Chaos Unlimited! Heroes vs. Coming of Rifts

[JTwig]

I'm currently working on a world change twist to my campaign. In my game world their was an ancient war between the splugorth and atlanteans, witch resulted in one side detonating a techno-wizard WMD that sealed off the dimension from the rest of the megaverse. It cost twice as much p.p.e. to leave the dimension, and all percentages for dimensional teleporting are reduced by 1/2 when trying to leave. As for entering it cost triple p.p.e., and all percentages are reduced by 1/3rd. Over the last few game sessions I've been dropping leads about cetain jewels, named the Lost Atlantean Gems, that when combined will allow a Dominator (from phase world) to enter our dimension, complete with fortress citadel. The fortress will appear in Century Station, which will be surrounded by a force field that will keep those outside from entering, and those inside from leaving. The Dominator will use the time that the force field buys him to build up his forces so he can attempt to conquer north america. Of course the players will have a chance to stop him before this happens by following the leads to the Lost Atlantean Gems, and afterwards since they will be inside the force field. I was recently inspired when I went through my old comic collection and found some AoA books.

[Drakenred®™©]

eh

theirs a few things we have nowdays that are technicaly mega damage materials(the M-1 Abrams for example, theirs not a man portable rifle out their that can do more than skuff the paint of the main hull Figurativly sspeaking even on full auto with a 10,000,000 round ammo belt) So I would use So I dont see a problem with useing MDC, just convert eveything on earth to something like robotech, Major powers and mega heroes are MDC, and go from their.

[Drakenred®™©]

MDC No!

The way I have played it is closer to what we have nowdays

If you realy want to take out a tank, you use either an anti tank missle, a heavy enough bomb, a mega power, or another tank, you dont go mano-a-mano with a tank when all you have is soiled er uniform, a 1911a and a P-38 can-opener.

[Drakenred®™©]

eh

theirs a few things we have nowdays that are technicaly mega damage materials(the M-1 Abrams for example, theirs not a man portable rifle out their that can do more than skuff the paint of the main hull Figurativly sspeaking even on full auto with a 10,000,000 round ammo belt) So I would use So I dont see a problem with useing MDC, just convert eveything on earth to something like robotech, Major powers and mega heroes are MDC, and go from their.

Well, I want your standard hero to be able to go head up with your standard demon...which would require them going SDC or all heroes with extra sdc going MDC..

If your useing a super hero with powers, thoes will give some MDC, otherwise they should be able to get their hands on some of Alien tech/magic (for example its posible that some of them use a "ID" ring that reduces MDC damage by 100%, defacto converting it to SDC, but only works on SDC creatures.

or you can just do what we did with the superhero game

Low level demons are SDC(up to = hatchling dragons)

Mid level demons have some MDC, but they still have their listed SDC and hitpoints(theis are the ones who would be = adult dragons

High level demons are MDC (the ones that are = anchient dragons)

or you can leave the demons as SDC critters and their military level hardware and magic as MDC

[Cardiac]

We know the tech is there...KLS invented the GB's unique laser-reflective armor in the old Villians Unlimited.

Not to mention Cyberworks - the guys who were responsible for Archie 3.

As for the rules - I think one can come up with a better alternative to the Standard MDC system. Maybe try a 1:10 ratio instead of the standard 1:100.

One thing I hate about Rifts (and I GMed it for over 5 years) is that SDC and HP were typically meaningless stats, and that even "role-players" can sometimes be overshadowed by the equipment their characters are carrying (it's almost like they become defined by their MDC because in the violent world of Rifts MDC = survival).

The best solution would be to ditch the MDC and AR systems and institute a Damage Resistance system.

[znbrtn]

i really like the concept so far.

as for canadian heroes, don't worry about alpha flight. they do have a lot of canada-inspired heroes, but that doesn't mean that they're the only ones who can have them. there are still a few things that they haven't really taken.... like....... umm...... hockey.......? seriously, though, don't worry about what has and hasn't been taken.

[Prince Cherico]

Dark lord will you be running this game play by post?

