Bit of Analysis: Chaos Earth

[Ahriman238]

Hello all.

You may or may not have been following my work on RIFTS, a post-apocalyptic setting where every legend came true at once, plus aliens. Chaos Earth is a prequel to that story, where players actually try an survive the apocalypse. Originally meant to be a more restrained version of RIFTS, Chaos Earth only got the one book for lack of interest, so this should be shorter than my other threads. On the other hand, it gives the most background on the Cataclysm that shaped so much of RIFTS Earth. So let's look forward about a century...


The Golden Age

The first third of the 21st Century was admittedly unpleasant, defined as it was by terrorism, wars of retaliation, economic crises and the death of personal liberty/privacy. But mostly it was a time of profound uncertainty. But most developed nations had a tradition of democracy by this stage and there's only so long you can do body cavity searches before a people cry 'enough!' and elect saner leaders. The last significant conflict ended in 2028.

In 2035, the US, Canada and Mexico decided to fix NAFTA and signed onto the North American Alliance (NAA) which more closely resembled the EU model. Borders were abolished, a common currency (the universal credit/debit system) established, and the US and Canada made a serious commitment to fixing Mexico's sundry economic and social problems. But the two most significant changes were the free exchange of ideas and the creation of NEMA.

NEMA (Northern Eagle Military Alliance) was the police/paramilitary group that consolidated the existing "federal" law enforcement and counterterrorism bodies (effectively swallowing the FBI and NSA) and militia (National Guard, for Americans.) into one force with a virtually unlimited remit to travel everywhere in NAA territory, solve every crime that impacted more than one state/province/member nation, as well as disaster relief and resisting foreign invasion. I'd be pretty damn wary of creating one group with such power, but as you'll see it worked out for the best in their case.

But the Golden Age was marked by the free exchange of information, with virtually no regards for national secrets or security, which led to scientific collaboration on an unprecedented scale and breakthrough after linked breakthrough. Like nuclear power safe and simple enough every car and house could have one and only need to refuel every 20 years. Or advanced miniaturization of electronics, which allowed viable nanotechnology, which opened new worlds in chemistry. Worlds with MDC materials a hundred times stronger than any metal or concrete previously known. Strong, lightweight materials and nuclear power reopened spaceflight, and Earth was soon ringed with space stations, with multiple moon colonies and a small research outpost on Mars.

To say nothing of medicine, by 2080 the average human lifespan was 180 years, with 20% of the population living to 200 and virtually no physical difference between a man of 90 and a 30 year-old. It was expected they'd be able stretch out a human life by another 50% in just a few more years.


Countdown to Crisis

Which was sort of the rub. Starting in the late 2060s everyone got into medicine, human enhancement and general post-humanism in a big way. Everyone had a very different vision of an idealized mankind. And then somebody published a worldwide bestselling spy thriller series about "the double jay" Juicer Julian out to do one more impossible mission before he dies, and now the idea of a supersoldier was on everyone's minds. If Julian could kill three hundred mooks inside five minutes, what could other enhancement technologies do?

People started hoarding secrets again, and innovation slowed to a trickle. Worse, they started looking around at things they'd already made and shared with the world with an eye for military applications. A fission reactor in every home? What were we thinking? A hundred such genies had been turned loose from their bottles and everyone started frantically legislating against things that had been common practice for a generation. Markets crashed, a new surge of nationalism. It's around this point, incidentally, that a hardline ultranationalist reactionary got elected in Russia and formally restored the Soviet Union.

Still, to the man on the street this looked like a period of caution and consolidation over what mankind had already achieved, surely it would let up. Or maybe technological development was finally plateauing after 30+ years of nearly weekly revolutions in this or that field. No cause for concern.


The ones to actually end the world were two as-yet-unnamed South American nations. The US loaned one a dozen G10 Chromium Guardsmen (Glitter Boys) to be used in only the most dire of circumstances, should their very capitol be threatened. Sound advice, and promptly ignored. The Glitter Boys were thrown into a routine border skirmish where they hammered the enemy into smithereens, then followed the survivors across the border and killed them, along with the entire village of Guada Marte. This other nation responded in kind, sending over twelve thousand men with armored support and they all died, killing just one of the enemy before the GBs retreated over the border.

Well, the nation who instigated the skirmish cried out for justice for the massacre of Guada Marte, but the world wasn't terribly bothered about the whole thing, the nation with GBs threatened them into silence and the news cycle was sort of distracted by the creation of hundreds of amphibious humans in an Argentinian lab (over the bodies of thousands of dead test subjects) which is sadly realistic. The Guada Marte Incident wasn't the end, no, the world would trundle on for another 3 years until-


Judgement Day, Dec. 22nd 2098

There is a limited, I repeat, limited nuclear exchange between the two countries involved in the Guada Marte Incident. Barely more than a million people die. It just so happened to fall on the time of an unfortunate celestial event, when a million simultaneous deaths were all that was needed to flood the dormant ley lines with an energy they hadn't had since the days of Atlantis. This caused tremendous upheaval in the world, setting off terrible windstorms and powerful currents and shockwaves, even before Atlantis returned. All of this caused more death, which caused the ley lines to flare more, which exacerbated the natural disasters.

It is estimated that 30% of humanity died in those first 48 hours. Before contact was lost with space we got word of 5,000+ glowing blue lines on the night-side of the planet, 119 tidal waves, 47 hurricanes and 33 volcanic eruptions, all on that first night. Virtually everything within a hundred miles of the sea wound up underwater, while every river floods, and where do most people live again?

Any combination of these disasters would have been a massive strain on their own, but the Coming of the Rifts played merry hell with radio and telecommunications, so coordination was lost in the midst of all these disasters, even the most powerful and advanced comm gear could reach barely a hundred miles, most radios a mile or less.

Some of those last transmissions mentioned walls of blue fire and horrible monsters, no demons! But not a lot of credit is put in those early reports. While Congress drowns with the rest of DC, the President was giving a speech in Colorado and is bundled off to NORAD just in time for the big event.

See, at this point the government could have still recovered, American society could have endured.

And then, 48 hours into the crisis, the Yellowstone supervolcano blew.

Those on the West Coast who survived the tidal waves and earthquakes die choking on ash. All of North America was covered with a layer or ash sometimes just a meter deep, sometimes 5 (3-16 ft.) The president was buried in his mountain bunker, all contact lost. The atmosphere is choked with ash form this and other volcanoes, and the global temperature drops 30 degrees Fahrenheit (22 C) as contact with space is finally cut off.


The New Age, Chaos Earth

The game begins on the first of the new year, 2099 (at least Spider-Man can help out) and day 11 of the crisis. Individual cities are cut off from each other, monsters and demons and shapeshifters are tormenting people, there are thousands of suicides a day. It's the end of the world.

But thanks to that unwise consolidation of power, the US and Canada (Mexico is virtually gone from volcanoes and earthquakes) have a large organized force, trained in disaster relief with the MDC armor and weapons needed to make a difference. Under the command of Lt. General Lindsey Sawyer, NEMA concentrates on the area around Chicago and the American Midwest, considering both coasts a lost cause. Their mission is to save whatever lives they can, restore law and order according to their procedures and existing doomsday scenarios. The men and women of NEMA are badly rattled by what's going on, but Gen. Sawyer has convinced them if this is the end they should at least go down swinging and doing some good. They have no clue what they're getting into, luckily they have you, the players.

Have fun.

[Ahriman238]

In the far future of RIFTS, every group in North America shares a common mythology about the Cataclysm, they say there came a group of warriors unlike any other, the Neemans. Most say they were D-Bees, alien Paladins, or god-kings of some alien warrior culture, the Coalition stubbornly insists the Neemans were earth-grown humans, but in all versions they were noble warriors whose prowess could not be matched. They saved millions of lives, and without them there would be no human life left in North America. No they could never fall, until pulled down by the Fourth Wave of demons from Hades, swamped by sheer numbers before a couple of years had gone by. Umm. Yeah, small spoilers there, no happy ending.

