- protect a person against possession and psionics.

Fill Others with Chi-Gung Attack Damage MDC- imbue others with Attack Damage MDC buff.




Diviners are a different breed, having more focus on traditional psychic powers than mystic martial arts, and on information gathering above combat utility. All of them can receive prophetic dreams, and predict the future in their own way, casting reeds for the Soothsayer, bones for the Mang Wu and spirit writing for the Spirit Host.



Soothsayer

Soothsayers are the local heroes, everyone’s favorite. They’re out there doing good, fighting the good fight but always have time for the little guy and are a lot more… approachable than dragons, sorcerers, scary warriors and immortals. Soothsayers are big believers in balance, claiming they stand between the normal and supernatural worlds, the present and the future. The former two are all mixed up now, but it’ll get fixed eventually. They also believe it is their role to help other people find their destiny.

Soothsayers can sort of vaguely see PPE and ISP, though a See Aura makes everything much clearer. They can always see the true forms of demons, and see ghostly controllers superimposed over the possessed, but they learn early not to let on easily. They can tell disguised dragons, sorcerers, psychics and martial artists have hidden power, but not any specifics, without abusing See Aura or another power. Visions of the future come at random, but they can seek one out through meditation which doesn’t always work. Soothsayers learn Tai Chi, but no mystic martial art. Soothsayers are totally immune to possession.

Soothsayers (and diviners in general) have a very rigid growth of psychic powers, despite being Master Psychics on a level with a Mind Melter. Without going into too much detail, they start with Alter Aura, Clairvoyance, Death Trance, Empathy, Exorcism, Mask Psionics, Meditation, Mind Block, Psychic Diagnosis, See Aura, and Sense Evil. By the end they’ve added Sense Magic, Sense Time, Commune with Spirits, Deaden Senses, Sixth Sense, Summon Inner Strength, Suppress Fear, Detect Psionics, Intuitive Combat, Resist Fatigue, Empathic Transmission, Psychic Purification, Bio-regenerate, Remote Viewing, Read Dimensional Portal, Sense Dimensional Anomaly, Group Trance, Radiate Horror Factor, Psychic Body Field, Psychic Omni-sight, and 2 healing, 2 physical and 1 sensitive power of their choosing.

Soothsayers have a variety of tools and weapons, including a knife that does standard or mega damage depending on the opponent, their fortune-telling stalks, a charm that keeps minor demons and spirits from using a given door, and a stone ax that does MD to demon and spirits and cannot be wielded by them. Their signature weapon is a crude handmade broom, which does 4-24 MD to supernatural evil, can push them physically back by sweeping the ground, and channel ISP to glow like the sun. They’re also immune to disease, and more resistant to demonic cruses while touching the broom. After that, a lot of powers ascribed to peaches, which I know are a symbol of immortality in traditional Chinese folklore. 6-8 branches of peach wood, driven into the ground around a house or campsite will ward off demons and spirits. Healing teas can be made from the petals of a peach flower, and the scent of such is unbearable to demons. A peach pit in the mouth improves your odds against gas, disease and demonic curses, and a soothsayer can accurately spit the pit 20 feet to deal a demon 2-7 MD and maybe pin him beneath a tiny seed he cannot lift.



Spirit Host

A Spirit Host is someone who can easily play host to a number of good spirits, mostly the ancestor spirit type, but early on they become associated with a particular nature spirit, an animal totem. The host fuses with that totem, becoming a humanoid animal that can shift into full human or animal for a few hours, but will always return to their new true form. The illustrations have a tigress-woman and a panda in some kind of robes.

The Spirit Host can learn Dog Boxing, Tai Chi or Dai Sheng as their base style. For Mystic Martial Arts they can learn Cotton Fist, Bok Pai, Gui Long, Snake or Drunken style. Their psychic powers are less developed than a Soothsayer, they start with just Meditation, See Invisible, and Commune with Spirits. By max level they add See Aura, Sense Magic, Sense Evil, Intuitive Combat, Presence Sense, Mind Bloc, Resist Fatigue, Resist Thirst, Resist Hunger, Impervious to Cold, Death Trance, Object Read, Alter Aura, Remote Viewing, Impervious to Fire, Bio-manipulation, Empathic Transmission, Radiate Horror Factor, and either Hydrokinesis or Electrokinesis. Plus player’s choice of 2 physical, 1 sensitive and 1 super power (excluding psi-sword, shield, and telemechanics.)