[Prince Cherico]

this is a kewl Idea but I would not have themsave the world more like a town they gather in to protect. Years later during Rifts time you could have a small town out in the mid. of nowhere full of superpowered pestants. Would be funny when the CS comes a calling trying to bully everyone around just to find out the hard way who these people are.


If anyone has seen Kung Fu husle think Pig stie alley with super heroes instead of Kung Fu masters.

yea that would be pretty cool

[znbrtn]

this is a kewl Idea but I would not have themsave the world more like a town they gather in to protect. Years later during Rifts time you could have a small town out in the mid. of nowhere full of superpowered pestants. Would be funny when the CS comes a calling trying to bully everyone around just to find out the hard way who these people are.


If anyone has seen Kung Fu husle think Pig stie alley with super heroes instead of Kung Fu masters.

that'd be a neat alternate ending. i'd still keep it somewhat open, though.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Another consideration: characters from Rifts Earth have occasionally found themselves in the HU setting. In Villains Unlimited, for example, we have a former Lone Star scientist known as Doctor Alexander, who seems to have resumed his research in this newfound dimension, creating monstrous creatures such as Lethalis.

It's possible that such characters, being nominally familiar with the phenomenon of the rifts, and possibly even the history of the Pre-Rifts period, may use their advanced knowledge to take advantage of this "repeat" Coming of the Rifts, perhaps to return to their former world, or to influence the future state of their new world.

[Sir_Spirit]

what do people think of the concept itself? Has anyone tried it before?
I'd love to hear people's takes on what would happen to things like Century Station and the Mutant Underground and SCRET and the like.
How far would you take the heroic aspects? Would you provide a way for their powers to plug or safely vent the Yellow Stone Supervolcano?

Geo-thermal Energy, sub-power number 5 (Stop Geological Forces).

In fact, things like that and CEF Air and water could help alleviate/protect alot of cities from natural disasters("What's that you say? There's a level hurricane coming this way? I just use CEF:Air to reduce the temp to -50 and take all the mostiure out of the air. There, NO more hurricane. " )

Any other heroes I miss?

Need characters for the Titans and the Tundra Rangers...

I'm really at a loss for Tundra Rangers, esp. since alpha flight took all the obvious canadian hero names...lol

May I suggest something truly radical here?
Like NOT using stupid national stereotypes?
I'm not canadian, but how would you feel if Tyciol insisted that his "american superteam" consist of "Afro-man"(with prehensile hair among other powers), 'Disco Stu'(super energy expulsion: light AND sound), 'Cowboy guy'(trick pistols), 'Injun'(and all I'll say is "Inukchuk!"), and last but not least "whore girl"(because all americans are 'loose with their virtue').

(And just to be clear, I neither invented nor plan on using those stereotypes, but brought them up as something I wouldn't enjoy some one else creating using.....)

For the Titans there's, of course, Nemo-2...but not sure what his powers would be.

I would personally just make them mega-beings(probably from the immortals catagory in PU2(they even have aquatic immortals, hint! hint!).....

[Sir Neil]

I think Chaos Unlimited is a great idea.

Then there'd be ...crap...what's the name of the half-fish guys from Tritonia?

Amphibs. "Tritonian" would sound much better.

I'm not canadian, but how would you feel if Tyciol insisted that his "american superteam" consist of "Afro-man"(with prehensile hair among other powers), 'Disco Stu'(super energy expulsion: light AND sound), 'Cowboy guy'(trick pistols), 'Injun'(and all I'll say is "Inukchuk!"), and last but not least "whore girl"(because all americans are 'loose with their virtue').

I'd be fine with it. Dibs on Cowboy Guy!

[Guest]

I think Chaos Unlimited is a great idea.

Then there'd be ...crap...what's the name of the half-fish guys from Tritonia?

Amphibs. "Tritonian" would sound much better.

I'm not canadian, but how would you feel if Tyciol insisted that his "american superteam" consist of "Afro-man"(with prehensile hair among other powers), 'Disco Stu'(super energy expulsion: light AND sound), 'Cowboy guy'(trick pistols), 'Injun'(and all I'll say is "Inukchuk!"), and last but not least "whore girl"(because all americans are 'loose with their virtue').