A large part of the reason Glitter Boys used to be held in such high-esteem (before everyone and their brother started making them) is that association, this was the armor of a Neeman Warrior handed down to a worthy human champion.

Though one reason the D-Bee theory is so common is that most people "know" the Neemans were all twelve feet tall with lion's heads and the strength of a hundred men, and they never heard of fear.



Admittedly, the truth falls a bit short of the legend there. NEMA has heard of fear, heck, a lot of people are only holding together so well because a charismatic leader gave them a mission to focus on. They're dealing with about a million new unknowns every day, but they're the only ones who are going to step up to the plate.

So yeah, your standard NEMA mook these days goes out in stylish environmental armor of ceramic "flexi-plate." 120 MDC, it comes with decent computer support and HUD, air filters and a 5 hour supply you can switch to. The armor is immune to normal fire (tested to 300 C) and radiation, and the visor darkens automatically to shield the eyes. Radio (stabilized now to a roughly 5 mile range) and loudspeaker.

The armor is available in a wide variety of high-visibility colors. NEMA uses this to denote division and specialty, and the same theme extends to uniforms. Military specialists and special forces are all black, Peacekeepers (police specialists, still trained in tactical stuff) get royal blue with light grey trim. Intelligence gets grey with black. Power armor pilots and support crews have light blue with chrome highlights, mecha get the same but navy blue. Outside consultants (more on them later) get red with black or grey trim.




Of course, everyone gets environmental armor because they're in crisis mode and there's ash everywhere. Until recently, standard issue was an armored vest with 30 MDC over a standard uniform. They also got badass trenchcoats of synthetic spider-silk laced with carbon nanotubes, with some padding and strategic MDC plates, amounting to 32 MDC, albeit they made the thing weigh 6 pounds. Then they had to ruin it by including the same uniform color-scheme.




NEMA Fire/Rescue got their own environmental, specifically power armor in their own eye-watering canary yellow. 150 MDC, makes the user 5x stronger (then adds 500 lbs to what they can lift) extra reinforcement for the shoulders, helmet and back. They chose a one-way ceramic faceplate to hide signs of worry and stress and help make your rescuer seem inhumanly powerful, which really seems like it'd be more of a consideration for a military design. Can withstand temperatures up to 400 C, magical and MDC fire plus nukes do 10% less damage.

Has a laser cutter/welder in one forearm, 1-4 MD at max setting. The other has a laser rangefinder. The suit has IR, nightvision, telescopic (to 10x) and microscopic (well, 6x) vision and advanced light filters to keep the user from ever getting blinded.

[Ahriman238]

Time for those consultants.




When the world went to hell, with all sorts of monsters, demons and things nobody ever heard of pouring out of the Rifts, plus a handful of home-grown sorcerers and witches, General Sawyer put out the call (I'm imagining a homemade bat-signal) for every anthropologist, parapsychologist, ghost hunter, expert in legends, gamer and geek among the refugees. Everyone who might remember some odd bit of lore that might lead to a monster's weakness. Every person who is willing to figure out how the magic system works, since a magic system is clearly a thing now and determine the limits of a given spell or spellcaster.

These are NEMA's Para-Arcanes, facing down the worst and weirdest of the Cataclysm armed only with the scientific method and a willingness to trawl through libraries worth of books on the supernatural, and old movies, and stay up all night debating if there's a Vancian system in play here and how we'd know the difference. Of course, there's a vast variety of people, from gung-ho monster hunters to well-intentioned bumblers to serious scholars and outright frauds. But slowly they're putting together a field manual, they've mostly figured out ghosts, the ley lines, historically well-known and some obscure monsters, fairylore, can generally recognize more common magic signs, enchantments and can use some simple magic items. No mean feat given the short time they've been about it, even if they are still laboring under some grave assumptions about, say, vampires.

Some Para-Arcanes never go into the field, but as general rule NEMA teams like to see the outside consultants working by their side, collecting firsthand data, it reassures them that the food and armored jackets they give these people aren't going to waste.




So many things pouring out of the Rifts, many are monstrous and sanity-breaking, others are almost human or could pass easily, to say nothing of shapeshifters like demons and deevils, or human collaborators in the form of witches, sorcerers and master vampires. Infiltration is a very real threat in every group and community on earth. But if there were a dozen times as many shapeshifters, they'd be hard-pressed to match the damage people are doing to themselves after hearing there are shapeshifting infiltrators, alien collaborators and mind control. Whole towns and cities are tearing themselves apart in paranoid witch-hunts, and lychings are common. NEMA has had to stop more than a few.

Well every lynch mob needs a leader, and somebody always steps forward. Some are bible-thumping self-righteous lunatics, others a men of science and reason who try to logically solve the problem of infiltration and trick outsiders into revealing themselves.

While, the Demon/Witch Hunters are a massive, ongoing headache for NEMA, Gen. Sawyer has made the (probably career-ending, if her superiors were still alive) decision to recruit those Hunters who aren't too zealous and have a track record for actually finding demons and D-Bees hiding among the crowd, and set them to finding infiltrators in NEMA and help sifting through the refugees and people they protect. Under her strict guidelines, of course, no actual witchhunts while things are falling apart all around them just... try and find the witches?

Even with supervision, most witch-hunters are self-righteous and ruthless. Actually saving people from the hell all around them comes a distant second to finding and destroying evil, and the bulk of them aren't great team-players so they have a reputation for endangering their squadmates by doing stupid and reckless things that overshadows even their role as inquisitors. After all, everyone can accept the need to be watchful after that time Smitty grew horns and killed half his platoon, but charging a supernatural intelligence? Hunters are generally on a similar level of magic knowledge as a Para-Arcane, with a bit more emphasis on the habits and tells of various monsters and sometimes they have the most astonishing instinct for thinking like the enemy or anticipating his moves.

About a third of Hunters are minor or major psychics. Minor psychics get two powers, any category but super. Majors get 6-8.

As a general rule they tend to carry around crosses, salt, cold iron, garlic, holy water, wooden stakes and other bits and bobs that might be useful, along with more immediately practical gear.

[Ahriman238]

NEMA is probably one of the most diverse and best-trained paramilitary forces in human history. Despite specialization, there is a great deal of cross-training so even a technician is highly competent and comfortable with a firearm, everyone has some first-aid and every member of NEMA Rescue is a full-fledged field medic. Pretty much everyone can maintain and do simple repairs on their own equipment. The basic Peacekeeper grunts are cop and soldier in near-equal measure, not easy to pull off at all.

And then there's these guys.



See, part of NEMA's job is to organize, equip and train a militia in each NAA member nation, in the US this meant effectively taking over the National Guard. Which is fine, and the standards of the "weekend warriors" actually went up a bit. But in a crisis, and if this doesn't qualify nothing does, they can recruit anyone and everyone willing. Anyone with technical, clerical, medical or otherwise useful skills is using them. If you don't have useful skills, they give you a laser rifle and a 32 MDC flak vest over a khaki uniform, a morning of lecture followed by an afternoon on the firing range, and off you go on patrol with the highly trained and capable NEMA vets hopefully keeping you from screwing up too badly.

[Ahriman238]

Well, we could only do this so long before taking a look at the person in charge.



Lt. General Elizabeth Sawyer commanded the NEMA division in Altanta, Georgia at the time of the Cataclysm. She had quite a shock, as did everyone, but she seems to be alright now. After three days she was convinced that Atlanta couldn't be held, and had her people and whatever refugees they could gather move to Chicago. Along the way they picked up 350 more NEMA agents and more than ten thousand extra civilians, but lost 10% of her initial forces protecting the convoy. Between the falling ash and monster attacks the trip took six days.

