Novemterra

if you want something crazy be a crazy Yes, that is an actual class. Rifts has the ability to create literally any character you want. You can do a random character if you don't have a clue what kind of character you want, otherwise let me know what kind of character idea you want and I'll give you some ideas on how to get there.

actually, i played a mind melter and a dragon hatchling.... both from the main rifts book. woops, i lied :)

i think i'm just going to read the core rulebook, and create something out of that. i'm not exactly sure if i'm doing about it the right way, and i have absolutely no idea what kinds of classes or characters are available...

we'll see what this leads to, i guess...

Heh, just be a human coalition sammas or glitterboy pilot, you'll be all set

To create character follow the character creation in beginning of book. Choosing skills is the most complicated/time consuming part. If you need help, let me know and I can give you advice on which skills are the most useful.

yay! then we'll have someone with the big gunz :D

what happens when i don't want to play a normal bnb set class?

(correct me if i'm wrong, ben/andrew)

There are really two ways to go about this.

1) you play a human and follow the standard character creation starting at the beginning of the core book - roll stats (IQ, MA, ME, PE, PP, PS, PB, SPD) according to the system listed in the book, then choose an OCC (occupational character class) which is essentially your job. This will tell you what bonuses you get, what skills you can select what alignments you can be (which is usually all), etc. This may be a good way to start for your first Rifts character.

2) you play a non-human and follow similar, but different steps. find the RCC (racial character class) in the book (it will say RCC instead of OCC) and roll the stats it lists. For example, (this is from South America 2 as I've currently got the book open) the True Inca (RCC) has the following stats - IQ (3D6+4), ME (3D6+4), MA (3D6+6), PS (4D6+6), PP (3D6+5), PE (3D6+10), PB (3D6+6), SPD (4D6+8). The difference is that these have obvious limits. A human, if they roll a 16+ initially and continue rolling sixes on the bonus die, can have stats in the 100s (ridiculous, but possible). The RCC class then tells you what abilities you get, what skills you can pick, any combat bonuses, etc. An RCC example can be found on page 97 of the core book.

I personally like playing RCCs better... but that's just my preference. OCCs have their merit and I was tempted by a few this time before narrowing my decision down to 2 or 3 RCCs. If you are hell bent on playing an RCC, a few books to check would be South America, South America 2, or Atlantis.

okay, i decided i want to play a zapper. what do i do now? roll stats?

The RCC example is a dragon D:

haha, yeah i know. what page is 'zapper' on (and what book)?

psyscape, p81. actually, that post was supposed to be a note taking post, since google chrome crashes every 4 minutes...

i'm still reading the section, though

for the Zapper it looks like you need to roll up standard stats. I believe this should be 3D6 (reroll 1s) or 4D6 drop the lowest. If any stats are 16+ you roll one additional die and add that value to the attribute. If that extra die rolls a 6, roll again and add it to the stat again. Keep repeating this until you do not roll a 6 for the bonus die.

ex: you roll 3D6 reroll 1s for IQ. results - 1, 4, 6. reroll the one and get a 6. Your IQ is now 16, but since it is 16+ you roll another die and get: 6. Now your stat is 22, but since you rolled a 6, you add another bonus die and roll: 4. Your final IQ stat is now 26 (very high for a human).

ex: you roll 3D6 reroll 1s for MA. results - 2, 2, 2. your final stat for MA is 6 (low, but thems the breaks).

repeat this process for all stats (IQ, MA, ME, PS, PP, PE, PB, SPD).

wait..... you reroll 1's? i'd have higher stats then >.<

And zappers are badass :D good choice david, cept now the coalition will be on our band's ass for our inevitably short existence.

i actually don't think you can reroll 1's unless Ben said so explicitly.

The core rulebook actually says that you might even start with 3 HP, which is only possible if you don't reroll 1's. so I'm pretty sure it's not possible. It's under Determining Hit Points on page 9, if you wanna check.

the 8 stats would be the only place you would ever reroll 1s. it's definitely ben's call, but from the last time i remember playing Rifts it was one of the two methods (4D6 drop the lowest, or 3D6 reroll 1s) though, those might have been Gert's rules.

also - stats are not the be all/end all of RPGs anyway. the whole RP part of RPG pretty much sums up what it's all about. stats only affect that to a degree.