I'd be fine with it. Dibs on Cowboy Guy!

Ooh!

I'm 3/8ths Indian!

Inukchuk!

[Sir_Spirit]

I think Chaos Unlimited is a great idea.

Then there'd be ...crap...what's the name of the half-fish guys from Tritonia?

Amphibs. "Tritonian" would sound much better.

I'm not canadian, but how would you feel if Tyciol insisted that his "american superteam" consist of "Afro-man"(with prehensile hair among other powers), 'Disco Stu'(super energy expulsion: light AND sound), 'Cowboy guy'(trick pistols), 'Injun'(and all I'll say is "Inukchuk!"), and last but not least "whore girl"(because all americans are 'loose with their virtue').

I'd be fine with it. Dibs on Cowboy Guy!

Ooh!

I'm 3/8ths Indian!

Inukchuk!

Fine fine fine, I'll be Disco Stu. Now can we get Shady to be Whore Girl?

[Sir Neil]

Fine fine fine, I'll be Disco Stu. Now can we get Shady to be Whore Girl?

I was wondering about her. Is she one of those wholesome, Wild West prostitutes like in Doctor Quinn, or the skanky, disease-ridden drug fiends we have today?

**********
Seriously, national stereotypes are just part of the genre. I'm happy as long as they aren't too insulting.

[Sir_Spirit]

Fine fine fine, I'll be Disco Stu. Now can we get Shady to be Whore Girl?

I was wondering about her. Is she one of those wholesome, Wild West prostitutes like in Doctor Quinn, or the skanky, disease-ridden drug fiends we have today?

**********

That depends oon her teammates since their the ones she'll be doing....

[Sir_Spirit]

wasn't thinking so much stereotypes as legendary/heroic/supernatural things you associate with some regions of the world.
Like you think of Wendigo, you think of Canada. You tend to think of it as cold, so you end up with somebody with cold powers or something. You think of mystically-minded inuits and the like.
It'd be really odd to have "Desert Man" (APS: Sand, energy expulsion: fire) to come from Toronto.
But on the same hand I don't think you should have the dynamic duo of Beer Man and Hockey Boy, either.

I could see wendigo, but my whole point was that I dont' see how your lattitude would prevent a mutant from randomly developing the powers of APS:Sand and EE:Fire, much less from calling themselves
"Desert Man"...

[Sir_Spirit]

wasn't thinking so much stereotypes as legendary/heroic/supernatural things you associate with some regions of the world.
Like you think of Wendigo, you think of Canada. You tend to think of it as cold, so you end up with somebody with cold powers or something. You think of mystically-minded inuits and the like.
It'd be really odd to have "Desert Man" (APS: Sand, energy expulsion: fire) to come from Toronto.
But on the same hand I don't think you should have the dynamic duo of Beer Man and Hockey Boy, either.

I could see wendigo, but my whole point was that I dont' see how your lattitude would prevent a mutant from randomly developing the powers of APS:Sand and EE:Fire, much less from calling themselves
"Desert Man"...

Realistically, of course they could and would...if "powered mutations" existed. But it never happens in a comic book setting that I'm aware of.
In maintaining that four-color feel, such unrealistic things tend to enforce the feeling of genre.

You have a point their.....

[Captain Shiva]

What about this:what if the Great Cataclysm took place on one earth,but its effects bled over into HU2 earth?The rifts would cause a catarophe of interdimensional proportions,threatening to collapse various alternate earths on top of each other.To resolve this crisis(if you'll pardon the expression,characters from CE,HU2,Nightbane,BTS,and even the PFRPG could work together,and if they failed,you'd have a slightly different version of Rifts earth.

[cornholioprime]

Okay, something I've been kicking around for a while. I really hope I'm not repeating something someone else has done. But Heroes Unlimited needs a big world-spanning catastrophic event that changes everything (every comic book universe has one). If you are playing a long-term Heroes Unlimited campaign much like classic comics and are looking for a big "crossover" or "annual" or if you just want a rock-em, sock-em campaign with all the kid gloves off your heroes, OR if you just like cool alternative concepts to the game setting....this is for you.

