COBRA in Rifts....

[Prince Artemis]

I sorta regret posting this even as I write it…. But in the somewhat awful spirit of… “What 80s stuff would be cool in Rifts”, I think COBRA would be much cooler than Transformers or Robotech. Any comments?

Yeah, pretty sure this is a borderline conversion topic....

[Library Ogre]

I sorta regret posting this even as I write it…. But in the somewhat awful spirit of… “What 80s stuff would be cool in Rifts”, I think COBRA would be much cooler than Transformers or Robotech. Any comments?

Golden Age Weaponsmiths.

You know all those "Such and such 20th/21st century product, translated into Rifts stats" topics we have?

All of those are done by Cobra. All of them.

[Marrowlight]

I sorta regret posting this even as I write it…. But in the somewhat awful spirit of… “What 80s stuff would be cool in Rifts”, I think COBRA would be much cooler than Transformers or Robotech. Any comments?

Yeah, pretty sure this is a borderline conversion topic....

and yet the Transformers thread is alive and well...

[taalismn]

Well, since we already HAVE Cobra Commander appearing in Merctown...
COBRA could ironcially wind up becoming one of the semi-good guys, depending on how tolerant they were of non-humans(they seem to have a policy of recruiting mutants against authoritarian organizations like world governments) so they could easily become a mercenary army with a come-one, come-all policy...of course, even if they defend your community from monsters, they'll most likely promptly turn around and enslave everybody in it and start running it as their own private fiefdom...

[Pepsi Jedi]

We have Cobra Commander in Merc town?

[Pepsi Jedi]

As a side note, I think this would be a rather amusing idea. Could totally see them hooking up with NG or the M.Imp.

Not so much the idiotic cartoon cobra. But some of the darker versions from the comics.

[kronos]

Isn't there a G.I. Joe movie in the works....?

[Josh Sinsapaugh]

We have Cobra Commander in Merc town?

The picture for the Cyber Street Gang, on page 89.

You must censor television, you fools!

~ Josh

[Pepsi Jedi]

Isn't there a G.I. Joe movie in the works....?

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/super-b ... views.html

First one.

[Pepsi Jedi]

We have Cobra Commander in Merc town?

The picture for the Cyber Street Gang, on page 89.

You must censor television, you fools!

~ Josh

Frak... That does look like him. Lol. Good eye.

Edit: Check out page 27 Rifts Mercenaries. Cobra general trooper.

[Josh Sinsapaugh]

We have Cobra Commander in Merc town?

The picture for the Cyber Street Gang, on page 89.

You must censor television, you fools!

~ Josh

Frak... That does look like him. Lol. Good eye.

Thanks.

Edit: Check out page 27 Rifts Mercenaries. Cobra general trooper.

Hehehehe.

~ Josh

[Pox]

I wasssss a d-bee.....WAASSSS A D-BEE!!!!

[taalismn]

Average COBRA Grunt: "At Last! Body armor worth a damn!"
COBRA Officer: "Reserved for OFFICERS!"
Grunt: "...oh...that sucks..."

[AzathothXy]

the whole snake eyes ninja thing was awesome. did not snake eyes kill his master??

The Soft Master? I think so...I know Zartan killed the Hard Master...

The Soft Master and Bongo the Balloon Bear were killed when their car was destroyed, I forgot who did it. And Billy was there but he survived.

[Marrowlight]

Bongo

[Pox]

the whole snake eyes ninja thing was awesome. did not snake eyes kill his master??

The Soft Master? I think so...I know Zartan killed the Hard Master...

The Soft Master and Bongo the Balloon Bear were killed when their car was destroyed, I forgot who did it. And Billy was there but he survived.

Scrap Iron did it with his rocket launcher.

Billy, Candi/Bongo, and the drunk driver that picked them up got into a car accident (I think with the Soft Master or something) at a Railroad crossing, Scrap Iron climbs telephone pole to see what happened and sees accident and pulls out Duel rocket launcher, Soft Master sees that they are about to get nuked and charges the missile. Scrap Iron blows him away, turns back to Firefly on the Ferret who gives him the thumbs down. Scrap Iron blows them the hell away. Dozens of issues later....Billy comes back without an eye-patch and a cybernetic leg and starts to get trained in Martial Arts.

odd the things you remember.

EDIT: Poor Ripcord though...finally starts to date Bongo/Candi, she breaks up with him cuz she can't deal with his life as a Joe, Loses one of the best one on one fights in Joe history with Zartan (Ace vs. Wild Weasel dogfight THE BEST), becomes part of Serpentor soup (I think) and then the ultimate slam...is now played by Marlon Wayans.

