Questions wanted for upcoming Kevin Siembieda interview

[AlexM]

Kevin Siembieda will be interviewed by Sean Owen Roberson this Saturday at 1:00 PM EDT. We are looking for questions that you might want to ask Kevin before the event, which is part of Gen Con Online. So post them here. Kevin will look them over and reply to as many as he can as part of the interview.

Here is a link to the event: https://www.gencon.com/events/200745



Alex Marciniszyn

[Sohisohi]

Rules for genetic modifications when?

They exist, sure, but are scattered throughout multiple books and don't allow players to make their own dog boys from the ground up. After two modification, you have to roll on disabilities. Is the technology meant to be lost?

[Mlp7029]

Why don’t spells that deal no damage get a boost in the Rifts Earth environment similar to the damage boost to megadamage damage dealing spells get? Example Fire Bolt does SDC in H.U. and M.D. Rifts while Befuddle is identical between the two settings. Shouldn’t Befuddle get some increase in range or duration from the incredibly high magic level in Rifts?

[AlexM]

Could you post an example?


Alex Marciniszyn

[Axelmania]

I'm vaguely remembering there being some long-standing controversies people argue about and want to have Kev asked about, but only THAT there were some, I can't seem to remember what they were.

Maybe some stuff about missiles or PPE or class changing and "canon" ?

[Killer Cyborg]

I'm vaguely remembering there being some long-standing controversies people argue about and want to have Kev asked about, but only THAT there were some, I can't seem to remember what they were.

Maybe some stuff about missiles or PPE or class changing and "canon" ?

Well, I guess there's:
-Is the 4d6 setting on the C-12 a burst setting or a single-shot setting?
Has it always been that way, or did it change?
-When Erin Tarn describes Japan in the original Rifts book as having it's great cities toppled by tidal waves, and currently being "a quiet little cluster of wilderness islands," did you intend for her to be incorrect?
Or did you originally intend Japan to be just that, and later change your mind?
Either way, how should we currently explain the discrepancy: Was Tarn wrong, or should we pretend she never wrote that passage?
-Does the rule about stacking Supernatural Punch Damage with physical MD Melee weapons apply to ALL weapons, or to ONLY the weapons where it's specified, and otherwise the rules from PFRPGII apply?
Also, does it apply to Robots and such?
-How easy do you think think it should be for an Operator or such to recharge an E-Clip? Do they need a recharger specifically, or can they just grab a nuclear power source and some jumper cables (or whatever) and recharge things that way?
-As of RUE, it's stated that all missiles are considered to be Unguided unless otherwise stated. That seems to be a reversal of the previous RMB rules that all missiles were assumed to be Guided by default, unless they were mini-missiles. What's the reason for this change?
-Are the rules for changing OCC from PFRPG and the Cutting Room Floor only good for Palladium Fantasy, or are they canon for Rifts characters and such as well?
-Do you think that mages should generally insist on using magic for everything, or do you think they should use tech tools and such most of the time, and save the magic for special occasions that can't be solved just by shooting something?
-A lot of folks insist that the only reason Chi-Town is still standing is because of Plot Shield, and that "realistically" they'd have been destroyed long ago by their many supernatural enemies.
Do you feel that's accurate, or are these people missing something?
-How common is Mega-Damage in Rifts Earth, particularly in North America? If there was a SDC-only village or town somewhere in North America, how long might it survive before a mega-damage threat wiped it out? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Or even decades?
Likewise, if somebody started walking, riding, or driving from CS territory toward one of the coasts, how often would you expect them to encounter mega-damage threats, would it be measured in minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months?
If it would vary by location, what's the low-end and high-end you'd expect between encounters?
-What ever happened to Shaedo, a location mentioned in the RMB?
-One of the original themes of Rifts was that power comes at a price. If humans wanted to compete with mega-damage threats, they needed armor, power armor, and/or to risk their lives, sanity, and humanity by becoming a Juicer, Crazy, or Borg.
Do you still think that them is or should be an integral part of the setting, or do you feel like Rifts has moved away from that, what with all the classes and races where power comes pretty cheap?


I'm sure there's lots of other stuff that's been repeatedly tossed back and forth, argued about endlessly for years or decades, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.