Chaos Unlimited!
Basic Premise: What would happen if the Coming of the Rifts happened on the world of Heroes Unlimited 2?
How would Gramercy City and Century Station respond? Would they survive, be devastated, perhaps eventually become one of the better known cities in Rifts, like Chi-Town or Lazlo?
Since there's no NEMA in HU2 that we know about, would SCRET be our saviors? Would Fabricators Inc weather the storm and eventually become the Rifts Black Market?
We know the tech is there...KLS invented the GB's unique laser-reflective armor in the old Villians Unlimited. HU2 definitely has plenty of robot and PA tech to use (I suggest everything be done in SDC for this campaign...straight conversion for most things, like hand to hand weapons...maybe double the MDC for PAs and Robots and give them appropriate ARs).
You could even play with names and things found in chaos earth. For example, my thought was that perhaps the most famous, effective team during this time was a group of government-sponsored heroes called the Chromium Guardsmen.
Their cardinal members include:
Glitterboy: Mutant with the powers of APS: Metal and Super Energy Expulsion (force blasts). Angelic Beauty.
Silver Eagle: Experiment with the powers of Mega-Wings, weapon arm, supervision: advanced sight, hardened skin. Must physically transform to use powers.
Gunbuster: Hardware, weapons' specialist with an array of special guns and gadgets.
Bulldog: Mutant with the powers of animal abilities: canine, superhuman strength, extraordinary physical endurance, heightened sense of smell.
Juicer: Experiment with Alter Metabolism, lightning reflexes, extraordinary physical strength, heightened sense of awareness.
General Lonnie Kashbrook (ret.): analytical genius and government liason to the team...has made body armor for gunbuster to use and for other Chromium Guardsmen units. Also has created a small powerarmor for herself.

These are just the members that pop into my head. Basically, you could take each piece of NEMA equipment or famous OCC from the Coming of the Rifts and make a hero version for the Chromium Guardsman and others. Perhaps the Tundra Rangers are the Canadian equivalent of the Chromium Guardsmen and the Titans are a seabased superteam based off Tritonia and the Ticonderoga.

I think it would be a great campaign, esp. if you sprung it by surprise on your heroes team with a bit of buildup first so they have a decent experience level.
They would, of course, partake in much of the same things any group would trying to weather the coming of the rifts, except, this being a heroic campaign, there's a way to actually WIN!
That's right, set something up that's right out of a heroic comic campaign or cartoon...at every major supernexus there's some kind of ancient device used for regulating the earth's ley lines...some supervillian or alien force (the splugorth perhaps) tampered with them on purpose to knock them out of whack. The group cant undo the devastation that's been already commited, but they can stop it and tame the ley lines and let the earth recover naturally, instead of it becoming the Rifts earth of the other time line. To do this they would have to find and adventure to each supernexus and shut down the device, be it pyramids, stone henge, nazca lines, whatever...each of course being guarded by traps, "Boss" guardians, strange magics and mystery...not to mention each one being a demon-spewing rifts. During the course of their adventures they'd encounter both evil demons, such as the apocalypse demons from the chaos earth book, and beings that might at first seem dangerous, but are actually good, like a swordfist or trimadore.
They could help solve other mysteries...like what happened to the three Japanese cities that disappeared and maybe the Tundra Rangers are trapped in their base, which is caught in a dimensional flux. The key thing is that these adventures would tie in, in a twisted way, with real chaos earth and rifts events.
the return of atlantis would be a monsterfest of course, with splynncryth and his monstrous allies backing him. Of course, instead of vast armies of minions he'd have one symbolic one of each and a bunch of grunts...
They'd be the big, last, hurdle to overcome, along with splynnies atlantean pyramid headquarters, to return the earth to normal.
(I'd use either the actual creatures, like the slaver and warrior women, or use the alien creation chart to make supervillian versions...such as The Gargoyle Lord, with APS: Stone, winged flight, claws and superhuman strength, and Styphanal, a reptile alien mystic).
Splyncryth I'd leave as is, but converted to an SDC world.

Thoughts?

Everytime I see Articles like this, it makes me wish that Kevin would allow folks like elmagico to write and publish Elseworlds™ -styled Scenarios like this in the Rifter™......