A Spirit Host can have a friendly ghost possess them and write out advice or the answer to a question, for best results attempt in a temple, shrine or at least a nexus point. They have the special power of Ghost Drama, allowing them to see the details surrounding a haunting spirit, usually the scene of their death.

At the very least, a Spirit Host is an MDC creature with supernatural strength. They get a variety of buffs and bonuses, and sometimes a special ability, depending on what animal spirit they fuse with. The options are: dog, wolf, dragon, rabbit, goat, horse, monkey, ox, panda, boar, rat, rooster, sheep, snake, stag/deer (depends on your gender, I guess) and tiger.



Mang Wu (Blind Mystic)

A Mystic, that’s blind. Who’d have thought? Anyways, the Mang Wu does possess both a passive and active ability to sense energy. In normal, passive mode he can “see” supernatural beings as blobs of light up to 20 feet away, people become distinguishable at 5 feet. Despite barely perceiving people, he has a keen sense of where their arms and legs are, and can sense their motions. If he decides to burn some PPE or ISP on active sight, he will see supernatural beings as sources of light. Demons and supernatural evil will appear as red or yellow light. Dragons, immortals and good spirits appear in blue and white. Human mages will appear green or turquoise, and martial artists as a barely perceptible flutter of light, and then only at close ranges. With 15 seconds scrutiny, the Mang Wu can discern a supernatural being’s race, age, health, gender, powers, rough power levels, broad goals and occasionally even their name. This sight does not extend to seeing normal people or physical objects, except occasionally silhouetted against the glow of magic. Mang Wu are the jack-of-all-trades class of China, with mystic martial arts, psionics and magic all at once, but not exceptional in any one area. As Diviners, Mang Wu can receive prophetic dreams and make vague predictions of the future by casting carved bone.

Mang Wu like to be underestimated, something people and demons do all the time for their blindness. To this end, many adopt personas as dry scholars, pompous oafs, idiots, and drunks who “accidently” squeeze a trigger in time to blow a demon’s brains out, or just happen to trip an enemy up at just the right time. To this end, they favor simple or deceptive martial arts, and can take Tai Chi, Drunken Fist, or White Jade Fan as their base style. For mystic martial arts they favor either Drunken Style or Touch Mastery, but could instead take Cotton Fist or Bok Pai.

Mang Wu psionics are again very restricted. They start with Alter Aura, Commune with Spirits, Empathy, Mask Psionics, Mask PPE, and Meditation. 14 levels later and they’ve got Object Read, Mind Block, See Aura, Sense Evil, Sense Magic, Intuitive Combat, Exorcism, Resist Fatigue, Death Trance, Resist Thirst, Impervious to Cold, Summon Inner Strength, Impervious to Fire, Levitation, Ectoplasm, Ectoplasmic Disguise, Group Mind Block, Electrokinesis, Mind Bolt, and either Mind Bond or Mind Wipe. Plus 4 healing and 1 sensitive powers of choice.

Mang Wu start with 4 spells chosen from any level of a select list. After that, they gain 2 new spells from the list at every odd numbered level. The list in question goes: Armor of Ithan, Calling, Chameleon, Chromatic Protection, Cleanse, Cloak of Darkness, Crushing Fist, Deflect, Desiccate the Supernatural, Distant Voice, Energy Bolt, Escape, Extinguish Fire, Featherlight, Float in Air, Forcebonds, Globe of Daylight, Greater Healing, Heal Wounds, Ignite Fire, Influence the Beast, Instill Knowledge, Light Target, Life Source, Memory Bank, Mental Shock, Mystic Alarm, Mystic Fulcrum, Mystic Portal, Plane Skip, Purge Self, Repel Animals, Second Sight, Seal, Sheltering Force, Sustain, Swim as Fish, Tame Beast, Telekinesis, Thunderclap, Tongues, and Turn Dead.