Monster Manual?

[Wiserbud]

Hi Palladium Community!

I'm rarely on here, and don't have all that much time to go through all that is written here, so it's possible this question has already been tackled before.

Is there any plans on making a monsters and animals book for Rifts like the one for Palladium Fantasy? We have one for Gods, Demons and Deevils, one for Bionics, one for D-Bees...

I'm talking here about actual monsters, not super demons, intelligent creatures, D-Bees, Were-Beasts, faeries and the likes. I'm talking about non-intelligent monsters that stalk the country side that we've heard so much about but can't find anywhere. I mean we have a few here and there spread over nearly three dozen books, but what about a compendium of monsters?

Also, could these monsters be fully fleshed out instead of having to roll all of their stats? Could we have a measuring stick as to their power level?


Thank you

[Bill]

I've had a few occasions that such a book would be useful for mounts, pets, and general encounters. It would be easy to pad out with expanded riding, racing, and hunting rules, tack and other equipment for the creatures in it, and maybe a couple creature controlling classes too. I wouldn't count on getting such a book with fully established stats though. The vast majority of profiles Palladium publishes use dice expressions. I typically just calculate the average die roll and use it.

[Wiserbud]

I agree on the dice for stats and using the average, maybe put the average in paranthesis and post damage of claws and bite and such based on average stats?

I think one of the greatest problems with palladium books (other than a broken mechanic) is the enormous amount of prep time the games demand from a GM. Everyone in my gaming group loves Rifts, no one wants to GM it. Not enough time to prep.

More fleshed out adventures and campaign, like the Pathfinder Adventure Paths, would be awesome too.

[SummerRider]

Didn't the SB1 on Atlantis in regards to Monster/Animal Tatoos, more or less direct people to the Palladium RPG monster book?

https://palladium-store.com/1001/produc ... imals.html

[Proseksword]

Hi Palladium Community!.....
Is there any plans on making a monsters and animals book for Rifts like the one for Palladium Fantasy?

Not to my knowledge. Is there a reason you can't just use the Fantasy one or Conversion Book 1? Most of those creatures show up on RIFTs Earth somewhere. If those aren't to your liking, there's a fair number of world books with a large number of (but not exhaustive) selection of monsters, including WB14 New West & WB26 & 27 for Dinosaur Swamp.

Also, could these monsters be fully fleshed out instead of having to roll all of their stats? Could we have a measuring stick as to their power level?

Palladium games are all about GM judgement. If there's no clear balance or power levels for O.C.C.s you really aren't going to get that for monsters. Is it really that hard to assign average stats for a die roll provided for the printed monsters? Determining 10 is the aversge result for a 3D6 stat isn't too hard.

[FatherMorpheus]

I was going to say CB1 and CB2 are fairly good Monster Books.

Palladium doesn't have the the EL (CR) style system that D&D 3.0/3.5/4.0/5.0 has in place. It is a little too open ended for that type of assistance. As was suggested, just go with average. Maybe average +1.

I do agree, a nice companion to the 3 compilation books (Game Masters Guide, Book of Magic, and D-Bees of North America). Of course, many would complain about a book that was simply a re-printing of the creatures/monsters in other books. For simplicity I would love it.

[Zer0 Kay]

I would have liked that over the dbees of NA which I found irratating was a world book instead of a source book since it kinda felt like most of it was reprint.

[The Beast]

I would have liked that over the dbees of NA which I found irratating was a world book instead of a source book since it kinda felt like most of it was reprint.

Seconded.

[SittingBull]

I am glad I was not the only person who looked at the D-Bee book and said "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"

[drewkitty ~..~]

The rifts version of the MM is the Rifts Conversion Book 1 & RCB1r. And the Rifts Dark Conversions.
The RCB2 wasn't a list of monsters, of gods it was.
The PFRPG2 Monsters and Animals book has Rifts Conversion notes for the monsters in it.
Then there is the DeeBees of NA.....
However there isn't any collection of Monsters only found in Rifts Books.

[Soldier of Od]

I found D-Bees of North America to be useful. With so many sourcebooks everything is scattered about and this book made my life easier. Yes, they were mostly reprints. That was clear when the book was published.

I would welcome a monsters and animals book in the same vein as D-Bees. Collecting all the various creatures across the sourcebooks for easy reference, and a few new ones thrown in. It should be clear what you are getting for your money, so those who don't want it don't buy it. Simple. It should be a comparatively quick book to throw together and get out, too.

Another reason that I would welcome it is that I don't really use conversion book one very much - as I had spent decades playing Palladium Fantasy, when I came to Rifts I wanted new and unique monsters, not just the same ones we had encountered on Palladium being ported to Rifts Earth. So a Rifts-specific monster manual would be good.

[Killer Cyborg]

Other RMB has a good Random Monster Generator.
So does Creatures of Chaos.

[Zer0 Kay]

I am glad I was not the only person who looked at the D-Bee book and said "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"

What? No increased text size? I think that would have bee appropriate.

