Example Police Force in RIFTS

[Rifter_GM]

Greetings, Rifters!

I'm prepping an adventure dealing with gang and clan warfare in the Lone Star territory and I am trying to find examples of a typical police or law enforcement response team.

For example, this adventure will be placed in Houstown as some clan heads are in town to meet with each other using the neutral arbitration provided by Lord Mayor Orpheus.

The Lone Star book is pretty vague about the specifics of infrastructure in Houstown. It states they have "law enforcement" but no other information is really provided.

What I'm trying to figure out is exactly what that would entail. If a sudden firefight breaks out downtown, what type of police force would respond?

Would it be three officers with standard gear or would there be a powered suit available to respond?

I'm sure there are many possibilities, but I am looking for suggestions.

Thanks for your response.

[ITWastrel]

WB1: Vampire Kingdoms has some solid Texico area police stats. Page 130 should be of some use.

[ZINO]

WB1: Vampire Kingdoms has some solid Texico area police stats. Page 130 should be of some use.

that the first edition or second edition?

[Rifter_GM]

WB1: Vampire Kingdoms has some solid Texico area police stats. Page 130 should be of some use.

Thanks for the response! I'll check it out.

[ITWastrel]

WB1: Vampire Kingdoms has some solid Texico area police stats. Page 130 should be of some use.

that the first edition or second edition?

Page reference is for Revised. Both versions include the same info, though not on the same pages I'm sure.

[Killer Cyborg]

Greetings, Rifters!

I'm prepping an adventure dealing with gang and clan warfare in the Lone Star territory and I am trying to find examples of a typical police or law enforcement response team.

For example, this adventure will be placed in Houstown as some clan heads are in town to meet with each other using the neutral arbitration provided by Lord Mayor Orpheus.

The Lone Star book is pretty vague about the specifics of infrastructure in Houstown. It states they have "law enforcement" but no other information is really provided.

What I'm trying to figure out is exactly what that would entail. If a sudden firefight breaks out downtown, what type of police force would respond?

Would it be three officers with standard gear or would there be a powered suit available to respond?

I'm sure there are many possibilities, but I am looking for suggestions.

Thanks for your response.

The thing is, societies are pretty diverse in Rifts.
One town might have a police force, another might just have a sheriff, another might just have a militia, another might just use soldiers to police the people.
If you're making up your own town, you can make up whatever you want to go with it, and it won't really be out of place in Rifts.

Other than that, the only police I remember being described are the Coalition's and the stuff in Vampire Kingdoms.

[Rifter_GM]

Thanks for the feedback. There are lots of knowledgeable Rifters here, so I wanted as much input as possible before I commit everything to writing.

[SolCannibal]

Decided to do a quick check on Lone Star, since it has been years since i last read the book and have hardly if ever used anything beside the installation proper.

Population Breakdown: 28,000 total. 6,400 Psi-Stalkers.

Ok, this right here is completely nuts in a level i have difficulty grasping. That's crazy in absolute numbers and percentual ones.

6,400 people, almost one quarter of the city's population, is made of a mutant race who needs to prey on monsters and/or magic users to survive.

We are talking Psi-Talkers here, beings that are not exactly tailored to live the somewhat simple existence of farmers, grocers, librarians, restaurant waiters or street sweepers. If you are one of those gents or ladies, you must live the life of a hunter, wanderer & warrior, always in search of those in touch with the supernatural.

Having such humongous population of them in one place would require the constant presence of an even large number of critters for them to fight, some businesses to produce an inordinate quantity of weaponry for them (because their natural powers don't make them naturally capable of fighting MDC beings from what i remember) and a bunch of other complications/issues. The book does kind of adress this, but the handwaving is still kind of ridiculous to say the least. Not even going into the fact they as a group almost cover the percentage for psychics in general in a random Rifts Earth populace.

My first personal suggestion before anything else is cutting a zero of their official numbers. 640 Psi-Stalkers is plenty imho, more manageable but still puts a definite pressure that would go well with the local "PPE donors service".


Now speaking of a police force - the text speaks of Houstown being run "in a somewhat tribal/feudal manner", so i'd imagine what law enforcement they do have is done by a "city guard" kind of militia that doubles as police and military is probably what better fits with the overall description. Some sort of coast guard/marine is most probably present too, since defense from sea monsters is apparently a big thing - Orpheus became the city's ruler through his success in coordinating the locals in defending themselves and curbing the preying of the monsters and in fact his predecessors being curbstomped in an ill-fated campaign against the beasts is part of the reason he was welcomed as a leader.
In fact such a group could be another place to divert a bunch of adventurous psi-stalkers up to killing sea monsters and fighting atlantean raiders and/or pirates.

[ShadowLogan]

Other than that, the only police I remember being described are the Coalition's and the stuff in Vampire Kingdoms.