[Marrowlight]

(Ace vs. Wild Weasel dogfight THE BEST)

That was a good one -- though Slipstream vs. the Strato-Viper was also excellent.

[Balabanto]

Wow. Golden Age Weaponsmiths run by COBRA. The worst part is, that kind of fits. It would be the darker version from the comics, but SO WHAT? That's awesome. I'll have to debate using that, or some variant thereof. THere is an evil mexican serpent creature conspiracy after all, you could add some Nagas and some other creatures. That would be rough.

[Balabanto]

The best scene in the cartoon, by far, was when Destro used a grapple line and flipped onto the helicopter that Wild Bill was flying, then punched him in the mouth, knocked him out, and tossed him to the ground.

No. The best scene in the cartoon was "The Viper" when the window washer FINALLY shows up and they all are massively embarrassed.

[Shadyslug]

Why the heck would anyone want COBRA in Rifts?

I personally don't think there's much support for it...

[Rahmota]

If a PC manages to teach a moral lesson by the end of the session, they earn +500 exp

And thats one to grow on!

I've had character encounter some of the Gi-Joe/COBRA tech in Rifts before. It works out rather nicely.

[taalismn]

Why the heck would anyone want COBRA in Rifts?

I personally don't think there's much support for it...

Comic relief?
And because we're throwing pretty much everything ELSE into it...

[Traska]

No. The best scene in the cartoon was "The Viper" when the window washer FINALLY shows up and they all are massively embarrassed.

"I am... the viper! I come to vipe your vindows."

[Rimmerdal]

If a PC manages to teach a moral lesson by the end of the session, they earn +500 exp

And thats one to grow on!

I've had character encounter some of the Gi-Joe/COBRA tech in Rifts before. It works out rather nicely.

Just watch out for the Weather dominator....It's a bit touchy.

Seriously the Organization of Colbra is pretty much a staple of all evil empires. so yeah I would toss in colbra style enemy.

[Library Ogre]

I just got a mental image of Cobra being transferred to Rifts Earth... and then running into the physics difference between "role-playing game" and "80's cartoon show."

Them being devastated when someone actually DIES. When they shoot, and it actually kills someone. Blowing up vehicles, sure, but to actually watch that guy die? All I did was shoot at him! It was supposed to hit a vehicle! And when that tank blew up... no one got out. NO ONE GOT OUT! What is wrong with a universe where people don't jump out of tanks that are about to blow up, or bail out of exploding planes?

Imagine when the first Cobra trooper actually dies. Not captured. Not batted around. DEAD. Blood on the claws, chunks of flesh blown around DEAD.

Hell, that sounds like fun to play. Or to write into a background.

[taalismn]

I just got a mental image of Cobra being transferred to Rifts Earth... and then running into the physics difference between "role-playing game" and "80's cartoon show."

Them being devastated when someone actually DIES. When they shoot, and it actually kills someone. Blowing up vehicles, sure, but to actually watch that guy die? All I did was shoot at him! It was supposed to hit a vehicle! And when that tank blew up... no one got out. NO ONE GOT OUT! What is wrong with a universe where people don't jump out of tanks that are about to blow up, or bail out of exploding planes?

Imagine when the first Cobra trooper actually dies. Not captured. Not batted around. DEAD. Blood on the claws, chunks of flesh blown around DEAD.

Hell, that sounds like fun to play. Or to write into a background.

Ah...the Voltron Dodge...when the dubbed American safe-for-the-kiddies-version shows pilots with full pressure gear and respirator masks climb into their fighters, give the thumbs-up to their ground crews, take off, engage the ro-beast, and get wiped out in screaming fireballs....then some dullard officer voices over; "Fortunately, only a few robots got destroyed!"
Yeah...Is that why a letter from Princess Alura just arrived at that 'robot's' home, reading, "We regret to inform you..."?
Yeah, and seeing Destro or the Baroness trying to understand when their men report their encounter with a demonic being...
"What do you mean, it ATE him?"
"It TORE his head off! Swallowed his guts! Slurped down my squad! It GRINNED at us!"
"Surely you must be mistaken! No intelligent being would act like that! It was merely toying with your men, making you THINK it ate your men, when in reality it was capturing them for interrogation! You simple-minded idiot! You fell for an obvious Joe ploy...more involved than they usually are, but a ploy nevertheless! Now go back out there and stop them!"

[taalismn]

The best scene in the cartoon, by far, was when Destro used a grapple line and flipped onto the helicopter that Wild Bill was flying, then punched him in the mouth, knocked him out, and tossed him to the ground.

No. The best scene in the cartoon was "The Viper" when the window washer FINALLY shows up and they all are massively embarrassed.

