crazies: 31 flavors

[Pepsi Jedi]

Mine usually come out like a cross between Hannibal Lector and Riddick...... Crazy's rock.

But they all have inferiority complexes aginst Juicers.

I think that should be a rule. "If you're a Crazy you have to hate juicers and try and prove you're better"

[Ten Tigers]

The "I think I'm living in a comic book" crazy.

"I'M Batman!!!"

*flap, flap, flap*

[Pepsi Jedi]

The "I think I'm living in a comic book" crazy.

"I'M Batman!!!"

*flap, flap, flap*

SPLAT as he jumps off the top of the ATV and finds out he can't infact fly...

[Ten Tigers]

The "I think I'm living in a comic book" crazy.

"I'M Batman!!!"

*flap, flap, flap*

SPLAT as he jumps off the top of the ATV and finds out he can't infact fly...

*doesn't quite peel himself off the ground, just raises one hand into the air with and extended index finger*

[voice=muffled]I MEANT to do that!!![/voice]

[Daniel Stoker]

My friend made this crazy for his game, but his crazy was.. well him. He played it that the character was normal for the most part with a phobia of spiders, but beyond that he thought he was actually a guy sitting at a table with all his friends playing an RPG. So the character would be trying to 'rule' lawyer through out the game and complain about how he rolled a 1 when he missed etc. He handled it pretty well and only got annoying with it a few times when he just wouldn't be quiet and nearly got the party killed.

"No my character's not talking, I'm just explaining to you all that there is no way our plan to sneak past that guard around the corner is ever going to work!"


Daniel Stoker

[Daniel Stoker]

Rofl, that's great!

~Semi

One of the more amusing bits was his insistence on using AD&D 2nd rules for the character.

"Man, what's the AC on that monster? I mean with my THAC0 I should be tearing through it!"


Daniel Stoker

[taalismn]

Rofl, that's great!

~Semi

One of the more amusing bits was his insistence on using AD&D 2nd rules for the character.

"Man, what's the AC on that monster? I mean with my THAC0 I should be tearing through it!"


Daniel Stoker

A roleplayer playing a character who thinks he's a roleplayer using a different system, so much so that people can't tell where annoying PC starts and possibly annoying player ends....

Who is the true character? Who is the true player?

That's almost...zen....

[Mack]

Crazy's special abilities tend to be overlooked as well. Such as the extraordinary eyesight.

[Pepsi Jedi]

And taste.. *nods* Don't forget Shakes licking the bird....

[Library Ogre]

I kinda liked the idea of someone who was an unwilling Crazy... made one because it was the only way out of the situation they were in, and their insanity is manifesting as their anger and frustration at their slowly degenerating sanity.

I call it an autoneurotic crazy.

[Mack]

I had an idea for a crazy who honestly believed he bought an "upgraded" set of hardware that wouldn't affect his sanity. All those loopy-wacko Crazies just couldn't afford to buy quality impants, like he did.

So as time progressed, he would try to act normal and attempt to rationalize (if only to himself) any odd behavior.

Well of course I shot that mouse with the grenade launcher. No, I'm not afraid of them! Do you know how many diseases those things can carry? It was for everyone's benefit, really!

[Pepsi Jedi]

Well there in lays the age old question.

"If your crazy do you KNOW your crazy or do you do the things you do and think them normal and everyone else a bit 'off' for reacting negitivly to them?"

[DrBeau]

I prefer Crazies to start with no insanities...the way they are in the books. Honestly, I thing the degeneration of the character from "normal" to "loopy" is the interesting part of the character. Having a Crazy start off crazy is like have a Juicer start off in Last Call.

[Library Ogre]

One of the things that annoyed me about the RUE crazy was the justification for the knobs.

"They could have no knobs, but Crazies are crazy, so they like the knobs, because it shows everyone that they're Crazies."

That would only work in a few cases... people who became Crazies for the notoriety one got for being a Crazy, but for some reason didn't go Juicer, instead. Those who became Crazies for the power or abilities might have wanted to conceal their nature; employers making Crazies might want to advertise which soldiers were likely to be bonkers, or might've wanted their Crazies to be able to pull off stealth (insofar as they were able) without their tin cans getting in the way.