[Zer0 Kay]

I found D-Bees of North America to be useful. With so many sourcebooks everything is scattered about and this book made my life easier. Yes, they were mostly reprints. That was clear when the book was published.

I would welcome a monsters and animals book in the same vein as D-Bees. Collecting all the various creatures across the sourcebooks for easy reference, and a few new ones thrown in. It should be clear what you are getting for your money, so those who don't want it don't buy it. Simple. It should be a comparatively quick book to throw together and get out, too.

Another reason that I would welcome it is that I don't really use conversion book one very much - as I had spent decades playing Palladium Fantasy, when I came to Rifts I wanted new and unique monsters, not just the same ones we had encountered on Palladium being ported to Rifts Earth. So a Rifts-specific monster manual would be good.

D-Bees useful, sure, but it is a sourcebook not a worldbook. I would have even prefered a new line like the tolkeen war line except d-bees and then a book for each area. It is almost like PB decided "oh this book is too big to be a sourcebook, lets make it a world book." But I "know" that couldn't be so because we have the conversion books and the BOM and RGMG and many others that are as thick or thicker than a worldbook. A worldbook shouldn't be used to reprint stuff.

[Glistam]

Here are questions I have regarding a Rifts Monster Manual:

1. Rifts is a dimensional nexus. Technically you could justify any creature from any game line being there. That being said, what books would you like to see creatures come from in such a manual?
   
   1. I think all world books, all source books, Conversion Books 1 and 3 (only if the creature says there are some on Rifts Earth somewhere, though, and the Nightbane/Nightlands stuff I'm not sure about, either), and the Monsters and Animals book (those entries not reprinted in CB1). I feel like the Dimension Books would be a little too "out of scope" for this, unless there's creatures mentioned in those books that have notes for already being on Rifts Earth.
2. How should the creatures be broken out? Should they be sub-divided into sections, like a section for S.D.C., for M.D.C. "monsters," M.D.C. creatures of magic, and for M.D.C. "demons"? Are the distinctions even clear enough in the books to make some of these categorizations?
   
   1. I would definitely like to see at least an M.D.C. and S.D.C. split, but I'm not confident that the M.D.C. creatures could be reliably or consistently subdivided into other categories.
   2. They could all just be in alphabetical order, and under "S" there's an entry for "S.D.C. creatures" which contains a truncated section listing all the S.D.C. animals and monsters. That feels to me like it would be a bigger than usual section, though.
3. This seems like it could become a fairly large "book." Should monster entries be truncated? Should they be added to, with location notes? What about random monster creation tables? Or even random monster encounter tables?
   
   1. I'm on the fence about editing the monster entries themselves. Who decides which information needs to be removed or added? But some entries can be pretty long. I do think the random monster creation tables should be included, but random encounter tables don't have a place here. There's too much variation in how people run and imagine Rifts for any published table to satisfy majority of players.
4. Can "monsters" be defined (for the scope of this project) as something which can't be taken as a playable race or R.C.C.? If not, where is the line drawn between monster and D-Bee?
   
   1. I believe the books note when monsters are "optional" race/R.C.C.'s with G.M.'s approval, and when they're generally available as races/D-Bee's. That could be a good dividing line, but it will leave some stuff out that typically falls in the currently used "monster" sections.
   2. Maybe D-Bee's of North America can be a good guide on that front? If it's a playable race and was not printed in DBoNA, then it can go in the monster book. If was in World Book 30 then no dice.

Just some things I'm thinking about as I read this topic.

[Bill]

I definitely would not want a full reprint of the PFRPG Monsters & Animals book. A section of original S.D.C. critters with a sample of the most commonly used creatures (dogs, horses, etc.) would be good. Any M.D.C. creature really ought to be presented with S.D.C. conversions or a blanket guide to converting from one to the other should be printed in the forward. Ideally, I'd like to see it laid out thusly:

Table of Contents/Quickfind
Introduction from the author
Chapter 1 - A Dimensional Nexus
A discussion of how disruptive to the basic planetary ecology the cataclysm and ongoing rift activity has been. Commentary on the niches that S.D.C. lifeforms continue to occupy. General instructions on converting from M.D.C. to S.D.C. and back. Random tables for generating unique animals and monsters; both S.D.C. and M.D.C. Notes on modifying creatures from the book; making them bigger, smaller, more or less dangerous, intelligent, etc.
Chapter 2 - Using Monsters
Tips and tricks for making the most of the book. Advice on constructing simple encounters, advanced rules for taming and training animals, racing them, a detailed explanation of how to use the skill system for tracking and hunting (or being hunted). A section on equipment for trained animals; tack and harness, armor, magic and techno-wizard items, fantastic stuff like dinosaur howdahs and whatnot. Original classes dedicated to training, magically or psionically controlling different monsters.
Chapter 3 - Predators
A hundred or so reprinted and original M.D.C. monsters that are likely to serve as antagonists. I'd like a good balance across environments; air, land, sea, mountain, forest, desert, jungle, swamp, etc.
Chapter 4 - Prey
Around 75 reprinted and original M.D.C. creatures that live off the land and are generally docile unless attacked. Notes regarding which have been domesticated and by whom. Again, a good environmental balance would be preferable.
Chapter 5 - S.D.C. Animals
Around 75 original and reprinted S.D.C. animals that are not normally found with Mega-Damage capacity. Mostly fantasy stuff from PFRPG and original creations.
Appendix - Animals of Earth
Brief profiles of common earth animals. Possibly some explanation for how they continue to survive in competition with animals that are invulnerable or that may have magical powers.