Before she was a decent commander as things went. After she got her people out of St. Louis (which was on fire and overrun by demons) her people would cheerfully follow her into Hell. At the moment, she has people doing D3R, Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery. First priority in a crisis is a defensible command center, establish unambiguous chain of command (imagine her surprise to find she was senior officer in Chicagoland as well) then start setting up relief camps and field hospitals. Establish communication with other survivors and open lanes for travel, assess the situation, save first whoever needs it the most, seek out and neutralize threats to civilians. Oh, and scare up supplies to feed all these refugees with. Actually, NEMA is great on supplies so far, and even has a few manufacturing facilities turning out new vehicles and power armor, but that can't last and Sawyer has ordered conservation and salvage of resources. Finally restore law and order and aid in the rebuilding, the first part's iffy so far, we'll see about living for the final one.

General Sawyer was genetically engineered to be tall, athletic and beautiful, not to mention intelligent. She was screened for a variety of diseases and congenital conditions, is pretty resistant to most known diseases and unlikely to ever get fat. Which seems to imply a privileged background, but that's pure supposition on my part. Her age is uncertain, in the 50-60 range. She had a clock-calender and gyro-compass installed. She is fearless, and quick-witted with something of a temper problem, particularly when she thinks her people are slacking off. Her training and background are as a mech pilot (you can't see color in the picture, but her standard NEMA uniform is navy blue with chrome sleeves and sides) and she'd much rather be in the field than behind a desk. She breaks protocol by exposing herself to danger all the time.

[Ahriman238]

Oh, as of the game start, NEMA has 3,600 agents in and around Chicago, "with more arriving every day" as the coasts are abandoned as lost causes.

And here's something else you knew was coming. Let's look at NEMA's power armor division.




The goof old G10 Chromium Guardsman. Still the same, ten feet tall, able to run at 60 mph. Same 770 MDC, same 30-180 MD Boom Gun. In this time, it's quickly becoming a symbol of NEMA and the effort to restore law and order, the protector of the people. That association will last for centuries, but for now it's some much-needed firepower.




I've mentioned before that SAMAS armor was actually originally designed for urban combat. Think of it. they combine the armor and firepower of a contemporary tank with the flight characteristics of a WWI fighter plane. It can fly between buildings with ease, break through windows. At eight feet tall it's big, but not enough that it can't get around normal hallways just fine, and with hover capability it can rapidly ascend or descend through stairwells.

What I haven't mentioned before is that the familiar Coalition SAMAS is based on the Mexican "Condor" suit. The American version is the Silver Eagle SAMAS. The major difference being that the Eagle has thicker armor, made of the same laser-resistant chrome-like MDC material as a Chromium Guardsman, giving it 450 MDC while taking half damage from lasers. Well, that and it has underwater capabilities.



450 MDC as mentioned, can run at 60 mph/96 kph and jump 15 feet high or long, 100 feet fight and 200 long with rocket assist, and lift one and a quarter tons. Flight is restricted to 5000 ft. flight ceiling, hover only works to a thousand feet, 300 mph/480 kph max speed, cruising is half that. Can do 26 knots (30 mph/48 kph) underwater and dive to a depth of one thousand feet.

Standard armament is a railgun doing 10-40 MD, makes a nice "screw you" to whatever cosmic horrors climb out of a Rift. No mini-missile launcher so that's another difference. Backed up with a neural mace and a dozen hand grenades. Can swap out for a heavy laser doing 2-12 MD or a .50 caliber machine gun which does 20-80 SDC.

Silver Eagles also include a translator and every possible visual option: IR, UV thermal, nightvision, telescopic, laser rangefinding and targeting, and polarization.




This fellow is new, he's a G20 Gunbuster. They were meant to be very flexible, useful for rescue, salvage, excavation and construction as well as police and military duties. It has two modular systems for the shoulder that can carry a variety of weapons, or none if they'd get in the way.

280 MDC made with the same laser-resistant material, can run at 70 mph/112 kph and jump 18 feet/5.4 meters high or long and lift a ton and a quarter. Presumably it can do more with it's backed, as it's mentioned bracing crumbling walls and collapsing buildings Superman-style. Can walk underwater at a quarter it's normal speed, to a depth of 2000 ft. 9 feet tall and weighs one ton. At all times has 4 mini-missiles in a box-launcher.

As for the two modular shoulder mounts, they always mount two of the same weapon, presumably for ammo-power demand simplicity. As you can see they are stowed over the shoulder when not used, dual-wielded in the armor's hand when the time comes. Weapon types include Type D heavy machine guns (1 SD for rubber bullets, 4-24 for single round, 20-80 SD for a 6-round burst) with 2820 rounds for each gun. Then G-66 laser cannon (4-24 MD) and G-55 plasma ejector (5-30 MD) for energy weapons, unlimited ammo for both, naturally. The a G-44 "magnum" railgun doing 10-60 MD on a standard 30-round burst, where each gun carries 2,000 rounds.

[Cykeisme]

All a bit much to take in (still reading), but I must say that the idea of surge in human deaths due to a limited nuclear exchange, at the precise timing of a celestial event, is a great fantasy explanation for stuff going weird.

[SAMAS]

One slight correction: There are in fact three Chaos Earth Books. The other two are the Sourcebooks Creatures of Chaos and Rise of Magic.

[Highlord Laan]

A minor correction. Sawyer is actually a NEMA Military Specialist/Special Forces PA pilot, specced for the Silver Eagle, so her armor is actually all black. And she's also a latent psychic, though she hasn't told anyone.

Telekinesis, Empathy ans Sixth Sense are her only confirmed powers at the moment.

[Ahriman238]

All a bit much to take in (still reading), but I must say that the idea of surge in human deaths due to a limited nuclear exchange, at the precise timing of a celestial event, is a great fantasy explanation for stuff going weird.

In the game there are two points where the surging magic of the ley lines is at it's height, thirty times more potent than normal. A solar eclipse and a major planetary alignment, I suspect one of these was in play. Though, I don't know if they were able or willing to research ahead of time when these things would occur. Alright, I know the last solar eclipse of 2098 will be October 24th, not to be followed until March. I don't know about alignments of 5 or more planets.

Rifts takes place three hundred years after the apocalypse described here, but CE puts you at ground zero.

One slight correction: There are in fact three Chaos Earth Books. The other two are the Sourcebooks Creatures of Chaos and Rise of Magic.

*looks up*

Right you are. They're on Palladium's website but not most of the places I look. Something of a quandary. After the disappointment that was Heroes of the Megaverse, I'd really rather not shell out money for such thin volumes just for this, but they're not easily accessible online. My plan had been to cover NEMA and their capabilities, which is all this book really is if strip out the restating of rules, then use this thread as a dumping ground for Conversion Books and D-Bees of North America, to try and keep the information in one place.

It made sense to me that to have a centralized listing of D-Bees and monsters, and since NEMA gets to be the first to face many of them, and they have such limited material...

Well, we'll see.

A minor correction. Sawyer is actually a NEMA Military Specialist/Special Forces PA pilot, specced for the Silver Eagle, so her armor is actually all black. And she's also a latent psychic, though she hasn't told anyone.

Telekinesis, Empathy ans Sixth Sense are her only confirmed powers at the moment.

Psionics not in this book, I assume one of the sourcebooks? Her class here is "Military Specialist: Robot Specialist, 9th level" and she's pretty clearly wearing either the power armor or mecha uniform in that picture.

