Edge-case Rifts Opting question(s)

[Judging__Eagle]

I want to know if I'm breaking any actual rules, and if this accurate, and finally there are some questions that I have.

Ok, so, through an interesting series of events I've done the following things in making a character:

1. Picked a Godling
2. Was allowed to sell my Lesser Rune Weapon (4-8 mill BM value) for 7mill Credits. So now, budget is not a big deal for a single person's gear.
3. Godlings can get (Any) weapon profieciencies; and start off with 3. I picked up WP Archaic Sword, WP Energy Rifles and WP Heavy MDC Weapons.
4. Godlings can also pick (Any) Hand to Hand style. I picked Hand to Hand: Ninjutsu (Rifts Japan); it gives the Paired Weapons skill/weapon proficency for free.
   
   
5. For my related and secondary skills, I get Weapon Profiency (any) as an option. I've selected WP Sharpshooting (Energy Rifles).
   
   
6. I selected the first ability, to use 2-handed guns in one hand
7. For an other skill proficiency slot, I spent I got Sharpshooter again in order to buy the ability to be able to fire while on the back of a horse or when riding a vehicle. Now, Sharpshooting gives all 6 abilities to the actual sharpshooting OOCs, while other OOCs have to pick on of the six every time that they take Sharpshooting for a specific type of weapon that they are proficient with.

Questions:

Can I now use two rifles, one in each hand now? Since that's very much what it seems like.

When riding on the back of say a.... Kyythgorian Pegasus



Am I'm also able to shoot without penalties?

Because right now, this is looking like a very shooty combo.

Note:
Other options include knowing every spell every time I level (Godling spell access works this way. I've got spellcasting the way Shifter and Ley Line Walker do; the plan is to not use them if at all possible.

Supposedly I also am supposed to have the Linewalker and Shifter class abilities (which I'm not sure about if I should be getting), but not skills (which not having is logical).

Edit: typos

There are some concerns, since while Ninjutsu was OK'd, Sharpshooting hasn't been so far.

[Sir Neil]

I believe HTH:Any is limited to Basic/Expert/Martial Arts/Assassin. I don't have R:UE, and K-vizzle Siembeezy is too fly to write rules clearly.

However you get W.P. Paired Weapons, with those two W.P. Sharpshooter skills you can dual-wield rifles from pegasus-back with 50% reduced bonuses.

[Judging__Eagle]

Thanks, Sir Niel.

Right now I'm going by the rules that the GM (Koumei) allowed.

.... i also realize that I put this in the wrong place.

[edit]:

Also, can a character select more than one type of Hand to Hand type of training? Some of them offer differnt types of options, and those are what I want, not the actual bonuses to my rolls.

[Koumei]

Okay...

Kev tends to assume various things don't stack, though never specifies this and then throws other things together which DO stack. But I'm going to say you can use one of your sharpshooter tricks at a time, not both together.

They probably do in fact mean Basic, Expert, Martial Artist or Assassin, or maybe even Commando. So I'll say that, but you can burn two other skills to upgrade it to Ninjutsu.

Finally, there is one OCC in a non-Rifts game that can take two HtH styles, and even when it does, it splits the abilities and bonuses into two lists - basically, it can shift stance at will to be using one or the other, never both at once. But regardless, you're not that OCC (and neither is the Gurgoyle, who will only in fact have one martial art).

I think your character is pretty tricked out and over the top as it is.

[Judging__Eagle]

Ok.... so, I know that Sharpshooting is 'allowed' and well... I did some maths.

I've got a lot of attacks per round. Liek.... 6. Before I double them to twelve.

The way that I'm arriving at 6 is like follows:

1. 2 base attacks
2. HtH Assasins adds +1
3. Godling, adds 1 melee attack per round +1 more
3. Boxing... >_> +1 more
4. Sharpshooting gives +1 more attack as long as you are only using your weapon specialty; in this case Energy pistols.

So,
2
+ 1 ('sin)
+ 1 (godling)
+ 1 (boxing)
+ 1 (sharpshootin' E-Pistols only)
=6

WP Paired weapons doubles this. So, 12 attacks, from two Japanse Particle Beam pistols that deal 5d6+6 MD each shot [but only have a 10 round clip].

avg damage = 12* [5d6 + 6]
=60d6+72
=60*[3.5] + 72
=210 + 72
=282

The to-hit is uh... I don't know. +1 from the WP, I can't add P.P. to gun attacks (ever it seems). I think +1

However, if I make "aimed" attacks, i get massive amounts of benefits. The base benefit to hit is +2; the gun is accurate, and adds a further +1; Sharpshooter adds +3 to aimed shots (the skill allows the user to add 'some' of their P.P. bonus to gun attacks). The base proficieny is also added in, so +1 more.