I'd use a book like that practically every session. I agree that this would potentially be a huge book. I see no reason why it couldn't be broken up into geographic volumes though. Monster & Animals of North America, if you will.

[Zer0 Kay]

I definitely would not want a full reprint of the PFRPG Monsters & Animals book. A section of original S.D.C. critters with a sample of the most commonly used creatures (dogs, horses, etc.) would be good. Any M.D.C. creature really ought to be presented with S.D.C. conversions or a blanket guide to converting from one to the other should be printed in the forward. Ideally, I'd like to see it laid out thusly:

Table of Contents/Quickfind
Introduction from the author
Chapter 1 - A Dimensional Nexus
A discussion of how disruptive to the basic planetary ecology the cataclysm and ongoing rift activity has been. Commentary on the niches that S.D.C. lifeforms continue to occupy. General instructions on converting from M.D.C. to S.D.C. and back. Random tables for generating unique animals and monsters; both S.D.C. and M.D.C. Notes on modifying creatures from the book; making them bigger, smaller, more or less dangerous, intelligent, etc.
Chapter 2 - Using Monsters
Tips and tricks for making the most of the book. Advice on constructing simple encounters, advanced rules for taming and training animals, racing them, a detailed explanation of how to use the skill system for tracking and hunting (or being hunted). A section on equipment for trained animals; tack and harness, armor, magic and techno-wizard items, fantastic stuff like dinosaur howdahs and whatnot. Original classes dedicated to training, magically or psionically controlling different monsters.
Chapter 3 - Predators
A hundred or so reprinted and original M.D.C. monsters that are likely to serve as antagonists. I'd like a good balance across environments; air, land, sea, mountain, forest, desert, jungle, swamp, etc.
Chapter 4 - Prey
Around 75 reprinted and original M.D.C. creatures that live off the land and are generally docile unless attacked. Notes regarding which have been domesticated and by whom. Again, a good environmental balance would be preferable.
Chapter 5 - S.D.C. Animals
Around 75 original and reprinted S.D.C. animals that are not normally found with Mega-Damage capacity. Mostly fantasy stuff from PFRPG and original creations.
Appendix - Animals of Earth
Brief profiles of common earth animals. Possibly some explanation for how they continue to survive in competition with animals that are invulnerable or that may have magical powers.

I'd use a book like that practically every session. I agree that this would potentially be a huge book. I see no reason why it couldn't be broken up into geographic volumes though. Monster & Animals of North America, if you will.

Hey, that's good... Now get to work . Of course as normal they'd do the groups like before with dragons and demons and angels... or whatever they're called and the Worms. Maybe they can group into Predator, mundane/supernatural/magic and maybe clearly define creature of magic and supernatural as there mud be since dragons are both. Same with the Prey mundane/supernatural/magic.
And absolutely positively can NOT make it a world book (series)
Hey, I noticed you haven't had to translate for me in a while . Guess that means I'm holding my tongue better.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

[Zer0 Kay]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

Then you use the RCB1 monsters. *shrugs*
I was just pointing them out for those that would want to use them.

[Zer0 Kay]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

Then you use the RCB1 monsters. *shrugs*
I was just pointing them out for those that would want to use them.

Oh... I like using those for the players that use too much player knowledge.

[Killer Cyborg]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

I'd always roll stuff up, then give it a back story.

[Zer0 Kay]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

I'd always roll stuff up, then give it a back story.

Not all of have enough time to prepare for a game. I mean the simple ones like so and so has been terrorizing x since/after y happened type back story is simple. But the full column spread, not so much.

[Killer Cyborg]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

I'd always roll stuff up, then give it a back story.

Not all of have enough time to prepare for a game. I mean the simple ones like so and so has been terrorizing x since/after y happened type back story is simple. But the full column spread, not so much.

No comment.

[Zer0 Kay]

Random monster tables.....
RMB: back of the book.
Land of the Damned 1: about in the middle of the book
Thundercloud Galaxy: about 2/3rds back.

Random Alien tables....
HU 1 & HU2 aliens section.
HU:AU & HU:AU revised at the front.
3G book 1 Phaseworld about 2/3rds back.

Yeah, but those are random, I have no clue what just came through the rift Tables. Sometimes we want something already written up with a back story.

I'd always roll stuff up, then give it a back story.

Not all of have enough time to prepare for a game. I mean the simple ones like so and so has been terrorizing x since/after y happened type back story is simple. But the full column spread, not so much.

No comment.

Just because your a prolific writer and put Stephen King and Luis Lamore that doesn't mean the rest of us can write that fast. Well maybe Fell, since I've experienced how fast he produces work.