[Highlord Laan]

Military Specialists are the branch of NEMA for missions involving (direct quote) "military raids, sabotage, assassination, espionage, surgical strikes, jailbreaks and covert operations." And the class that really makes me wonder just what in jobu's name the North American governments were thinking when they created that organization. What the hell is what amounts to a amalgamated Nation Guard force doing with it's own SF branch?

And strange. My CE books lists Sawyer as a Power Armor specialist, with Combat Elite: Silver Eagle. Weird.

[Ahriman238]

Don't forget their taking the place of virtually ALL federal law enforcement. That's something of a WTH moment too.


Oh, well, a hundred years has done a great deal for robotics, and opens up another minor contradiction. MDC materials are earlier mentioned to have been used even in paving, for longer lasting roads, with the implication that this was so for much of the world. Yet in the very first bit on robots, it says that one reason they have less MDC than RIFTS equivalents is that only half a dozen countries had MDC armor and guarded that secret jealously. Well, we KNOW that the US had it, and Germany, China, Japan, and Russia. The inclusion of MDC materials in Tritonia strongly implies Australia was allowed them, so there's six. Plus all research was shared between NAA members, so 8 and I can't imagine anything so drastically changing in the next 85 years that England wouldn't have a bite at the apple.

All NEMA robots are programmed to recognize the authority of a NEMA captain and higher ranked, to recognize NEMA and allied insignia and uniforms as well as 4,000 hostiles. Each and every one has a tracking device and a self-destruct that can be remotely triggered. Attempts to dissect or disassemble the robot without the proper code will trigger the self-destruct.

Another reason NEMA is congregating in the greater Chicago area is it has two of their precious surviving robot factories. Pre-Cataclysm they had factories in Detroit, Houston, Montreal, Groom Lake, and the mother of all robot plants at Aberdeen Air Force Base (Maryland.) As it is, General Sawyer could put together an entire mechanized division of robots, but prefers to scatter them among her men, thickening her people on the ground. There is the odd all robot squad, even a rare robot platoon with just 4 or 5 humans to shepherd the bots, but they're the exception.





The Spider Probe is an SAR/recon drone, essentially a grapefruit-sized bundle of cameras and sensors attached to 6 legs that can scuttle through tight spaces, over debris and even up almost straight walls.

12 MDC, can run at 6 mph/9.6 kph and jump two feet high and four across. The real to-do is the sensor package. The whole thing is covered with multi-optic eyes that see IR, UV, thermal, passive nightvision, telescopic, microscopic (5, 10 and 50x) plus heat-sensor, thermometer, radiation scanner, motion detector, incredibly sensitive microphones, laser rangefinder, molecular analyzer for synthesized smell and gas detection, and the ability to locate and eavesdrop on any radio transmission within a ten mile (16 km) radius. Everything it sees gets sent to a little hand-display for units in the field, or a computer screen if a NEMA command post is in range, and recorded for later review.





The probe is the newest variation on a theme. It's a spider that flies, at 20 mph/32 kph and has a tiny arm that can be fitted with a pen laser, tiny buzz-saw or additional sensor of some kind. Otherwise identical.





Another recon/rescue unit, the pup is meant to get into tough places, the legs bend in many places and it can crawl completely prone. It can dig a bit to recover people buried in snow or debris, and can run small items like supplies, flashlights, canteens and medkits to trapped survivors. It's padded feet make it surprisingly stealthy. A socket on the back can mount a searchlight, comical mini-gun, extra sensors or a vid-conference setup with a camera and screen. Most of these make wriggling into tight areas a lot more complicated though.

50 MDC can run at 45 mph/72 kph and jump three feet high and five long. Climbs about as well as a real dog, and can walk along underwater to a depth of 600 feet.





The grown up Pup, a GSD-sized Hound is a combat support bot meant to alternatively provide cover fire, draw enemy fire, drag needed resources or wounded troops to safety, and generally add to the firepower and options available to a NEMA combat squad. It can perform simple missions like search and destroy or escort, thus freeing up manpower. Hounds are usually assigned to a sergeant or a squad specialist who monitors their camera feed on their helmet HUD. Hounds don't speak, nor are they programmed with a personality, it's hard enough to keep the troops from forming emotional bonds to the thing, even enough to risk their lives to save it, and Hounds are built and deployed because they're more expendable than a human life and a trained NEMA agent in the first place.

135 MDC, can run at 100 mph/160 kph and jump five feet high and twelve long. Can climb about as well as a real dog and walk along riverbeds and ocean floor to a depth of 600 feet. Mounts either a laser (3-18 MD) or plasma (6-36 MD) rifle on it's back, backed up with 2 tiny head-lasers (2-8 MD each) that can swivel 90 degrees up or down, and 45 to the sides.





The CDS (Combat Drone Soldier, or Robo-Grunt) is another combat model. It's pretty clearly a distant ancestor of the CS Skelebot, but let's not hold that against it. Actually, this might be a good time to talk about priorities in robot design and programming. The major problem with Skelebots is they're programmed to kill everything they don't recognize, or that isn't explicitly safe and authorized, and they'll stupidly zerg rush a Dragon King rather than concede one inch to the enemy. Hence why there are entire fields of melted Skelebots in Minnesota. The major fault of a CDS is it requires human authorization to use lethal, often any, force and you can walk right past it as long as you aren't overtly hostile or waving weapons and it will radio home to report you and request instructions or try to herd/drive you away from restricted areas without hurting you. Which is probably a bit too much latitude to give unknowns in these perilous times.

NEMA mostly uses them to secure field hospitals and command posts, dig trenches when better equipment isn't available or rescue people from NBC hazards too great to send human agents in. They are also used as front-line infantry, sent ahead of humans to soften the enemy or test for whatever traps or tactics they're using, and for armed escort and search and destroy missions, with somewhat less permissive protocols. CDS are familiar with NEMA squad-tactics and doctrine, obey orders to the letter but are smart enough not to take everything totally literally, and to ask for clarification when they don't understand their orders (making them smarter than 60% of humanity .) The single hardwired directive that cannot be overriden by their commander is that CDS will never execute unarmed humans. Granted, they won't lift a finger to help those unarmed humans if so ordered.

128 MDC, can run at 75 mph/120 kph and jump six feet high and eight feet long and lift 2400 lbs. Only has a 2-year nuclear battery. Can walk along riverbeds and ocean floor to a depth of 1,000 feet. Has an ion blaster on one arm doing 3-18 MD normally, and 10-40 MD on a three-shot burst. One thing I like is that while ammunition is effectively unlimited through the connection to the robot's battery, if that gets damaged there's an emergency 12-round clip. The other arm has a vibro-sword.

CDS have roughly all the multi-optic vision options, plus motion detectors, radio and power-armor/mech radar. It can track 48 targets at the same time, with a two mile range. Only applies to aircraft and other things 500+ feet off the ground.

[Ahriman238]

The Bulldog is the smallest of the NEMA mechs, built largely for search and rescue, it has all the same sensors as a spider probe. At 12 feet tall, it's short enough that height isn't an issue in most places (still just a bit tall to come indoors) it's also the fastest mech, allowing for fast response. Is covered with 17 cameras allowing a wide variety of external views, and everything is usually recorded and fed to NEMA headquartes.

310 MDC, can run at 70 mph/112 kph and jump 25 feet high or long, and lift 3750 lbs. Can operate underwater to a depth of 6,000 ft. In combat. the Bulldog's speed allows it get off rapid-fire strings of punches, like a boxer. It is also the only NEMA mech that can perform a flying leap kick. Each shoulder has a laser AA gun that can also fire on ground targets, 3-18 MD, while each forearm houses a 5-30 MD plasma blaster. It also carries 36 mini-missiles, and is sometimes issued a special heavy anti-material laser sniper rifle (4-24 MD) which can also be issued to Gunbusters and Chromium Guardsmen.