[Pepsi Jedi]

It does say that some do get the little pin head size implants.

Thing is, becoming a crazy takes a certain type of individual to startwith. Sure you get all the bonous but with a CERTINTY that you're going to go nuts.

Juicers can at least fool themselves with "I'll do this, make money for a few years, then detox and live on the wealth."

Crazies go "Ok I"m going to do this and it means UNAVOIDABLE uncureable brain damage and will (( Not MAY)) drive me insane.. but I'm going to do it anyway.

That's not really a fully stable person even BEFORE they get the implants.

Coupled with the "Mystique" of the crazy, it drives some to advertise. In their minds, being a crazy is being a hero. If you're going to do it. Why hide it? You are what you are. You sacrificed your BRAIN, to become whe you are. WHy on earth hide that from the people around you?

Sure.. it makes crazies a bit harder to sneak past somone, but if you want to, just play one with out the nobs.

More over. If you're a GM, give the 'Heros' of the tale a crazy bad guy but make him LOOK human..... don't give him the nobs and when the scat hits the fan, SURPRISE.

[Crazy Lou]

Mine usually come out like a cross between Hannibal Lector and Riddick...... Crazy's rock.

But they all have inferiority complexes aginst Juicers.

I think that should be a rule. "If you're a Crazy you have to hate juicers and try and prove you're better"

yea, that comparison is a natural one due to how close the two come out after everything is said and done. i'm of the opinion that juicers and crazies should have more differences. juicers should be tough and strong as an ox but dumb as a stick [observe their real-life counterparts], while crazies' fearlessness and heightened senses and agility should create more depth of skills.

I think making juicers be dumb as a stick would be needlessly restrictive to character creation and development, and limiting on what sort of person they could be like. It'd be forcing an unfair stereotype in my opinion. Who's to say you cant have an intelligent, calculating juicer assassin or a clever gladiator?

[Prince Cherico]

There are many ways to play a crazy

its fun to play them as the funny wise guys and most do

but why not play it for angst and terror, your slowly but surely
losing your mind and nothing you can do can stop it another RPG
plays like this call of chuthulu.
Roll with the depression and sadness and inherent angst of the
charater

[Greyaxe]

Given how "Crazy" the world is and how little knowledge people have of mental illness, the warning "thoes things will drive you crazy" is like saying your children will drive you crazy. The average desperate joe who goes in to human augmentation to provide for himself, his family, friends or to be a hero and do something meaningfull with their lives like be a defender of your little village, isn't likly to understand what Crazy really is, or haow bad going crazy can actually be. Thoes who do know just how bonkers crazys are are either the kind of person described in RUE or they just dont care. Personally you are either desperate or crazy to get augmentation at all. As such I play the diesturbed hero who tries to limit the effects of his insanity by asking other s if he is behaving crazy, but discretly. "would you do that?" Was that a silly thing to do, (after shooting the spider with plasma ejectors)

[Pepsi Jedi]

Eh... I'm not buying that.

Why would you let somone put stuff in your brain if you were ignorant of what it did? I know I wouldn't.

Nor do I buy the "They just don't understand how crazy crazy's are."

The only way you'd wanna get it is if you'd seen a Crazy in action and many of the crazy stuff isn't all that easy to hide. And legends and storys tend to exagerate, not underplay such things. If anything crazy's probably arn't as nutso as their reps make out.

I respect your thoughts on it, I just disagree.

[Crazy Lou]

I have a feeling that though you may be right in many instances, Pepsi Jedi, I think that Greyaxe is probably right just as often. Many poor people might be desperate to get augmentation, but know they'd rather not die in 6-7 years, and opt for the crazy as lesser of two evils (die vs. go crazy and still get $$ for family) or poor/uninformed people (most often probably ppl from the wilderness or less technical regions) don't realize what "crazy" can imply, as it's unlikely that young Bob from the town of 25 wilderness folk has met a totally nutso person before.

[Pepsi Jedi]

If you're that poor and ignorant though

1) where are you getting the super high tech brain surgery done and
2) how are you finding the funds to get the super high tech brain surgery done?

Sure some can "Have the proceedure in lue of services promised" But only so many people are going to agree to an up front investment like that.

