The Crew----Awakened Mechanism Minor Sub-Tribe/Group “Though gods, titans, and monstes may stride and clash over this world, there are still places for the smaller things to live and make their place.” “Firget it! I’m not going anywhere near NuEngl’nd any more! Even when we avoid the gners and the Shemarrians, we STILL get trounced! The last straw? We were doing our damnest to get OUT of the area and were skulking through a border noman’s land, when Sticky tried to boost some old codger’s car to help get us out faster. Next thing we know, we got the mukus beaten out of us by the old guy’s collection of TOYS! Not just any toys, mind y’u, but PLUSHIES! And if the old geezer hadn’t called them off us, they might have seriously crippled us! That damn bossie doll almost butted Karlos’ kneecaps off, and the less I think about that screaming hyperactive white ferret-thing in the kah trunk, the better! And I remember thnking that it wasn’t the old geez commanding them to let us go, but more like making a suggestion, like it was them that made the decisions, not him!
I’m ditchin’ this crew’a morons I got mixed up with and head’n out to the West; the vampires out there can’t be any worse than the so-called civilized northeast for a bandit.”
---Viglan Metz, “’Harmless Traveler’(suspected of being involved in several robberies in the Relic)
“’Harmless Traveler Metz’ apparently never heard of the eight-foot tall teddy bear reportedly wandering the woods. We call it ‘Glort’.”
---Kani BloodShard---Blood Rider
“
For all we know, that old guy’s some alternate universe’s version of Christopher Robin who wound up trapped in a dimensional prison with his old chums. All I know is everything tells me and mine that the old coot’s harmless, if rather pathetic. Maybe somebody would rather in-gather him, but he and his little buddies seem to get by by themselves okay enough. The Bloody Riders don’t seem to bother him and we don’t either. Maybe we’ll find out his story one day, or maybe not. Not everybody’s on a crusade, great quest, or grand project; some folks just exist, and that seems to be enough for them.” ---Sergeant Hugo Eschavez, City of Charter Guard
Splinter-Tribes come in all sorts and sizes; that’s the argument put forward by those who want to recognize small groups like the Crew as Fringe Tribes. In reality, the Crew is a small group of self-aware animatronic plushie toys that have established a commune of sorts on the border zone between the BloodRiders and the small kingdoms of the Connecticut River Valley.
Nobody really knows how the Crew originated; some say they’re pre-Rifts ‘smart toys’ that survived being buried in some ruin and were re-animated by long exposure to ley line energy, haunting entities, a tinkering technowizard, or alien scientist. Other possible origin stories have them as advanced alien toys with human-level intelligence, stranded on Rifts Earth. Those trying to make a case for the Crew having more direct Shemarrian links speculate they are the work of a bored Tinker, VatFather, or even Hoyt Sparks. And while the Crew appear to be Awakened, it is not known who may have gifted the animatronics with the Ecotroz. Whatever their origins, the Crew have been recognized by the local Shemarrian BloodRiderTribe, who accord them respect and provide them with material support. In GNE/Paladin Steel-’verses, they are sometimes mistaken for a sect enclave of Smallkin.
The Crew has their residence in a small nondescript shack nestled in the rocky hills of the adjacent Farmington River Valley, a few miles north of the Plow Wall(a ridge of settled rubble and debris pushed up across southern New England by the geological rise of MadHaven and the tidal flooding caused by the rise of Atlantis). The shack itself is built atop a pre-rifts foundation and Cold War era bomb shelter, and is surrounded by a camouflaging dense cover of vegetation. The basement has been cleaned of ash and debris and refurbished as a residence-bunker, with an (secret) Assembly Forge to provide maintenance for the Crew, as well as various other items for the household, and a few items for trade. A water pump and well in the basement provides water, and power seems to be provided by some form of electrical generator(the Assembly Forge has its own power cell, while the rest of the shack’s power needs are taken care of by several disguised electrotrees tapping solar and wind power).
The Crew consists of:
-Fizzbin---An animatronic Rat(8 inches tall), Has sometimes been mistaken for a Smallkin in the nearby Connecticut Baronies. Seems to be the organizer and general administrator of the bunch. Also an Awakened psi-mystic .
-Tuffy-Toro---Animatronic Bull---The largest of the Crew, at 1.4 ft long. Awakened (Major) physical psychic(telekinetic push, telekinetic punch, levitation, impervious to fire, telekinetic lift, telekinetic leap, deaden senses, telekinesis). Has a rather punch-drunk happy attitude.