A Bulldog's slightly older brother, the Mastiff is less quick response and more about bringing down inconvenient walls, digging through debris or snapping cars in half to reach trapped survivors. 15 feet tall this time (which, with the big thing up top probably makes it a lot stouter than a Bulldog) Mastiff's are the first thing NEMA reaches for when dealing with enemy armor or more recently giant monsters.

600 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph and can't jump, but it can lift 4100 lbs. and operate 6800 ft. underwater. Under the central "eye" is a vent, under that whole module is an antipersonnel laser turret (2-12 MD) backed up by 64 mini-missiles in case it needs to pack on the damage in a hurry, In peacetime these can be used for precision demolition. Mastiffs aren't as fast as Bulldogs, but they hit a whole lot harder.




And then there was one, the Super-Mastiff. This was a new and still fairly experimental weapon, as NEMA officials were prepared to accept the utility of light mecha, but less so with giant ones. A 30 ft. tall version of a Mastiff crewed by 3 men seemed a bit much. As of the game's start, Gen. Sawyer has only a dozen under her command, and no way to produce more or even spare parts for the ones she has. This has forced her to hoard the Super-Mastiffs as a precious resource, broken out only in the most desperate of circumstances, and then only with adequate support.

850 MDC, can run at 30 mph/48 kph and can't jump. Can lift 4550 lbs. and dive to a depth of 10,000 ft. Weaponry is surprisingly light, the same antipersonnel laser (2-12 MD) and just 36 mini-missiles. On the other hand, with it's greater size and strength, all melee attacks do 5-10 times as much damage as the ordinary Mastiff. So I guess all the mecha have reason to close and engage in fisticuffs.

[Ahriman238]

Got Creatures of Chaos.

Now, let's take a moment to admire NEMA's wheels.



The Hover Platform is essentially, a flying jeep. It's used for transport, scouting and support. Can carry a dozen people. Has good radar tracking and can act as a com relay to NEMA agents in the field.

180 MDC, the open area can be covered with a transparent 15 MDC bubble-top, but crews typically consider it an annoyance more than anything and will generally only use it if carrying unarmored civilians. The Platform flies up to 500 ft./152 m. high, and naturally has VTOL and hover. Can fly at 150 mph/240 kph but is restricted to 100 mph/160 kph over water. It's armed with 4 double-barreled laser turrets, one at each corner, able to do 2-12 MD per shot. The central 'turret' is a modular thing that usually carries a high-powered searchlight, but can be swapped out for a crane, a railgun, laser cannon, or mini-missile launcher.




NEMA's MX 144 Combat Bike is incredibly popular with the men. It's very fast with a lot of fine control and can easily be made to jump long distances.

72 MDC, made mostly with lightweight MDC materials. Can drive at 230 mph/368 kph normally, and 320 mph/512 kph when the driver kicks in the rocket assist on a straight-line. The same system lets the bike easily leap 100 ft./33m. across and 50 ft./15 m. high. Experienced users can and have made 300+ foot jumps with it. There is a single laser, fixed forward. It does 2-12 MD.




The Street Bruiser ATV was designed to drive over the rubble of blasted cities, over dunes or rocks, whatever it takes. Fits four passengers, five with some squeezing, and like everything else is nuclear powered.

180 MDC, can drive at 130 mph/208 kph over flat pavement, half speed when bouncing between boulders. Has a laser cannon on the roof, does 3-18 MD and can be aimed and fired by the driver or a passenger with the dashboard control, or by a person sticking their torso through the sunroof. The laser can be swapped out for a railgun, grenade launcher, mini-missile launcher or an ordinary SDC machine-gun.




If any of you are saying "hey!" now, that's because if you add some more guns and skulls this would be a Coalition Mk. V APC. In case it wasn't obvious enough that the CS pick over the bones of NEMA. Anyways, here and now this is how NEMA agents get to the fighting. It carries 60-ish men, usually 40 straight infantry, a squad of robot drones, and a squad's worth of specialists (Rescue, Para-Arcane, Witch Hunters, Military Specialists.) Can carry 3 squads of pure power armor, but NEMA will go with whatever troops they think they need.

330 MDC, it takes 40 MD to puncture one of the very special tires. 80 mph/128 kph driving, the APC is amphibious and can do 30 mph/48 kph through water. The main laser turret does 4-24 MD per shot, 12-42 if it hits you with both barrels at once. 48 mini-missiles in vertical launchers and a modular turret for either 12 short-range missiles or 24 mini-missiles.

"The chest" will contain two generous first-aid kits, radio, short-range radar setup, food and water for 20 people to subsist on for 2 weeks, a dozen heavy weapons counting two railguns, ten sniper rifles, three E-clips for each weapon, two dozen grenades, ten signal flares, fifty feet of cable, and a stress ball. The last is most important.

[Ahriman238]

Been a while. And now for some of the opposition.


Worldslayer Demons



These Creatures of Chaos (demonic beings unaffiliated with demons or devils) appear at the worst of times, when a sentient species is teetering on the edge of extinction, a civilization about to collapse, and cherry tap them over the edge. They always operate in four-man teams, each composed of one of each type of Worldslayer; the Desecrator, Desolater, Subjugator, and Strife. Each of these teams has been together for millennia and have their teamwork down pat while still being able to function as individuals (each is equivalent to a Greater Demon) and attack on multiple levels. There only objective is to wipe out local humanity/aliens or at least reduce them to the Stone Age, and bringing down any sort of law, government, or intellectual enclaves is a priority. Some theorize a connection to the Apocalypse Demon that manifests as the Four Horsemen, and Worldslayers have been known to assist the Horsemen from time to time. The appearance of a single team of Worldslayers is rare, three on one planet/plane is nearly unheard of. The Cataclysm has brought out thirty-plus teams around the world, inhibiting anyone trying to organize and survive.

If one team member is killed, his comrades will drop everything to avenge him. If this is successfully done, the dead demon is returned to them one day as if nothing happened. If the killers prove elusive or unavailable, perhaps through death or dimension travel, the remaining Worldslayers will rampage in a state of berserkergang until killed.


Desecrator



The Desecrator is almost always the leader. They prefer the thrill of combat, but where brute force is ineffective or less efficient, they take the role of face-changing infiltrator. Desecrators can only assume the form of a beautiful woman, a generic one usually. To copy a specific woman the Desecrator must kill her and eat her heart, tongue and eyes. This forms a perfect disguise that no test or spell will reveal, but can only be maintained for a month (30 days exact) and is lost forever the first time a Desecrator changes shape. Naturally a Desecrator speaks all languages magically, but it's the millennia of experience impersonating woman of every social rank in every circumstance, and manipulating people, that makes them deadly. They know exactly how to inflame jealously, subtly encourage rashness or cut someone down with a single observation.

156-456 MDC, regenerates 2-12 MDC every five seconds, immune to normal (non-magical, non-MD) fire and cold, disease, fear and poison. Can lift at least a ton and a half, maybe two tons, run at 45 mph/72 kph and jump 30 ft./9 m. high or long. Desecrators can run and fight for 24 hours before beginning to tire. Nightvision, see invisible, has no need to breathe and can dive down to a mile underwater, has a dimensional teleport but it only works a quarter of the time they try it. Oh, and they can shoot eye-beams doing 2-12 MD, but with only a fifty foot/fifteen meter range. Fingers can become MD claws, and Desecrators have the strangest fondness for tearing out and eating people's hearts in front of them while they die.

Some small magic, mostly related to communicating with the team or manipulating people. Calling, Distant Voice, Charm, Aura of Power, Charismatic Aura and Words of Truth.