Yeah, plus ben said that he would tailor the game to our character's abillities. So by all means, make all your stats 30's, but just remember, the encounters will be tougher and I will be less likely to stay and back you up if that is the case. Me no likey big monsters

lol, i was originally planning on playing a really crappy character, like a city rat or something...

and i guess i'm ignoring the insanity things for now...D:

EDIT: finally finished my character...i hope, lol...

Good work. I look forward to playing the campaign with ya :)

So what are the rules for character creation?
3d6?
If 16+, add 1d6, if roll 6, roll again (can be theoretically indefinite).
Yes or no on rerolls of 1? If yes, for base 3d6 only, or includes bonus die (would be kinda high powered).

Not being sure, I just used the method in the book. I rolled my stats, then found a list of character classes and racial classes (in the original book only) and rolled to see which one I'll be. I rolled cyber-knight. In the book it suggest that the cyber-knight should have high stats in certain skills. Due to my organic roll, I am lacking one. I have a dumb (low IQ) cyber-knight (One of 4 stats that 3d6 rolls came up totaling single digits). If this is impractical, should I just "roll/get" a new class? If its just a difficulty, then I'll stick with it. Advice?

Actually, I think I'll finish creating (rolling up) the character and ask you guys for comments and more importantly, advice.

Heh, I don't really care how people create their characters. We usually do the 3d6 reroll 1's or 4d6 keep 3 highest, just because the characters are supposed to be the stars of the story, and therefor should be somehow exceptional. Higher stats are one way to achieve that. Obviously on the 16+ roll a 1 would be kept. This method makes it much more likely that a human will get exceptional stats. Again, remember, that if you are super-powered you will stand out...both to your allies, and to your enemies. A PB of 30 is fun to play in some circumstances, but try hiding from your enemies when everyone is awestruck by your beauty and half the people in town are stalking you, noting your every move, pictures worse than the paparazzi at every turn. As to generating random stats/random character I would suggest rolling your stats, generating your character then assigning your stat values to a stat. That way you can make the stats you need higher. If you still just don't have a value you need for a stat you can either reroll it using the method listed above (give than you rolled it as a straight 3d6 before) or you can just play a character with a weakness. There is something to be said for it, you don't always need to be perfectly created to have fun playing it. A city rat is one of the physically weakest characters in the game, and a crappy fighter, but I think I've had more fun playing them in the past than any other character. They can get into anywhere, out of anywhere and find out anything they need to know. Need info/intel on anyone, they are the ones to use. So don't let a lower stat discourage you. Also, note that you can beef up any physical stat by choosing physical skills. So you might put a lower stat into a physical ability (I always recommend making speed your lowest value skill because running add 4d4 to it) then beef it up with skills. Your mental abilities can never be improved, so choose your better stats there.

Even if Ben allows reroll 1s (on 3D6 method only), you would not reroll 1s for the bonus die for 16+ stat. Again, Ben has the only say on this, I'm just going on memory from a long time ago.

The other thing is, I think, you roll 8 stats and can then assign them to the attributes. I don't think you have to roll them in order for the standard creation. ie. your 7th stat rolled could be assigned to your IQ if you wanted. Ben or someone else will have to confirm this, but I don't see what the problem is when all stats are rolled the same using either the 3D6 or the 4D6 method.

EDIT: it looks like Ben covered this in the post above... while I was typing this. hahah.

lol okay, i guess this works.

i already sent my stuff to Ben, so if everything works out, I'll be joining you guys! ^_^

i'm gonna try to play a non-standard character, at least what i've never played before

lolz..... now i'm just looking forward to what snaphin plays, and then we'll have a standard party! w00t!

RaSa wrote:

lolz..... now i'm just looking forward to what snaphin plays, and then we'll have a standard party! w00t!

Andrew, I'm guessing my previous post was too far up for you to read. I think I mentioned that I "selected" a cyber-knight.

Don't remember the exact number, but I found somewhere around 25-30 OCCs and RCCs mentioned (with some stats/details) in the base RPG-RIFTS book. I rolled and came up with cyber-knight. I gotta run to work now. Hopefully I'll have time tonight to finish up more of the character. I try rerolling since I don't remember all my exact rolls. Instead of the organic I'll try the roll 8 attribute stats and place them where I need them.

oh, kewl. Glad to see you picked something :-P

wow our group is gonna be weird as hell.