-Onki---Animatronic Donkey(6 inches tall)---Possibly the eldest of the group, judging from comments overheard. Something of a beatnik philosopher with a very easy-going phlegmatic disposition.
-Ennie---Animatronic Horse(6 inches tall) Although based on a larger animal, Ennie is actually one of the smaller Crew-members and this sometimes leads Ennie to have anxiety about his size; he wishes he was like Aka and had a more powerful alternate form like one of the larger robot horse types. In the meantime, Ennie has a nose for gardening and knowing when plants and food are going bad.
-Velv---Plushy Rabbit(7 inches tall) Rather gray and old, possibly not even an animatronic, but a magically-animated heirloom. Very quiet and very sneaky.
-Bevve--Animatronic Beaver (5 inches tall) Programmed in carpentry, but has a tendency to wind up buried under stuff(his chief complaint about life in the shack is a lack of organization and proper shelving).
-Barr---Animatronic Bear. Rather conservative and, like Ennie, suffers a bit of plushie-envy because he’s aware of other bear’bots with lots more capabilities out there. He’s usually the first to hide when anybody/thing comes sniffing around.
-Leo---EcoS-KRP28 Leonite----Fierce domestic watchguardian. He can actually back up his comedic bluster by having actual combat capabilities.
-Orf--EcoS-KRP-33 Empac---(aka ‘Bobber’) Acts as a psi-warning system and lookout.
-Phish-EcoS-KRP29 Banty---Together with Orf, acts as a lookout.
-Aka---- A ferret-like plushie that is actually a d-bee-made bodyguard/property-protector. Though one of the smaller Crew-members, Aka can transform into an insanely fast monstrous mecha-predator. Aka seems particularly attached to the Ghost Honda and is frequently seen in its company, usually hiding in its trunk(see below for detailed file).
-The House(?)---Some of the visitors to the shack have reported seeing even smaller insectile shapes moving about the house with purpose not associated with mere insects. It is possible some form of networked and centralized AI or self-aware micro/nanomachine colony is resident in the house.
The Crew shares the shack with several Action Golems and an elderly human(and arguably quietly deranged) man sympathetic to AIs and considered a Veshemar---’Friend of the Shemar’ or ‘Almost Shemar’. The Crew also has the acquantaince of a Haunted pre-Rifts Honda Civic(possibly more).
The Crew also has a close acquaintance with the Band, a group of over a dozen plushie cats, believed to be part of an early presence of Clan Pantheron on Rifts Earth. The Band is rather farther-ranging, but frequently holes up in the Crew’s digs when they’re in the area. Other associates include ’Sweety’, an invisible deer that the HouseKeeper insists regularly visits the house, and ‘Yahudi’, a small faerie or frost-sprite said to inhabit the House’s refrigerator.
The BloodRiders are aware of the Crew and occasionally visit, restocking any supplies that need topping off and doing a general wellness check of the inhabitants. Passing bands of Kildren are also visitors, stopping to play with the ‘locals’. Any patrols from the local kingdoms like the Kingdom of Charter or the GNE also respect the privacy of the Crew, but look out for them all the same.
The Crew generally does not have much trouble with mundane bandits and lawless travellers, and has enough warning of more powerful threats to hide and take shelter. The Crew mainly relies on laying low and not being noticed to avoid trouble, though generally anything bigger that might cause them trouble is almost certain to be noticed by the Blood Riders or patrols out of the Baronies. There’s also rumors that the shack may have something akin to a Somebody Elses’ Problem Field generator; those looking for the place with ill intent seem to be unable to find it.
For the most part the Crew spends their days(especially during the winter) reading and rereading/watching/listening to the collection of books, papers, DVDs, and CDs stashed in their bunker(along with a collection of other odds and ends), or working in the garden alongside their human companion. Several of the Crew are accomplished artists, and they sometimes trade drawings and carvings for art supplies, books, and other odds and ends that their Shemarrian benefactors and the Assembly Forge cannot provide.
The members of the Crew are generally equivalent to Black Market Robot Cats/Dogs in terms of endurance and capabilities(unless otherwise noted), but all seem to be upgraded in some way, beginning with neural intelligences.
Members of the Band range from Triax-style V-500 Robot Pets and EIR-70 Spy Robots to Black Market Robot Cats. LIkewise, they appear to be neural intelligences.