Funniest scene, IMHO, was when COBRA had to leave the field when they ran out of cash...then the next shot was of all the troopers lined up waiting to collect unemployment/look for new jobs, while their commanders were bemoaning having to write recommendations, getting their resumes in order, and losing their top officers to shipping clerk positions....

[taalismn]

I just got a mental image of Cobra being transferred to Rifts Earth... and then running into the physics difference between "role-playing game" and "80's cartoon show."

You have it backwards

all 80'S CARTOON HERO/VILLAIN RCC's have AUTOMATICNETWORKCENSORDODGE+20, it is impossible to hit them with MDC and fatal weapons.
What can be done though, is punching, throwing, and dropping things on them.

They in turn, are incapable of inflicting damage against living things (robots are fair game), instead a natural roll of 19-20 to strike knocks out (not stun, completely knocked out, out of action) the target. 19-20 with shooting means a barrel is struck and falls on the target's head.

Atlantis has recieved reports of Splugorth Slavers have been reported found knocked out in completely safe locations.
The Coalition has seen large amounts of skelebots destroyed, while the human operators are found unconscious nearby
ARCHIE is very, very worried about their presence.

Also forgot all GIJ characters have Infinite Ammunition Pouches, and have at least 20 million credits to spend at the beginning of each group combat on ordnance(damage equiv of fireworks)

Any shot to the head of a GIJ character will result in Dramatic Amnesia, but no actual physical trauma...Dramatic Amnesia can usually be cured by hitching the character up to a (non-digital) television set, or by throwing the character into the middle of another firefight...

COBRA characters of high rank also have selective invisibility....they may appear in an exposed position at the front of their armies to inspire their troops...but NOBODY ON THE OTHER SIDE WILL TAKE A SHOT AT THEM until they close to hand to hand combat range...(please, one good sniper shot....)

[taalismn]

Who, if anybody, might COBRA align themselves with?

Themselves..Destro and Cobra Commander have enough ego to be armies onto themselves...

[The Galactus Kid]

Because I work in Health Insurance, I was almost really freaked out at this thread.

[Shawn Merrow]

Why the heck would anyone want COBRA in Rifts?

I personally don't think there's much support for it...

Comic relief?
And because we're throwing pretty much everything ELSE into it...

Didn't click the link did you?

[taalismn]

Because I work in Health Insurance, I was almost really freaked out at this thread.

Snakes in Planes, COBRAS in Rifts?

Health plan that doesn't require a plasma rifle sounds good to me...(but I'll keep the plasma rifle for the paperwork)

[taalismn]

Why the heck would anyone want COBRA in Rifts?

I personally don't think there's much support for it...

Comic relief?
And because we're throwing pretty much everything ELSE into it...

Didn't click the link did you?

Bad connection at the time...have since corrected that problem

[Rimmerdal]

Who, if anybody, might COBRA align themselves with?

Colbra Commander would likely stay in Merctown or the CS. But in the end he'd try and take over whoever he joined. If it's CS they would be a combat division with CS gear and support to deal with SN's.

Prosek: Hmmm you want to make a what?

Colbra Commander: Weather Dominator..

P: And it?

CC: Controls the weather.

P: Umm yeah...*scratches head*

Destro and the Baroness would likely take over GAW/Welington, then look to NG and Titan Robotics. I can see them going to the GAW and saying.."Say that's a nice arms factory..." (ala Terminator II)


If serpentor was in charge...MAY be a magical faction.

It would depend on who was in charge.

[taalismn]

Serpentor...Lone Star...Bradford would LOVE to see somebody else's attempt at creating a 'perfect' human being...
...then see if any COBRA grunts would object to being genespliced with snake DNA...

[Tags]

I looooooooooooooooove cobra...

[taalismn]

Sorry..compared to Prosek, Cobra Commander has NO personal charisma...he's either wearing a helmet, a sackcloth with eyeholes, and in either case his voice sounds like he's got a sore throat or he's coughing up hairballs...

Without a large bankroll or goons, he's not exactly awe-inspiring on his own..

[Corinth]

I think I can make use of COBRA in a more-or-less orthodox North America, do it seriously, and make it work.

The idea is that COBRA is a covert enterprise run by Coalition Military Intelligence. They are a terrorist organization, and most of their members are sincere and genuinely opposed to the Coalition States. They do recruit, train, organize and deploy operatives within and around the Coalition domain. They do execute attacks upon Coalition targets. They are dangerous, and they look like loyal Coalition citizens more often than not, so they can hide in plain sight. (If I were to use this in my game, COBRA would be a front for the Vanguard, which the latter group uses to screen out undesirables.) The Emperor can and does name COBRA as justification for many of the policies of the government.