Even then. "You're gonna stick WHAT in my BRAIN??"

________________Has___________________ to come up before you get to the end point probably followed by 'What's it gonna DO to me?" and "Are there any side effects? That sounds dangerous as hell!"

[DrBeau]

The easy way:

Disreputable Rich Person: "I'll pay for this surgery so you can defend your town, but you'll need to give me x amount of time in my service."

[Greyaxe]

Eh... I'm not buying that.

Why would you let somone put stuff in your brain if you were ignorant of what it did? I know I wouldn't.

Nor do I buy the "They just don't understand how crazy crazy's are."

The only way you'd wanna get it is if you'd seen a Crazy in action and many of the crazy stuff isn't all that easy to hide. And legends and storys tend to exagerate, not underplay such things. If anything crazy's probably arn't as nutso as their reps make out.

I respect your thoughts on it, I just disagree.

fair enough.

[Ravenwing]

I like Deadpool as a crazy.

[Greyaxe]

I have a feeling that though you may be right in many instances, Pepsi Jedi, I think that Greyaxe is probably right just as often. Many poor people might be desperate to get augmentation, but know they'd rather not die in 6-7 years, and opt for the crazy as lesser of two evils (die vs. go crazy and still get $$ for family) or poor/uninformed people (most often probably ppl from the wilderness or less technical regions) don't realize what "crazy" can imply, as it's unlikely that young Bob from the town of 25 wilderness folk has met a totally nutso person before.

Thanks Lou

[Greyaxe]

If you're that poor and ignorant though

1) where are you getting the super high tech brain surgery done and
2) how are you finding the funds to get the super high tech brain surgery done?
Sure some can "Have the proceedure in lue of services promised" But only so many people are going to agree to an up front investment like that.

Even then. "You're gonna stick WHAT in my BRAIN??"

________________Has___________________ to come up before you get to the end point probably followed by 'What's it gonna DO to me?" and "Are there any side effects? That sounds dangerous as hell!"

No there are no real side effects nothing tangable at all, and thanks to this drug we administer right before the surgury there is no pain at all. In fact the needle we give you will be the last pain you ever feel, after the surgury you will be an invincible superhero. Dont worry ol Murder-Death-kill, will take care of you and yours.

[Pepsi Jedi]

Yeah it's all well and good to trick them. Till you remember they go insane and are now supermen that can catch birds in mid flight and they come back to HOOOOOSE YOU. lol

[Crazy Lou]

too bad the skills system is so feeble, i think the crazy would benefit from a really cool skill package. not the infamous "everybody got their radio: basic? ok let's go team!"

Huh?

Anyway, if you hate so much about Rifts (just got done lookin at ur posts in the what would you change abt Rifts thread) then why are you posting about how feeble this is, or how that needs a total re-write, in the Rifts section of these forums? Also, radio basic is an extremely useful skill, and thus it makes sense that most adventurerers would know how to use one (besides, it's not like radios are complex things... it wouldn't take much to learn the skill).

Finally, I just want to say that I'm not trying to be mean about you posting here, I'm legitimately confused why you're frequenting the Rifts section if you have so many problems with it.

[Daniel Stoker]

the crazy is one of the coolest character concepts, but because the way the OCC is structured they're pretty much stuck playing second fiddle to the juicer. i know i know, sense of smell and all that but how many players who even bother to play SDC characters pick crazies over juicers? this is the problem i'm having and the reason why i'm posting.

Well first off, how would a 'better' skill package fix that? And I know all kinds who have decided they'd rather have a fun insanities later on for their character then have to die or worry about having their character turned into a borg. The two O.C.C.'s weren't made to be an equal either or though, which seems to be part of the problem here.


Daniel Stoker

[Crazy Lou]

too bad the skills system is so feeble, i think the crazy would benefit from a really cool skill package. not the infamous "everybody got their radio: basic? ok let's go team!"

Huh?

Anyway, if you hate so much about Rifts (just got done lookin at ur posts in the what would you change abt Rifts thread) then why are you posting about how feeble this is, or how that needs a total re-write, in the Rifts section of these forums? Also, radio basic is an extremely useful skill, and thus it makes sense that most adventurerers would know how to use one (besides, it's not like radios are complex things... it wouldn't take much to learn the skill).