The HouseKeeper(aka Houser, the Crazy Old Guy)
“Somewhere out in the megaverse, some other me made all the right choices. This me made plenty of bad ones.” “The old guy’s crazy, but some of the stuff he sez...well, most of it is angobtastic sheyt, but other bits...he knows stuff, stuff maybe he shouldn’t...and maybe that’s what drives him mad.” This old codger puzzles those few outsiders who encounter him; this shuffling old human shouldn’t be able to survive out on the fringes of civilization, but he does.
The HouseKeeper has never talked about his past, or even revealed his real name(and various comments of his suggest he’s forgotten it). What he did before meeting the Crew is a mystery; some believe that he pre-dated the Crew at the shack they now call home.
Though he’s refered to as the HouseKeeper, the fact of the matter is that between the Crew and the occasionaly visiting Shemarrians, the HouseKeeper doesn’t have much to do with the actual maintenance of their domicile.
Though nobody of paranormal sensitivity has scried anything particularly supernatural about him, most folk assume that there HAS to something unusual about the old man that he’s survived so long on his own. Rumors include:
-He’s a long-lived d-bee, possibly permanently stranded or exiled, imprisoned on Earth, or the last of his kind. Evidence to support this is taken from comments of his about being ‘in exile’ , ‘being the last’, ‘not having learned his lesson’, or ‘really wanting to/not being able to see family’.
-A pre-Rifts survivor or early-generation Rifts Earth native suffering the ‘curse’ of immortality. This seems borne out by him knowing a great deal about the pre-Rifts period(he can also go on and on about pre-Rifts locations he’s supposedly been to or esoteric details about pre-Rifts society that may or may not be made-up) and a history of travelers in the area having always described the HouseKeeper as being old.
-A ‘Fader’---A dimensionally-unanchored person only partially in this universe/plane of existence; the physical HouseKeeper may be one facet of an intelligence distributed across several other alternate universes. This theory seems supported by some of the HouseKeeper’s comments about the ‘the better part of me traveling the Path’, ‘the happier me flying on the porch’, and his various dropped remarks about ‘zoning out’.
-A dragon or other supernatural being(such as a demi-god) with a very well-shielded disguise.
-The guardian of a stash of magic artifacts or pre-Rifts treasures(the treasure is furthermore said to be cursed; anybody who acquires it by foul means winds up becoming the HouseKeeper).
-A very solid-seeming ghost or haunting entity.
At times the HouseKeeper seems to have a very detailed and supernatural knowledge of megacosmic events and other universes, though he often has trouble remembering associates’ names and personal dates.
The HouseKeeper is almost certainly insane; he will even admit it as one of his failings, or an excuse for his failings. He has admitted to manic-depression, cowardice, paranoia, various phobias and affective disorder behavors, and passively self-destructive behavior(including self-proclaimed ‘materialism’, ‘terminal laziness’, and ‘oathbreaking’). He is not a violent madman, but tends to avoid social contact because of his problems. He would never harm any of the Crew under any circumstances.
Despite his foibles and mood swings, the Crew accepts the HouseKeeper and get along well with him.
It’s pretty much given that killing the Housekeeper is a bad idea, as somebody would take exception and hunt down the perpetrators on general principle if nothing else.
Level of Experience: 15th Level Civilian
Rank: HouseKeeper
Race: Human(?)
Alignment: Unprincipled(some of his comments suggest that his alignment has yoyo’ed up and down between Anarchist and Principled over the years)
Land of Origin: North America
Age: Unknown; appears to be in his late 80’s
Sex: Male
Height: 6.3 ft, but frequently is slouched or slumped over
Weight: 180 lbs
Physical Description/Appearance:
A elderly human male a rather pear-shaped build, slouched posture, with unruly thinning gray-blonde hair, thick eyeglasses, sad blue eyes, and an almost permanent grey stubble-beard.
Disposition:
Quiet, introverted. Often depressed, forgetful(but remembers the bad things that have happened and his personal shortcomings) and disorganized. Often talks to himself, to animals, to robots, and to inanimate objects. Tends to avoid trouble and tries to avoid confrontations. Can be very skittish and nervous about danger(not a bad thing to be on Rifts Earth, admittedly). Vacillates between cynical lucidity and melancholly madness, loneliness and mania ; will admit that he has many regrets in life, and is surprised that he’s lasted as long as he has(though he also admits that, like many Rifts Earth natives, he sleeps in “bullet-proof pajamas”). Normally quiet and asocial, but if one gets him talking, he can verbally ramble on and on on various subjects, until he becomes self-conscious, apologizes, and shuts up.