Yes, Emperor Prosek executes false flag operations against his own subjects to further his own agenda. Unlike historical examples, this is not the primary purpose for COBRA; North America has plenty of true and credible threats that already provide all of the justification that Prosek and his government requires. Its primary purpose is to provide an easily-controlled channel for criminal and dissident elements (foreign and domestic) to follow, which has the benefit of easily identifying and eliminating them in deniable means. (Often while using those same targets to eliminate other trouble-making elements.) Using the Vanguard as the control for COBRA adds further credibility to the front and further deniability to the government; with this group of fanatical Coalition loyalists at the helm, the odds of this secret escaping is minimal. (Who would suspect an army led by anti-Coalition mages to be a vast counter-intelligence operation run by the Coalition?)

The Coalition government could then complete the divide-and-conquer scheme by funneling troublesome elements within the government into their own G.I.Joe group. Using a scheme where the Emperor controls both sides of the conflict--itself a historical means of acquiring and then maintaining control--grants the Emperor the means to perpetuate the socio-political prerequisites for the state of permanent, perpetual war that a man like him has to have to take and keep absolute power.

[taalismn]

Ouch...plus it makes great pay-per-view battles....

[Library Ogre]

I think I can make use of COBRA in a more-or-less orthodox North America, do it seriously, and make it work.

The idea is that COBRA is a covert enterprise run by Coalition Military Intelligence. They are a terrorist organization, and most of their members are sincere and genuinely opposed to the Coalition States. They do recruit, train, organize and deploy operatives within and around the Coalition domain. They do execute attacks upon Coalition targets. They are dangerous, and they look like loyal Coalition citizens more often than not, so they can hide in plain sight. (If I were to use this in my game, COBRA would be a front for the Vanguard, which the latter group uses to screen out undesirables.) The Emperor can and does name COBRA as justification for many of the policies of the government.

Yes, Emperor Prosek executes false flag operations against his own subjects to further his own agenda. Unlike historical examples, this is not the primary purpose for COBRA; North America has plenty of true and credible threats that already provide all of the justification that Prosek and his government requires. Its primary purpose is to provide an easily-controlled channel for criminal and dissident elements (foreign and domestic) to follow, which has the benefit of easily identifying and eliminating them in deniable means. (Often while using those same targets to eliminate other trouble-making elements.) Using the Vanguard as the control for COBRA adds further credibility to the front and further deniability to the government; with this group of fanatical Coalition loyalists at the helm, the odds of this secret escaping is minimal. (Who would suspect an army led by anti-Coalition mages to be a vast counter-intelligence operation run by the Coalition?)

The Coalition government could then complete the divide-and-conquer scheme by funneling troublesome elements within the government into their own G.I.Joe group. Using a scheme where the Emperor controls both sides of the conflict--itself a historical means of acquiring and then maintaining control--grants the Emperor the means to perpetuate the socio-political prerequisites for the state of permanent, perpetual war that a man like him has to have to take and keep absolute power.

Only one post in more than a year, but what a post.

That's FABULOUS! It works well, you can have "G.I. Joe" groups off doing things other than thwarting Cobra if you like, and it works into a dark, slightly twisted, view of the world.

[glitterboy2098]

oddly enough, i seem to remember an episode where a paranoid guy claimed exactly such a scheme regarding GIJoe and COBRA in the show. the guy got very popular on TV, got brought to the Joe HQ in an attempt ot prove him wrong, and snowballed into one of the dumber episodes.
the guy threw pointless insults at the joes to "try and show the truth", the sailor guy got so annoyed that he kidnapped the paranoid guy and brought him to a place their computer said was the center of COBRA activity, and they found COBRA digging some big hole (why i never understood...) then it turns out the paranoid guy was actually the baroness, and the act was a big scheme to get the public against the JOE's...talk about thinly veiled cold war era messages...
of course, in the end the sailor dude defeat cobra, cobra retreats, more thinly veield "the government is never wrong" messages followed by "and knowing is half the battle"....end credits...


i like your take on the idea better....

[taalismn]

oddly enough, i seem to remember an episode where a paranoid guy claimed exactly such a scheme regarding GIJoe and COBRA in the show. the guy got very popular on TV, got brought to the Joe HQ in an attempt ot prove him wrong, and snowballed into one of the dumber episodes.
the guy threw pointless insults at the joes to "try and show the truth", the sailor guy got so annoyed that he kidnapped the paranoid guy and brought him to a place their computer said was the center of COBRA activity, and they found COBRA digging some big hole (why i never understood...) then it turns out the paranoid guy was actually the baroness, and the act was a big scheme to get the public against the JOE's...talk about thinly veiled cold war era messages...
of course, in the end the sailor dude defeat cobra, cobra retreats, more thinly veield "the government is never wrong" messages followed by "and knowing is half the battle"....end credits...


i like your take on the idea better....