Desolater



The rhino-horned giant is a Desolater, the team's tank. The Desolater is the only one without a more subtle way of harming the enemy than HULK SMASH!! But it's very good at that part. It's also the team's ride, being skilled in teleports and dimension travel, and having some other magic it uses in combat. But it almost always keeps half it's PPE in reserve for the team's transport needs. It can also teleport to it's teammates' aid if they get in trouble or caught out. Desolaters can pack themselves into a 12 ft./3.6 m. size for getting around, but their natural form is 30 ft./9 m. Oh, and they have vampire-level regeneration, meaning they'll recover a missing eye or limb overnight and return from the dead after three days. The only way to permanently kill one (barring his teammates avenging and thus rezzing him) is to get him in the heart with a silver spear/stake and immerse the body in seawater or magma for three straight days, without his teammates recovering him.

460-960 MDC, regenerates 10-40 MDC every five seconds and is immune to normal fire and cold, fear, disease and poison, yet vulnerable to silver. Can lift two and a quarter tons, run at 40 mph/64 kph for a full day and night without tiring and leap 50 ft./15 m. high and long. Glossolalia, nightvision, see invisible, and a native dimensional teleport (that can be tried for free) that works half the time, 85% if on a ley line or nexus. Doesn't need to breathe, can dive three miles underwater. They also have the same eye-beams as the Desecrator, 2-12 MD but with a 1600 ft. range.

Magically, they have Ley Line Transmission, Ley Line Fade, Lesser and Greater Teleport, D-Step, Plane Skip, Dimensional Teleport, Dimensional Portal, Circle of Travel, Re-Open Gateway and Rift Teleport for getting around. For combat they can use Electric Arc, Fireball, Barrage, Targeted Deflection, Crushing Fist, Energy Disruption, Energy Ball, Collapse, Implosion Neutralizer, Mend the Broken, Mystic Fulcrum and Frequency Jamming.

Contrary to what you'd think with a raging giant, Desolaters are quite intelligent and know how to use their mobility to best advantage. At the same time, their combat magic gives them more flexibility at range and lets them conveniently kill off communications and advanced technology, so it's not just smashing.


Strife



In frontline combat, the face-lacking, vaguely slug-like Strife plays the part of squishy wizard, hiding behind and supporting the other Worldslayers. But make no mistake, it's dangerous on it's own, just less of a bruiser than the others. A Strife is stealthy, master of the chameleon spell and able to cling to walls and ceilings, and supremely skilled at curses and disruptive magic that make organized resistance impossible. Frequency Jamming, Energy Disruption and Negate Mechanics to monkey around with advanced equipment. Enough curses to lay hundreds of men sick and unable to fight, or turn them against each other in a fit of paranoia. Armorbane to compromise armor, enough Spoiling magic to ruin any stockpile of food or water. Even in a stand up fight, it's worst environment, it works with the team and is great at throwing up distractions and delays. An assassin and a saboteur. Silent spells from the shadows and a cackle of malicious of laughter from a demon both highly intelligent and sadistic.

102-352 MDC, regenerates 3-18 MDC every five seconds and has the same super-regen and permanent death conditions as the Desolater. Impervious to normal fire and cold, fear, disease and poison, but vulnerable to silver. Can lift over a ton and run at 20 mph/32 kph, for a full 24 hours and cannot jump. Doesn't need to breathe, can withstand pressures up to two miles underwater, and swim twice as fast as it can run. Plus the aforementioned Spider-Man climbing skills. Glossolalia, nightvision, see invisible and a dimensional teleport that works 10% of the time.

Magical powerhouse. Spells include Chameleon, Aura of Death, Aura of Doom, Agony, Befuddle, Blind, Mute, Death Trance, Magic Net, Distant Voice, Fool's Gold, Death Curse, Phobia Curse, Minor Disorder Curse, Luck Curse, Remove Curse, Light Healing, Dispel Magic Barriers, Fear, Spoil, Sickness, Locate, Mental Shock, Disharmonize, Armorbane, Frequency Jamming, Negate Mechanics, Energy Disruption, Watchguard, Repel Animals, Summon & Control Rodents, Summon & Control Canines, Summon Fog, Weight of Duty, Wisps of Confusion, Realm of Chaos, Heavy Air, House of Glass, Desiccate the Supernatural, Life Drain and Lesser Paralysis.

Also a major psychic with all healing powers, which it uses to torture and to keep people alive to torture longer. Plus Sense Time, Sixth Sense, Remote Viewing, Telepathy, Psychosomatic Disease, and Psychic Omni-sight.


Subjugator



Scary tall masked figures with a glaive (sort of a cleaver blade on the end of a long pole) Subjugators are... generalists. While a Desecrator makes a fine infiltrator and manipulator, the Desolater a physical threat and the Strife a perfect monkey wrench making it impossible to organize, Subjugators are thinkers and planners. They support whoever can best use their help fulfilling their role, and are outside-the-box thinkers who can best adapt to and deal with unforeseen complications, like meddling heroes figuring out what's going on. They're usually second in command to the more aggressive Desecrator, but are always the leader in teams where the Desecrator is not. They have a similar shapeshifting ability to a Desecrator, becoming an attractive or generic male every time. They can do the super disguise trick with the same restrictions, and instead of a heart they eat the tongue, eyes and liver.

65-415 MDC, regenerates 2-12 MDC every five seconds and, like the Desecrator, does not have the super-regen or elaborate killing conditions of the Desolater and Strife. Can lift over a ton, some can lift a ton and a half, and run at 40 mph/64 kph a full day and night before tiring, and leap 20 ft./6 m. high and long. Impervious to normal fire and cold, fear, disease and poison, vulnerable to silver. Glossolalia, see invisible, nightvision, and dimensional teleport with a 25% chance of working. Doesn't need to breathe and can dive to a mile before pressure becomes a problem. Oh, and the eye-beams again, I guess only the Strife lacks them (along with eyes) 2-12 MD, 100 ft. range. The magic glaive does 5-30 MD, double to angels, good gods and spirits of light. It can teleport to his hand, turn up to 600 dead at a time and, twice a day, instantly heal him for 70-120 MDC.

Magical powerhouse, with different spells from it's compatriots though there is some overlap. Animate & Control Dead, Turn Dead, Blinding Flash, Globe of Daylight, Second Sight, See Aura, Eyes of the Wolf, Sense Magic, Sense Evil, Manipulate Objects, Escape, Trance, Words of Truth, Magic Pigeon, Distant Voice, Carpet of Adhesion, Forcebonds, Magic Shield, Armor of Ithan, Words of Truth Domination, Ensorcel, Expel Demon, Constrain Being, Cloak of Darkness, Shadow Meld, Mask of Deceit, Phatom Mount, Magic Warrior, Swap Places, Wingless Flight, Fly as the Eagle, Frostblade, Power Weapon, Fireblast, Shatter, Agony, Dragonfire, Energy Bolt, Spinning Blades, Soultwist, Sorcerous Fury, Telekinesis, and Sub-particle Acceleration.

[Ahriman238]

Among the Chaos Demons flooding the Earth, there are a great many active only during the day or night, suffering terrible penalties in the presence or absence of daylight. By which I mean, halve their MDC, strength and damage from any special attacks. Here are the unexpected Day Demons.




Hangjaw Demon Rats aren't actually Day Demons but are listed with them. They're pretty much dire rats, the size of a cat, don't generally bother people unless wounded, trapped, otherwise helpless, or there's a large pack at their backs. Intellect of a five-year-old, can follow some simple instructions, will work for food as a minion to Day or Night Demons.