Insanities/Vulnerabilities:(Observed)
*Myopic---Needs glasses to see
*Poor Hearing---Has trouble hearing things; often asks speakers to repeat themselves; this can draw out conversations a LONG time or lead to miscommunications especially if the HouseKeeper becomes embarrassed by having to ask for clarification four or five times, and decides to free-interpret what he thinks he heard.
*Phobia: Heights
*Phobia(Mild) Math Anxiety
*Serial Hoarder---Has trouble throwing out stuff and collects stuff as well.
*Manic-Depressive---Goes between surges of creative excess and near suicidal depression.
*Addiction---LINUS-use. He has a collection of the bio-engineered security blankets stashed in his bedroom.
*Multiple Personality Disorder(?)---The Housekeeper sometimes lapses into entirely different mindsets suggestive of multiple personalities. His primary persona is that described above, while at other times he is even more timid, childish, peevish, emotional, and indecisive, but also very idealistic(the ‘Innocent’), ramblingy imaginative(“The Spaceman“), or very calm, collected, fearless, and preternaturally aware of events and knowledge that should be beyond his ken(“The Sage“), or petty, selfish, gruff, insensitive, self-absorbed and something of a smartass jerk.
Physical Attributes/Superlatives:
IQ: 13
ME:10
MA:10
PS:10
PP: 13
PE:10
PB: 9
SPD:13
(ISP):-----
(PPE): 15
Hit Points:?
SDC:?---The Housekeeper has been seen to cut hmself on ordinary objects, so it’s presumed that he is an SDC, normal-matter being. Nobody’s ever put this seriously to the test, though.
MDC:----
Horror Factor:-----
Special Abilities/Characteristics/Powers:
*Invisible to Psionics/Magic----The HouseKeeper seems both invisible and immune to magic and psionc probes and senses.
*Aura of Doom---Though invisible to indirect scrying, those who actually get him in line of sight claim he radiates an Aura of Doom(and Gloom)(80% of the time); whether the result of a deliberate curse or the incidental emotional radiation of really bad emotional depression, the result is the same. Most beings with a sense of self-preservation try to stay away from him, not wanting to catch the overkill of whatever’s going to happen to the Housekeeper. It doesn’t seem to affect the Crew however.
*Phase Abilities(?)---Some travelers claim that the HouseKeeper may either deliberately or unconsciously fades in and out of physical reality.
Magic:----
Psionics:-----
Cybernetics/Bionics:-----
Skills of Note:
Math: Basic 70%
Computer Operation 80%
Language/Literacy
American/English 98%
Research 80%
Art: Drawing 80%
Cooking 80%
Writing 80%
First Aid 80%
General Repair & Maintenance 98%
Housekeeping 75%
Sewing 60%
Gardening 75%
Pilot: Automobile 80%
Lore: D-Bee 98%
Lore: Demons & Monsters 98%
History: Pre-Rifts 80%
Lore: Galactic 98%
Lore: Dimensional 98%
Swimming 50%
Actions/Attacks per Melee: 4+ 6 non-combat actions
Dodge: +1
Notable Possessions/Equipment:
Lots of books and papers, mostly of pre-Rifts origin.
A fair amount of personal clothing, including a number of t-shirts with logos belonging to various pre-Rifts organizations.
Several dozen socks, none of which have a matching complement.
The House and its stockpiled odds and ends(boxes and boxes of old clothing, old appliances, bins of metal widgets, nuts and bolts, containers of pens and pencils, lots of paperclips, etc.) pretty much provide for the Housekeeper’s limited needs, such as they are, though this may result in some rather motley combinations of clothing, mismatched gloves and other apparel, and improvised repairs.
Vehicle:
Claims ownership of one, possibly both, of the Haunted Cars that frequent the House.
Aka(aka ‘White Wormy’. ‘The Thing in the Trunk’, ’Car-Guard’)
“
AH!AH!AUUUGGGHHHH!!!!AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” ---Anonymous bandit encounter with Aka
Aka is a small cute little creature who likes to hide, usually in vehicles, and watch over them and their passengers. Aka is also known as a monstrous bloodthirsty predator, the bane of car thieves, vehicle ‘jackers, and corrupt mechanics.