Finally, I just want to say that I'm not trying to be mean about you posting here, I'm legitimately confused why you're frequenting the Rifts section if you have so many problems with it.

so raise your hand if you havent heard this before, i'm one of the guys who likes the setting of Rifts but hates the game mechanics. i come here to see how other gamers have adapted Rifts to their style of play, house rules and so forth. unless you all play strictly from the book (is that even really possible?)

the crazy is one of the coolest character concepts, but because the way the OCC is structured they're pretty much stuck playing second fiddle to the juicer. i know i know, sense of smell and all that but how many players who even bother to play SDC characters pick crazies over juicers? this is the problem i'm having and the reason why i'm posting.

Fair enough.

Also, I'm with Daniel here; they weren't meant to be equal -- juicers were meant to be better. Which also explains why they have a worse penalty (in game terms anyway -- we can debate the philosophy of death vs. utter insanity too but...). Lastly, I think another main reason (besides juicers being better) people pick juicers over crazies is b/c it's much harder to play a Crazy than a Juicer.

[Prince Cherico]

Why do people become crazys

Its easy to say that the people who become crazys are dumb hicks
but thats not the case at all lets look at their skills every crazy gets

native langage
another language
Climbing
dance
detect ambush
Detect concelment
electronic counter measures
escape artist
Gymnastics
land navagation
radio basic
streetwise
tailing
swimming
5 wps
Hand to hand Martial arts

some of these are pretty rare skills ones you need a training
dojo of some sort to pull off,
escape artist- have you ever tried to escape from handcuffs?
its pretty hard, crazys are trained to get out of restraints, and escape
confinement, this is a very specialised skill one thats hard to master
or even learn, AND EVERY crazy possesses this skill

Crazys are trained to detect ambushes and conceled weapons
you can say this kind of skill isnt learned in a structored invironment
but the bonuese and the fact that once again Every crazy possess this
skill makes it doubtfull.

Then their is electronic countermeasures ok no the agument for country
hick is demolished you dont come out of the sticks and learn how to
fool sophiscated eletronics outside of a structored environment

Gymnastics, Prowl, streetwise, tailing, Maritial arts
all these skills together point to some one trained in stealth

So what you have based on these skills is a class of indiviudual who
are highly trained and competant,
look at the tital they are thought of as NINJA MASTERS

you guys are thinking of Crazys as some sort of samuri thats not
how they operate these are the guys that sneak up on you and slit
your throught while you sleep.

So who are the crazys

Crazys learn their skills in a strutored invironment like a dojo or
in an aprentenship. The world of rifts is a dangerous place and
that breeds martial arts schools. theres a good chance that any town
worth mentioning has a dojo. Its in these dojos that a crazy is trained
and eventally born. You find that in a lot of dojos the local master
is a crazy, thats right a crazy oh sure the old coots a loon but hes
got years of experence, has saved up plently of money and is a
respected member of the comunity if unbalanced.
Crazys often become enamored with the martial arts lifestile and
eventally they discover the only way to become just as good as their
master is to become enhanced.
being a crazy has a mystic about it they are fearless shadow warrors
who stalk the night becoming a crazy is like becoming a ninja in the
20th century.
Once you undergo the process your put into a dedicated training
environment and become a member of a large subculture with a large
support network, crazys stick together they have bonbs and there are
famlys where becoming a crazy is a tradition streching back to the
golden age of man.
A crazy is the summit in the world of martial arts, Juciers use drugs
and die long before they gain true mastery of the martial arts, Borgs
gain all their power from machines and have to stoop to being fixed.
Crazys though have the time to trully master their martial arts,
they are self sufficient once they get the implants thats done they dont
need to pay for more drugs or more parts its just them and the purity
of their skills and that has a mystik to it.
To be a crazy is to have the ability to grow old and become like the
head of the dojo that trained you.

[Library Ogre]

Let's regroup the skills a crazy gets, shall we?

Why do people become crazys

Its easy to say that the people who become crazys are dumb hicks
but thats not the case at all lets look at their skills every crazy gets

native langage, another language

Almost everyone in Rifts Earth has these; it's a polyglot society.