For a total of +7. The base to-hit value is 8.

Meaning that I can do 6 attacks that will be nearly hits.

Mind, this is only using bonuses that I know to add. I'm pretty sure that my Hand to Hand strike bonuses no not apply to firearms; and that maybe my RCC strike bonuses help out here.

I guess that's decent. Koumei keeps talking about her "nuclear bomb" Tattooed-Lady that acheives like 400 MD in melee. I... don't think that I could achieve that, but w/e.

I think that some Spells or Psionic abilities would buff this by granting more bonuses to either attacks or hit.

Figuring out what my bonuses are is... a bit more difficult; i've got most of them and some of them are high, but i've got bonuses coming in from a mix of sources.

[Koumei]

I think your bonus to hit caps out there. So on the one hand, if you roll any number that isn't a 1, you hit, on the other hand, people will likely have a dodge bonus higher than your bonus to hit.

Except they take a -10 to dodge firearms (and can't parry unless they're very hardcore). So whatever.

Yeah, Miss Nuclear Feet is pretty awesome, but that's focused as hell. You shouldn't feel small in the pants just because she can out-damage you.

Also, hilarious fact: Kev had a short article in a Rifter saying that some players are bad because they load up on physical skills for all the bonuses, so the bonuses should be capped. But this is obviously the fault of those players - at no point did he screw up there.

It's especially dumb considering the majority of them have zero use other than the skill bonuses (meaning if you're capping it you could save time and just say "You can spend a skill to gain +X, maximum Y") and that the kind of people who would take all of them are, well, the kind of people who would in fact take all of them (that is to say, close-combat mercenaries and juicers would indeed do a lot of running, weightlifting, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, gymnastics and Atlantean Splujitsu).

[Prak]

or, you know, genetically engineered mutants created solely as weapons of war by the Coalition who have little they can do for recreation except exercise or pick fights...

[Judging__Eagle]

I think your bonus to hit caps out there. So on the one hand, if you roll any number that isn't a 1, you hit, on the other hand, people will likely have a dodge bonus higher than your bonus to hit.

Except they take a -10 to dodge firearms (and can't parry unless they're very hardcore). So whatever.

Yeah, Miss Nuclear Feet is pretty awesome, but that's focused as hell. You shouldn't feel small in the pants just because she can out-damage you.

Also, hilarious fact: Kev had a short article in a Rifter saying that some players are bad because they load up on physical skills for all the bonuses, so the bonuses should be capped. But this is obviously the fault of those players - at no point did he screw up there.

It's especially dumb considering the majority of them have zero use other than the skill bonuses (meaning if you're capping it you could save time and just say "You can spend a skill to gain +X, maximum Y") and that the kind of people who would take all of them are, well, the kind of people who would in fact take all of them (that is to say, close-combat mercenaries and juicers would indeed do a lot of running, weightlifting, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, gymnastics and Atlantean Splujitsu).

Ok, so there is no way to really beef ranged attack "To-Hit" rolls in Rifts. That's kind of good to know.

Oh, and that "Skill Caps" article; it's in the same Rifter that has the Mental Skills. Fucking irony.

The funny thing is that I looked in the book for mental skills; then found like... a bunch of useful things:

1. Spells to summon grain/water. Sure that seems uselesss; until you realize that I've got a pegasus mount and go adventuring. Not having haul actual food when I do have large pools of PPE (over 200 at level 1; via a combination of Godling + Shifter Supernatural link PPE pools). The side benefit is that Grain + Water + hunted Meat = soup or stew. Mmmm, mmmm. Well, at least you won't starve.

2. Rules and a skill for aerial mounted combat (I mean... seriously what the hell?) awesome synergy for my character; however I need to get Horsemanship (Aerial) before I can get Horsemanship (Aerial Combat). This prompted me to start digging around for a Palladium rule book for the stuff on Aerial Horsemanship.

3. Mental skills. Awesome, I grabbed Reading/Literacy studies; Tactical/Strategic Games, and Philosophy. Apparently... you can have a philosophical debate and 'win' with this skill, or something. The philosophy skill is the only one that has a percentage assigned to it.