22-47 MDC, regenerate 1-4 MDC per 15 seconds. Counts for very little, as they generally can't tell the difference between SDC and MDC weapons and armor, so tend to avoid people unless they're obviously helpless. Can run at 17-20 mph, only slightly slower scurrying up and down things, for 8 hours without rest and jump 10 feet high or long. Impervious to poison, disease and heat, half damage from magic or MDC fire and cold. Vulnerable to silver, magic weapons, and afraid of garlic. Glossolalia, nightvision, a dimensional teleport that works 5% of the time. Their powerful jaws can crush or bite through MDC materials with a serious effort, 2-12 MC to a bite.

Magic restricted to Sense Evil, See Aura, Death Trance, See Invisible and Chameleon. Strength and skill of a bumbling beginning caster.

Contradictory information: in vulnerabilities it says Hangjaws suffer no penalties from sunlight, in MDC it was reduce by 50% in sunlight.




Razoredged Prowlers are hands. Lumpy hands, about 1.5-2x the size of a regular human hand, with an eye at each knuckle. Kleptomaniacs and compulsive spies, they usually wind up working for other demons who will give them specific objectives. They have very sharp claws and feed on blood, which they they drink by wandering into blood puddles and slurping it up through straw-like tubes underneath their claws.

38-68 MDC, regenerates 2-12 MDC every 15 seconds. Can regrow an eye in a day, and a finger in two. Strong as an adult human in pretty good shape, scuttles at 14-27 mph/23-43 kph for three days without tiring, on walls and ceilings, and can jump 6 ft. (2 m.) high or long. Impervious to disease, poison and normal heat or cold, half damage from magic or MDC versions. Swims slowly and dislikes water, easily distracted by their own reflection. Glossolalia and dimensional teleport. One eyes sees the invisible mystically, one eye sees in the dark, one sees the IR and UV spectra, and the last is telescopic (30 mile range.) What appears to be an armbone is actually a stinger the Prowler uses to anchor itself, or to attack with a paralyzing venom before filleting you with it's claws.

Little magic (Repel Animals, Lesser Paralysis) but LOTS of psionics. Sense Evil, See Aura, Sixth Sense, Sense Presence, Sense Magic, Deaden Senses, Commune with Spirits, Ectoplasm, Telepathy, Telekinesis, TK Push, TK Punch, Mind Block, Object Read, Mask Psionics, and a special power that works like Bio-manipulation paralysis, but works at a range and for a pittance the ISP.




Firethorn Demons are pale white, vaguely skeletal things 12-15 feet tall, with prehensile tails like naked spines, a skull-like head (that may or may not have horns or antlers) with a burning tongue, and 1-6 spines coming from their back. The number of spines represents the demon's age and power, and six-spined Firethorns are minor Greater Demons sometimes known as Firethorn Lords. Which sometimes means a Firethorn that takes a gang of lesser demons and carves out it's own tiny kingdom. There are two things a Firethorn loves, the thrill of combat and watching things burn. They usually fight with no sense of subtlety or tactics, and all but the oldest and wisest go berserk when called cowards.

49-112 MDC, regenerates 2-12 MDC every 15 seconds, can lift a ton to a ton and a half, and run at 11-21 mph/17-34 kph for 12 hours without pause, jump 25 feet high or long, doesn't need to breathe and can survive a mile underwater. Impervious to fire, poison and disease. Vulnerable to bone and silver, cold and darkness. Glossolalia, and thermal vision, plus dimensional teleport. They can breathe firei n a cone attack over 200 ft./60 m. for 3-18 MD (4-24 for Lords) and spit 4-24 MD fireballs over four times that range. Their flaming tongue can snap out like a frog's over a 15 foot/5 m. range and smack you for 3-18 MD or even constrict doing that same damage each round. Another special ability is that any inanimate object in their hands becomes MDC, immune to heat, and does 3-18 MD when swung or thrown, the effect fading after a few seconds with no contact.

Can cast a small amount of magic with deep wells of PPE. Blinding Flash, Cloud of Smoke, Ignite Fire, Extinguish Fire, Fuel Flame, and Circle of Flames.

[gigabytelord]

You have to give it to the rifts writers, they certainly are a creative bunch.

[Ahriman238]

You have to give it to the rifts writers, they certainly are a creative bunch.

I'm assuming that's in reference to the hand, as 'giant rat' and 'giant fire-demon' aren't exactly breaking new ground in RPGs.





A Savage Fury, or just Fury, is a hairy bronze-skinned giant (7-9 ft. tall) berserker. They love to fight, no-holds barred, and hate heroes, champions of good and especially cowards who fight with ranged weapons or magic. Sometimes they charge the lines or wait in ambush, sometimes they stake out a bridge or stretch of road and boldly proclaim that none shall pass without fighting for the privilege.

62-172 MDC and regenerates 3-18 MDC every fifteen seconds. Can lift roughly 2 tons and run at 23-33 mph/37-53 kph for two days without pause, swim as fast as run and dive down to a mile, and jump 25 ft./8 m. high or long. Immune to heat and fire, as well as radiation, disease and poison. Vulnerable only in it's quick temper. predictable behavior and being reduced to half-strength in darkness. Glossolalia, dimensional teleport and hawk-like vision immune to blinding light. Has a special ability to turn into a large golden dog (usually a mastiff, boxer or great dane) or into a frail old man with leathery tanned skin and blond hair. As per usual, it keeps it's strength, MDC and other powers when in another shape, however the false shape is dispelled by the cry of a blue jay.

Trying to imprison or restrain a Savage Fury is the one sure way to trigger a berserk rage that makes them, for just a minute, the strongest thing in the world. Have been known to sometimes surrender just to trick others into triggering this effect. Will otherwise fight to the death rather than submit in any way.

Limited magic. Sense Magic, Sense Evil, See Invisible, Mystic Alarm, Cleanse and Throwing Stones.





The Spiked Strangler, also called a Spiked Lizard or Demon Guard, is a pale grey or white vaguely humanoid lizard covered in bumps and small spikes, with disproportionately huge gorilla arms and shovel-like clawed hands. It is the size of a large man (6-7 ft.) and also has a short tail ending in a large heavy knob covered in horns. Stranglers are natural minions, they hate to make decisions and take responsibility but love to fight and maim and kill. They're very easy-going and laid back, patient, compared to other demons and will cheerfully guard a particular doorway for decades. The one exception is they tend to kill off prisoners after a couple of hours. They're kind of dim, but follow simple instructions well. Usually the followers of another demon or human sorcerer. If their master is killed their reaction is unpredictable, they may flee or they may go berserk. They take their name from their preferred method of attack, grabbing someone by the neck and squeezing or giving a quick shake. Instant death for those without MDC armor and/or magic protection.

58-228 MDC, regenerates 2-12 MDC every fifteen seconds. Can lift at least a ton and run at 15-22 mph/24-35 kph for 36 hours nonstop and jump 8 ft./2.4 m. high or long. Immune to disease, poison, normal fire and cold, takes half damage from MD or magic fire and cold. Has the darkness weakness, also holy and Millenium Tree weapons, and is afraid of dogs who can always see it's true form and whose bite does MD to them. Glossolalia, see invisible, nightvision, dimensional teleport and can smell blood from two miles off. Can twice a day turn into any lizard or snake smaller than 8 ft./2.4 m. in length.

Highly limited magic. Lantern Light, Sense Magic, Mystic Alarm, Cleanse and Chameleon.

[Ahriman238]

A Ravenous is the closest thing these Day Demons have to a Demon Lord, in that they are the most powerful Day Demons, most likely to take a leadership role and the others obey them. They're your general psychic vampire, feeding off of misery and despair. They also like to be in charge, and carve out tiny kingdoms, plagued with misrule, excessive taxes on the human peasantry, and arbitrary ever-changing laws. In shape, they're pretty much a giant mouth on two funny legs with tentacles for arms, a very long prehensile tail and gold-colored skin. In place of a head is a crown of fangs, a second mouth with a long and viciously spiked mouth stalk with an eye in the center, and four eyestalks just inside the crown, each with a different power. The size is adjustable, anywhere from 5 to 18 feet tall (2.4-4.6 m.)