Climbing, dance, escape artist, Gymnastics, swimming, 5 wps, Hand to hand Martial arts

These are VERY physical activities, which would be greatly aided by having heightened strength, speed, agility, and endurance. A crazy will learn most of these very fast; in fact, I'd bet they don't so much "learn" dance and gymnastics as "have the equivalent of" because of their implants. Even Escape Artist becomes pretty easy when you've got superhuman strength and agility coupled with the ability to ignore significant amounts of pain.

detect ambush, Detect concealment

These two are part technique, but, again, they're greatly aided by being hyper-aware... and, in a crazy's case, psychic.

electronic counter measures, land navagation, radio basic, streetwise, tailing

These five skills are not precisely related to a Crazy's powers... but, then, five skills is not all that much.

[Crazy Lou]

Uh, did you just suggest that being agile instinctively makes you know how to dance? Come on.

And while being agile will help in the development of martial arts and wps, most of that is highly sophisticated disciplines. Same w/ escape artist -- being strong (btw, crazy's just have augmented strength, not superhuman) won't help you get out of MDC handcuffs! Agility would some, but again that requires mostly technique, not just precise control of your limbs.

[Daniel Stoker]

Then play a mage who looses all this magic powers when he gets the Crazy enhancements as they disrupt his PPE and take the Ley Line Walker Skills and have the crazy bonuses.


Daniel Stoker

[Daniel Stoker]

i'm not sure that a pea-sized implant should interrupt PPE?

It's not just one pea sized implant (even if you go for the non-coke can sized version) and it's in the brain.... I don't see why it wouldn't. I could swear they gave an answer on that somewhere too. Or maybe not since we also have the TW Crazy down in SA. Or you could just play Senor Vorpal Kickass'o.


Daniel Stoker

[Mack]

Lastly, I think another main reason (besides juicers being better) people pick juicers over crazies is b/c it's much harder to play a Crazy than a Juicer.

Bingo. It takes a special breed of player to pull off a Crazy. Insanities demand role playing. Juicers can get by with roll playing.

Additional, anyone playing a Crazy has to give up a certain amount of control. You probably have a good idea of how you want to develop your character, but with all the random tables a Crazy has to use as he/she levels that plan will go right out the window.

[taalismn]

eh... what?


people become crazies because their entire world is already pretty insane.
at least this way they can fight back.

Exactly...it's a way to acquire an edge, anything to stay even just a step ahead of the opposition, which in many cases just can't be reasoned with...
And like most shortcuts to power, there's a certain amount of arrogance involved....people go in with the idea that "i can handle this',"It ain't going to happen to me', and 'I know what I'm getting into', even as they're desperate as all-out for the edge...

Ther may even be a certain addictive property to it...after all, being a Crazy messes with your mind...People see Crazies acting as if they haven't a care in the world, radiating ultimate cool or ultimate unconcern, aboyt impossible odds or suicidal stunts....people would LOVE to have that sort of unconcern, and the sort of security from fear it offers...even though it's a tissue-paper sense of security or a euphoria that keeps opne from noticing one's chewed-off leg...

[Library Ogre]

Uh, did you just suggest that being agile instinctively makes you know how to dance? Come on.

Agility, a sense of timing and rhythm brought about by hyped-up metabolisms... yeah, they can dance convincingly well. They won't be professionals, but they won't be stumbling over their feet, either, and they'll pick up new dances with a minimum of effort.

And while being agile will help in the development of martial arts and wps, most of that is highly sophisticated disciplines. Same w/ escape artist -- being strong (btw, crazy's just have augmented strength, not superhuman) won't help you get out of MDC handcuffs! Agility would some, but again that requires mostly technique, not just precise control of your limbs.

Being able to ignore pain will do a lot for getting out of handcuffs, as well... as will the agility to easily move your bound wrists beneath your legs. They're still going to have to learn, of course... but a lot of it will be easier because their bodies will do it for them.

As for not really being an OCC, I tend to agree; I'd be more inclined to make a generic "headhunter" OCC, and give them the option of partial bionics, juicer conversion, or MOM implants. A full borg is, IMO, sufficiently different that he would need training in who he was, as would a power armor trooper.