4. The thing on skill caps. Way to shoot me in the dick there Kev.

5. An explanation as to where the Ley Line Walker's "uniform" of being completel bundled up, with a gas mask, goggles, etc. came from. In a Chaos Earth article.

All in all, the issue had a lot of really good articles for just one character of mine. That's most likely luck, than it is anything else.

Regarding Ms. Nuklear Toes. Not so much small in pants, as really impressed. She's probably got a bunch of other Tattooed combat options, and is an MDC creature; meaning that stark naked, she's pretty effective. I don't know what the base-line for character options is though.

Besides, having a character that allows the team to seriously threaten even the toughest opposition that they see, makes it so that the whole team suddenly has a whole new range of potential enemies that they can go up against; and expect to win.

Your group could go after large Splugorth Slaver ships (the one from South America 1, has sections that have 100 to 600 MDC; and a main hull of 2500 MDC), and leave you to start tearing apart or caving in the ship itself; while the rest of the team starts to murder everything that tries to stop you. Having a team that can take on and wipe out enemy patrols is one thing. Having a team that can assault an enemies "largest" vehicles, and expect to beat them, is an other thing all together.

Oh, and even the 'normal' fighting will be pretty hardcore, as the ship has the following crew entry:

Crew: Twenty-two total. A captain, two pilots, a navigator, two
communications officers, two sensor officers, three petty officers, four weapons officers, and seven sailors (Kittani, Kydians or Altarians).

It typically carries a company of 64 armored troops, usually Kittani Serpent or Equestrian power armor, plus 12 Splugorth Slavers on flying barges and 60 Blind Warrior Women (see Rifts Atlantis for descriptions).

Additionally, its cargo holds have room for 800 humanoid
captives, in 100 special cells, complete with shackles and ar-
mored walls and doors.

The cells will be uncomfortably cramped if more than four people are placed there, and down-right nasty if they are filled to capacity. The Splugorth don't care. Often, the slaves are kept pacified with zombitron para-sites, drugs, or shackles, especially if they are dangerous or
have special powers.

[Sir Neil]

Go for it. I hate the fvcking Splugorth like they kicked my dog.

[Koumei]

Did they in fact kick your dog?

Also, someone should make some enormous book on "Creating a character. Step by step. With all the fucking options and bonuses they provide. From every single book." or better yet, a program that does that for you.

A person who did that could be hailed supreme king.

[Sir Neil]

No. They took over a planet I still keep my stuff on.

[Judging__Eagle]

No. They took over a planet I still keep my stuff on.

Then you can go fuck off, since you're probably a Dominator, and no one likes them. Not even other Dominators.

Also, Kev has the shittiest names for races sometimes. I mean, 'Dominators', what the fuck Kev?

They're from the Phase World book. Their description now reminds me of... dragons. Except these are giant human-looking things; fly around in Unicron-sized ships; want to be really powerful, or take over the galaxy; as well as having high-tech and enslaving a few creatures of different races that are usually human sized to act as their personal space-butlers.

[Koumei]

Actually, the Splugorth took over a number of planets, leaving many people on the slave/extermination/rebel list - Dominators, Krygorth Hunters, The Lessons, the Kreeghor IIRC, your mum...

And Earth is looking like their next target, really - though happy to just chill out on Atlantis (they have a good deal going), if the situation were to be destablised* then they would be all over the planet like blue-green algae to a sewer.

And it'd look (and smell) about the same, too.

Re the irony of mental skill boosters followed by "how to punish people for taking physical skills": it seems like more of a balancing thing. You know, "Here's some stuff to boost your mental stats, and now, here's a rule so no stats get boosted ~too much~".

Re Fission-Feet: yeah. She's a minor MDC creature (yet still 100% human), and has a few tricks - can summon animals (not that amazing), can summon animal-intellect MDC creatures (there are some with thousands of the stuff, ideal for soaking up enemy fire then canceling the effect when they're close to death), can activate flight, can throw shitty fireballs with damage we don't care about, and can speak and understand all languages. Also has some healing capacity and a fascinate power (as in, a magic effect not related to her boobs).

All of those cost PPE though, of which she doesn't have much. Ideally someone should join that game as a Chiang-Ku dragon and just cover her in tats to boost her PPE and MDC into stupidland.

Oh and she also has an AK47 assault rifle... completely regular, nonmagical, dealing SDC. Just because I decided that'd be awesome.