563-3,078 MDC, regenerates 10-60 MDC every fifteen seconds and if any extremity (tail, tentacle, eyestalk) is severed it regrows instantly the next dawn. Strength enough to lift a ton and change, maybe a ton and a half, able to run at 15-18 mph (24-29 kph) with effectively unlimited endurance. Can swim as fast as it can run, no need to breathe and can dive down to a mile underwater. Glossolalia, see invisible, hawk-like vision, decent nightvision, teleport and dimensional teleport. Can turn into a golden-skinned human or a giant (40 ft./12 m.) golden worm that can tunnel extremely rapidly and gets double damage and triple range from it's magic. In either case, the cry of a blue jay will reveal it's true form. Impervious to fire, heat, disease, poison and radiation, vulnerable to iron and darkness. Of the five eyes, the mouth stalk one fires a 4-24 MD laser, the rest can each spam a magic spell for free: Fireball, Call Lightning, Wisps of Confusion, and Wind Rush.

Psionics include Sense Time, Commune with Spirits, Object Read, Remote Viewing, Read Dimensional Portal Empathy, Empathic Transmission, and a variant Telepathy with ten times the normal range.

They're magical powerhouses with eclectic spell libraries. All the standard spells levels 1, 3, 7, and 15. Then Cleanse, Concealment, Blind, Fear, Mute, Mystic Alarm, Magic Net, Lifeblast, Lightning Arc, Speed of the Snail, Swords to Snakes, Sustain, Spoil, Turn Dead, Negate Magic, Expel Demons, Exorcism, Negate Poison, Locate, Lesser Teleport, Aura of Power, Aura of Doom, Charismatic Aura, Charm, Calling, Ley Line Transmission, Escape, Death Curse, and both Protection Circles.

[Ahriman238]

The Slithering Screamer is a car sized-monstrosity, like a naked organ with three eyes, three tentacles with fanged mouths at the end, and three tails. Each tentacle and tail is 7-9 feet (2-3 m.) long. Screamers are more empathic vampires fed by dark emotions. They prefer to be hidden safely away and carry out their plans through careful manipulations, agents, and witches. Oh yes, a single Screamer can bond with three people, turning them into witches. It's not the usual splintered essence/familiar set-up though. Instead, it's a psychic bond that allows the screamer to see through the witches' eyes, command or punish them at any range, which the Screamer largely uses to feast on the misery of the witch his/herself and surrounding people. The Screamer Witch gets only the Screamer's psychic powers, and those at half strength.

85-140 MDC, regenerates 3-18 MDC every fifteen seconds, each tentacle can lift a ton, running is simply not happening but it can crawl at the speed of a brisk jog up walls and on ceilings for three days before tiring. Glossolalia, nightvision, IR and UV vision, see invisible, invisibility, and dimensional teleport. Immune to poison, disease and normal (non-magic, non-MDC) heat and cold. Vulnerable to darkness and magic, dislikes water but can swim. The cry of a blue jay reveals it's true form when using psionics to alter it.

Magically has Calling, Cleanse, Escape, Globe of Daylight, Extinguish Fire, Charismatic Aura, Turn Dead, Negate Poison, Ley Line Transmission and Levitate.

Psychically has all sensitive powers, then Death Trance, Alter Aura, Deaden Senses, Levitation, Ectoplasm, Ectoplasmic Disguise, Empathic Transmission, Bio-Manipulation, Astral Golem, Hypnotic Suggestion, Group Trance, Group Mind-Block, Mind Bolt, Mind Bond, Psychic Omni-Sight, Psychic Body Field, and Radiate Horror Factor. Plus a special psychic scream that can do fair damage direct to hp and hurts even ghosts and astral travelers. The scream can also be toned down or focused so only one person hears it.





A big guy with copper skin, horns, fangs, claws, and mysteriously, a bright red afro. On the other hand, he's got three razor-sharp tentacle things coming out of his left shoulder, snake tattoos that come to life and generic satanic symbols on his chest, making him by default the most metal demon since the thread started. The Skullstealer demon is smart and ruthless, more than capable of manipulating people into doing it's bidding. But they also tend to be arrogant and impatient, preferring the direct approach when practical. They get the name from their taking the skulls of worthy opponents as trophies.

135-310 MDC, regenerates 4-24 MDC every fifteen seconds, strong enough to lift a ton and a half, can run at 22 mph/35 kph for three days, swim as long and as fast without breathing to a depth of one mile, and jump 25 ft./8 m. high or long. Glossolalia, hawk-like vision, and dimensional teleport. Immune to disease, poison, radiation and fire. Vulnerable to darkness, iron and the all-revealing blue jay. Can turn into an ordinary garden snake at will, retaining spellcasting and speech but not normal MDC or other powers. Can turn into a 30 ft./9 m. three-headed fire-breathing (5-30 MD) snake at will. The snake tats can warn of danger, their bite can do 2-12 MD or cause agonizing pain, blindness, paralysis, or light the target on fire. They can also cast for free through their bite the spells Spoil, Repel Animals and Mental Blast.

Psionics are limited: Read Dimensional Portal, Astral Projection, Commune with Spirits, and a special Telepathy variant with four times the normal range.

Magic is much more impressive. Blinding Flash, Globe of Daylight, Light Target, Lightblade, Life Drain, Deflect, Reflection, Magic Shield, Calling, Charm, Expel Demons, Compulsion, Domination, Trance, Mute, Constrain Being, Fool's Gold, Mask of Deceit, Charismatic Aura, Memory Bank, Cleanse, Sense Evil, Sense Magic, See Aura, Extinguish Fire, Levitate, Float in Air, Fly as the Eagle, Lesser and Superior Invisibility, Forcebonds, Repel Animals, Tame Beast, Turn Dead, and Mystic Fulcrum.


And that's Day Demons finally done. Next time we do Night Demons, yay.

[Ahriman238]

The Bumble Ball is used by other Night Demons as cannon fodder, guards, servants, food, and also sport and comical entertainment. They pretty much serve the same niche as 40K Gretchins to the Orks. Then again, they are pretty much fleshy basketballs with comically tiny limbs, a long and muscular (yet vulnerable) rat-like tail and a tiny beak. They often betray their masters to humans in hopes of getting revenge for ill treatment, then being demons will try and backstab the humans. This rarely works out well, but among other things, Bumble Balls are quite stupid, though as sadistic as the next demon. Bumble Balls really have it out for Hecklers (another Night Demon) and fairies. Nobody is quite sure why the fairies.

51-66 MDC regenerate 16 MDC a minute, normally as strong as an athletic human with a small chance (via the mechanics)to hit the magic threshold and gain the strength of five men, running is simply not happening, but they can curl into a ball and roll using their tails at a decent clip, 10-17 mph/16-27 kph and roll for twelve hours without pause. No need to breath, but can't exactly dive into the dark ocean depths either, Bumble Balls are naturally quite buoyant. Nightvision, See Invisible, thermal vision, glossolalia and the power to teleport across dimensions, but it only works 1% of the time. Impervious to fire, cold, disease, poison and most SDC weapons (though attacking an MDC monster with SDC weaponry is like firefighting with a super-soaker). As a Night Dmeon they are vulnerable to daylight, and also to silver. Cannot operate anything more than a button with their stabby hands, but the tail is prehensile and can at least grip things.

Psionics are nil.

Magic is limited: Death Trance, Thunderclap, Levitation, Chameleon, Lesser and Greater Invisibility.