[Marrowlight]

Everytime I see Articles like this, it makes me wish that Kevin would allow folks like elmagico to write and publish Elseworlds™ -styled Scenarios like this in the Rifter™......

Nothing stopping us from sending them in. I don't think I've ever seen a rule about "No Alter-world scenarios in the Rifter".

[NMI]

I was thinking (and I didnt read most of the previous posts) of bringing the hinted "Cleansing War" (forgot the book and pg number, I think Mutant Underground) or Epoch's (see Gramercy Island) Future War into an actual campaign setting. Something along the lines of Marvels "Age of Apocalypse".

Toss in things like Spook Squad from Nightbane. SHOCK and a few other organizations would fit in as well. The Dark Tribunal would be a power as well... perhaps given a sector/section of earth as theirs.

[Marrowlight]

I was thinking (and I didnt read most of the previous posts) of bringing the hinted "Cleansing War" (forgot the book and pg number, I think Mutant Underground) or Epoch's (see Gramercy Island) Future War into an actual campaign setting. Something along the lines of Marvels "Age of Apocalypse".

Toss in things like Spook Squad from Nightbane. SHOCK and a few other organizations would fit in as well. The Dark Tribunal would be a power as well... perhaps given a sector/section of earth as theirs.

Alternatively I've been kicking around a world where the Super Villains took over and it is now about 25 years later and things are starting to fracture. There's a lot you can do with Alter-Reality Super Hero worlds that would be of a benefit to Palladium.

One of the key parts of the world was the focus on all the lower tier villains who went along with the ride 25 years ago 'cause who wanted to say no to the big bosses who were putting it together - but now all the truly evil stuff they've had to do is weighing on them and they just want to find a way out, or find people who can help bring the system down.

[Sentinel]

My campaign will lead the HU campaign into Chaos Earth.
As most know, I do not use MDC for anything.

Various elements of technology are developed and introduced, and set the stage for Rifts, eventually.
Robot designers and pilots of the 21st century are laying the foundations of Silver Eagles/SAMAS, Chromium Guardsmen/Glitter Boys, etc.

Juicers, Crazies, Headhunters, are all basically super-soldiers.
Mutants exist in relatively small numbers. Other experiments likewise, although their numbers grow.

Wolfen, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres and Psi-Stalkers all have small populations in the 21st century. Since Palladium Fantasy is my Earth of the past, I carry over many elements into the present.

Magic exists, and mages have a fair (but still small) representation in the 21st century. I make use of most magic from various Palladium books: The Book Of Magic is a huge resource for me.

While I don't use the settings of Century Station and Gramercy Island, nor the NPCs of Villains Unlimited, many of the plot elements are fulfilled by characters of my own.

[Mech-Viper Prime]

My campaign will lead the HU campaign into Chaos Earth.
As most know, I do not use MDC for anything.

Various elements of technology are developed and introduced, and set the stage for Rifts, eventually.
Robot designers and pilots of the 21st century are laying the foundations of Silver Eagles/SAMAS, Chromium Guardsmen/Glitter Boys, etc.

Juicers, Crazies, Headhunters, are all basically super-soldiers.
Mutants exist in relatively small numbers. Other experiments likewise, although their numbers grow.

Wolfen, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres and Psi-Stalkers all have small populations in the 21st century. Since Palladium Fantasy is my Earth of the past, I carry over many elements into the present.

Magic exists, and mages have a fair (but still small) representation in the 21st century. I make use of most magic from various Palladium books: The Book Of Magic is a huge resource for me.

While I don't use the settings of Century Station and Gramercy Island, nor the NPCs of Villains Unlimited, many of the plot elements are fulfilled by characters of my own.

i see all the different games are different eras in your world

[Sentinel]

My campaign will lead the HU campaign into Chaos Earth.
As most know, I do not use MDC for anything.

Various elements of technology are developed and introduced, and set the stage for Rifts, eventually.
Robot designers and pilots of the 21st century are laying the foundations of Silver Eagles/SAMAS, Chromium Guardsmen/Glitter Boys, etc.