I remember that episode, that was Twenty Questions and the Joe was Shipwreck and the guy was called Hector Ramirez. Good times.

I was REALLY hoping to forget that episode....

[Rimmerdal]

oddly enough, i seem to remember an episode where a paranoid guy claimed exactly such a scheme regarding GIJoe and COBRA in the show. the guy got very popular on TV, got brought to the Joe HQ in an attempt ot prove him wrong, and snowballed into one of the dumber episodes.
the guy threw pointless insults at the joes to "try and show the truth", the sailor guy got so annoyed that he kidnapped the paranoid guy and brought him to a place their computer said was the center of COBRA activity, and they found COBRA digging some big hole (why i never understood...) then it turns out the paranoid guy was actually the baroness, and the act was a big scheme to get the public against the JOE's...talk about thinly veiled cold war era messages...
of course, in the end the sailor dude defeat cobra, cobra retreats, more thinly veield "the government is never wrong" messages followed by "and knowing is half the battle"....end credits...


i like your take on the idea better....

I remember that episode, that was Twenty Questions and the Joe was Shipwreck and the guy was called Hector Ramirez. Good times.

I was REALLY hoping to forget that episode....

It contained a really great quote though: "What is a sailor doing in the Rocky Mountains?"

Kinda makes you wonder about Snow Job and Blizzard (?) I mean why not give Flint and Lady Jay a set of skis and a Parka?

On aside note there is one called Blizzard according The G.I.Joe Wiki.

[Pox]

oddly enough, i seem to remember an episode where a paranoid guy claimed exactly such a scheme regarding GIJoe and COBRA in the show. the guy got very popular on TV, got brought to the Joe HQ in an attempt ot prove him wrong, and snowballed into one of the dumber episodes.
the guy threw pointless insults at the joes to "try and show the truth", the sailor guy got so annoyed that he kidnapped the paranoid guy and brought him to a place their computer said was the center of COBRA activity, and they found COBRA digging some big hole (why i never understood...) then it turns out the paranoid guy was actually the baroness, and the act was a big scheme to get the public against the JOE's...talk about thinly veiled cold war era messages...
of course, in the end the sailor dude defeat cobra, cobra retreats, more thinly veield "the government is never wrong" messages followed by "and knowing is half the battle"....end credits...


i like your take on the idea better....

I remember that episode, that was Twenty Questions and the Joe was Shipwreck and the guy was called Hector Ramirez. Good times.

I was REALLY hoping to forget that episode....

It contained a really great quote though: "What is a sailor doing in the Rocky Mountains?"

Kinda makes you wonder about Snow Job and Blizzard (?) I mean why not give Flint and Lady Jay a set of skis and a Parka?

On aside note there is one called Blizzard according The G.I.Joe Wiki.

There's been a crap-ton (alright maybe not a crap-ton but quite a few) of Joes who specialize in Cold weather climate. Snow Job, Blizzard, Iceberg (he got turned into an Orca!), Frostbite, Cold Front, Windchill, etc...

I mean someone has to show the Joes the ropes when the Snow Serpents and Ice Vipers attack.

[runebeo]

My favorite Cobra toy was the Cobra Flight Pod, but best toy ever was the GI Joe Killer Whale Hovercraft. Cobra did have some killer stuff and some of the Joe's stuff was kinda plain. I hated that Cobra didn't win more in the cartoons, losing the odd time would made things more interesting. Most of the weapons fired lasers in the comics and magic & voodoo was in a few of the comics.

[Pox]

My favorite Cobra toy was the Cobra Flight Pod, but best toy ever was the GI Joe Killer Whale Hovercraft. Cobra did have some killer stuff and some of the Joe's stuff was kinda plain. I hated that Cobra didn't win more in the cartoons, losing the odd time would made things more interesting. Most of the weapons fired lasers in the comics and magic & voodoo was in a few of the comics.

I think Trouble Bubbles look more menacing with Tomax and Xamot piloting them than Serpentor ever did on his hover sled.

It bugged the ever-loving gawd out of me that they used Snowspeeder sound effects/audio clips for their patrol in the beginning of the G.I.Joe movie (where Pythona shows up).

ugh...now I'm remembering the fact that they used Vader's TIE sound effects for Serpentor's air chariot during the fight around the BET...I swear you can hear Vader's respirator for a sec.