Aka has been variously speculated to be an alien bodyguard (or dashboard mascot) from another universe, or possibly a magic construct. Similarites between Aka and the AA-50 Insecton, as well as the apparent use of a Paladin Steel technology(‘phase space’) have fueled speculation that Aka is a one-off prototype by a Vatfather or perhaps an experiment by a Faerie’bot.
Aka may be an attempt to create an artificial Wuzybooger, an alen animal known for its radical dimorphic duality; a small harmless-looking grazer and a much larger predator form. Aka normally appears in a small soft ‘Ferie’ form resembling a white-furred ferret, but can ‘morph, via some form of subspace, into a giant weasel-like ‘Zerker’ with laser eyes, spinning claws, and manic energy.
Destroying Aka’s small ‘Ferie’ form will automatically unleash the Zerker, and one SERIOUSLY bad attitude. Aka can rebuild its Ferie form using its Zerker regeneration, but it will take at least a month to accomplish. Destroying the Zerker form and not the Ferie form means that Aka cannot go ‘zerker for a full year.
Type: Aka
Class: Robotic Watch Animal
Crew: None; Awakened Neural Intelligence
Appearance:
In Ferie form, Aka is a small, short-legged quadraped resembling a whte fuzzy ferret
In Zerker form, Aka becomes a large crimson-armored weasel-like form, with spinning claw legs, shoulder/hip-mounted ion blasters, an armored head, and a long, very flexible midsection.
Alignment: Anarchist, but loyal to the Crew
Disposition:
Shy, timid, given to hiding in Ferie form, usually burrowing under stuff like bedclothes, trunk stuff, or storage room collections. Once the Zerker gets out, though, Aka is a fearless frenetic monster that takes no prisoners. If anything bad were to happen to the Crew, Aka would hunt the perpetrators down and kill them.
MDC/Armor by Location:
(Ferie) 6
(Zerker)
Main Body 260
Head 90
Legs(4) 50 each
Height:(Ferie) 5 inches
(Zerker) 5 ft
Width:(Ferie) 4 inches
(Zerker) 4 ft
Length: (Ferie) 10 inches
(Zerker) 10 ft
Weight:(Ferie) 5 ounces
(Zerker) 1,000 lbs
Cargo: None
Physical Strength: (Ferie) 1
(Zerker) Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 45
Physical Attribute Equivalents:
IQ:. 11 MA: 20(Really cute in Ferie mode, bloody terrifying in Zerker mode) , ME: 30, PP: 22, PS: 1/45(Robotic) , PB: 18 in Ferie mode.
Powerplant: Unknown; possibly some form of TW power-tap.
Speed: (Running) (Ferie)
(Zerker) 150 MPH
(Leaping)(Ferie) 5 ft up/across
(Zerker) 30 ft up/across, running leap of 90 ft across
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) (Ferie) Can swim at 3 MPH
(Zerker) Can swim at 15 MPH
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 3 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems.
*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---Aka has the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 90 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.
Weapons Systems:
(Ferie)
1) Eye Lasers(2) ---Tiny, but powerful for their size.
Range: 200 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC per single blast, or 2d6 SDC per double blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
(Zerker)
1) Eye Lasers(2) --- Larger full-power milspec
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast, or 6d6 MD per double blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
2) Ion Blasters(5, one each shoulder/hip, one in the forehead)
Range:1,200 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD per single blast, 1d6x10 MD for all five blasts firing on the same target at once(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
3) Melee Combat
Bite 1d6 MD
Restrained Claw Strike 4d6+25 SD
Full Strength Claw Strike 4d6 MD
Spinning Claw Strike 1d4x10 MD
Back Kick 4d6 MD
Body Block/Tackle
Leap Kick 1d6x10 MD
Whirling Claw Pounce 3d4x10 MD
Programming:
Aka has the following:
Basic Math 98%
Radio: Basic 98%
Tracking 65%
Land Navigation 86%
Language: Can understand 22 different languages
Climbing 75%
Find Contraband 90%
Detect Concealment 60%
Detect Ambush 70%
Prowl: 99% in Ferie-form, 80% in Zerker form
Lore: Demons & Monstersg 75%
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 11(!)
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +7
Strike +6 (+3 w/ ranged weaponry)
Parry: +6
Roll +4
Pull Punch: +4
Charm 40%
Trust/Intimidate 60%
Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives Aka an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot.
Has the following psionic abilitis, WITHOUT ISP cost:
*Psychic Invisibility
*Alter Aura
*Mask Psionics & ISP
*Mask PPE
The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points(most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of
, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Immune to Exorcism and Banish spells
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).