Juicers, Crazies, Headhunters, are all basically super-soldiers.
Mutants exist in relatively small numbers. Other experiments likewise, although their numbers grow.

Wolfen, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres and Psi-Stalkers all have small populations in the 21st century. Since Palladium Fantasy is my Earth of the past, I carry over many elements into the present.

Magic exists, and mages have a fair (but still small) representation in the 21st century. I make use of most magic from various Palladium books: The Book Of Magic is a huge resource for me.

While I don't use the settings of Century Station and Gramercy Island, nor the NPCs of Villains Unlimited, many of the plot elements are fulfilled by characters of my own.

i see all the different games are different eras in your world

Yes.
PFRPG is the past (and fixing a timeline for that was a nightmare).
HUII, N&SS/MC, BtS-2, Nightbane are the present.
Chaos Earth and After The Bomb are the near-future, with some elements of Mutants in Orbit as well.
Rifts is the Post APocalyptic Future.

I make as much use of Wormwood, Phase World, Transdimensional TMNT, and Skraypers as I can.

I have not made much use out of Macross II, nor settings that I don't own such as Splicers or Systems Failure.

If Recon were made part of the Megaversal Sytem, I would use it.

[Mech-Viper Prime]

My campaign will lead the HU campaign into Chaos Earth.
As most know, I do not use MDC for anything.

Various elements of technology are developed and introduced, and set the stage for Rifts, eventually.
Robot designers and pilots of the 21st century are laying the foundations of Silver Eagles/SAMAS, Chromium Guardsmen/Glitter Boys, etc.

Juicers, Crazies, Headhunters, are all basically super-soldiers.
Mutants exist in relatively small numbers. Other experiments likewise, although their numbers grow.

Wolfen, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres and Psi-Stalkers all have small populations in the 21st century. Since Palladium Fantasy is my Earth of the past, I carry over many elements into the present.

Magic exists, and mages have a fair (but still small) representation in the 21st century. I make use of most magic from various Palladium books: The Book Of Magic is a huge resource for me.

While I don't use the settings of Century Station and Gramercy Island, nor the NPCs of Villains Unlimited, many of the plot elements are fulfilled by characters of my own.

i see all the different games are different eras in your world

Yes.
PFRPG is the past (and fixing a timeline for that was a nightmare).
HUII, N&SS/MC, BtS-2, Nightbane are the present.
Chaos Earth and After The Bomb are the near-future, with some elements of Mutants in Orbit as well.
Rifts is the Post APocalyptic Future.

I make as much use of Wormwood, Phase World, Transdimensional TMNT, and Skraypers as I can.

I have not made much use out of Macross II, nor settings that I don't own such as Splicers or Systems Failure.

If Recon were made part of the Megaversal Sytem, I would use it.

i normally have HU,NB,TMNT,BTS, and N&SS blended together as my earth prime

Robotech, Macross II, System Failure, Splicers, OTB are just different dimensions.
the you have CE and Rifts that are my earth-prime future timeline

[TechnoGothic]

Best Bet is to Keep the Setting SDC Darklord.

Instead of having the Full-Fledged Mega-event have it come early

Have Heroes roll on a Random Table of your making, that allows them to become MEGA-Heroes due to the event

Say Every non-Mega-hero has a 25% chance of becoming a Mega automaticly.
Mega Experiments
Mega Super soldiers
Mega Mutants/Mutant Animals
Mega Ancient Masters
Mega Mystic Weapons, etc...
Mega Bionics/Robotics
etc....

Have any Current Mega-Heroes become an Ultra-Hero
Increase All Powers effects, ranges, damages by another 50%
They gain 1 or 2 more Mega-Powers for free...on top of the old Mega-Hero powers they already had...

[Sentinel]

BTW Darklord, Alpha Prime can be found in Century Station.

[Sentinel]

BTW Darklord, Alpha Prime can be found in Century Station.

Yeah, I got Century Station since then. I didn't own it when I made that post.

Well shame on you.

[Marrowlight]

I'm trying to have a working product to show Kev on this at the open house, along with my Coalition of Magic and the Nightside Burbs stuff as well.

I was rather fond of your Coalition of Magic posts -- good luck with showing them off to the big man.