Some of the communities in SA1/2 and Canada do get a "summary" type situation IIRC, but in terms of OCCs to use to fill out the police force... You've got the CS (CWC, the ISS OCCs), Japan (WB8 pg94-5, Police Officer OCC), Russia (WB17 has a Police Officer OCC), NGR (WB5 Police OCC), and the New West (WB14) Sheriff/Deputy OCCs.

6,400 people, almost one quarter of the city's population, is made of a mutant race who needs to prey on monsters and/or magic users to survive.

We are talking Psi-Talkers here, beings that are not exactly tailored to live the somewhat simple existence of farmers, grocers, librarians, restaurant waiters or street sweepers. If you are one of those gents or ladies, you must live the life of a hunter, wanderer & warrior always in search of those in touch with the supernatural.

Actually there might be a few explanations:
1. given normal animals are also psychic, they could act as a food source (depending on type and such, they can feed on psychics after all) with them working in the meat industry (someone has to kill the animals) or in animal control (pest extermination, shelter, Vet.).
2. at 6400, some percentage of them are likely juveniles (the 1.5 kids in a Nuclear Family may not be the standard for Rifts Earth or Psi-Stalkers). I bring that up because what if the Psi-Stalker mutation doesn't "kick-in" until they are old enough, like how human psychics normally develop their powers in the teen years (IIRC). That could explain the large number, they'd be counted as Psi-Stalker due to their parentage but may not have activated (Sea Titans are a good example of human mutants being normal until they've developed) though I have a vague recollection this might not be the case
3. 6400 Psi-Stalkers call the city "home", but they aren't all in the city at the same time and the rest are out "traveling".

[ITWastrel]

Decided to do a quick check on Lone Star, since it has been years since i last read the book and have hardly if ever used anything beside the installation proper.

Population Breakdown: 28,000 total. 6,400 Psi-Stalkers.

Ok, this right here is completely nuts in a level i have difficulty grasping. That's crazy in absolute numbers and percentual ones.

6,400 people, almost one quarter of the city's population, is made of a mutant race who needs to prey on monsters and/or magic users to survive.

We are talking Psi-Talkers here, beings that are not exactly tailored to live the somewhat simple existence of farmers, grocers, librarians, restaurant waiters or street sweepers. If you are one of those gents or ladies, you must live the life of a hunter, wanderer & warrior always in search of those in touch with the supernatural.

Having such humongous population of them in one place would require the constant presence of an even large number of critters for them to fight, some businesses to produce an inordinate quantity of weaponry for them (because their natural powers don't make them naturally capable of fighting MDC beings from what i remember) and a bunch of other complications/issues. The book does kind of adress this, but the handwaving is still kind of ridiculous to say the least. Not even going into the fact they as a group almost cover the percentage for psychics in general in a random Rifts Earth populace.

My first personal suggestion before anything else is cutting a zero of their official numbers. 640 Psi-Stalkers is plenty imho, more manageable but still puts a definite pressure that would go well with the local "PPE donors service".


Now speaking of a police force - the text speaks of Houstown being run "in a somewhat tribal/feudal manner", so i'd imagine what law enforcement they do have is done by a "city guard" kind of militia that doubles as police and military is probably what better fits with the overall description. Some sort of coast guard/marine is most probably present too, since defense from sea monsters is apparently a big thing - Orpheus become the city's ruler through his success in coordinating the locals in defending themselves and curbing the preying of the monsters and in fact his predecessors being curbstomped in an ill-fated campaign against the beasts is part of the reason he was welcomed as a leader.
In fact such a group could be another place to divert a bunch of adventurous psi-stalkers up to killing sea monsters and fighting atlantean raiders and/or pirates.

I have actually addressed this in my game. I reasoned there was a community of 'stalkers similar to Chinatown in San Francisco or Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis.

The locals referred to the neighborhood as "Stalkertown", and it was the poorest, least supported, most miserable pile of ghetto this side of the Chi town burbs.

The one thing 'Stalkertown provided was housing a stone's throw from the largest slaughterhouse and meat packing plant operating in post-rifts North America. That plant employed a majority of the 'stalkers in town, and operates 24 hours a day. The Meat Plant provides efficient and inexpensive slaughter-to-frozen services for communities for literally hundreds of miles, and has become a cattle-drive destination.
The company can offer these labor-intensive services because they employ 'Stalker laborers at near slave wages, and the laborers have literally no other option if they want to survive.

I also included an NPC with a lunch terrarium, a trio of hamsters in a bowl.
Families would raise small animals as feeders, maintaining a terrarium of rats to have for lunch every day.
There would also be a solid small animal breeding industry, with retail sales and advertising. "Try Kellerman's Ferrets! They're Bursting With Energy!"

Now, I run games so that a stalker who feeds can then pass it on to other stalkers later.
In my game Daddy 'Stalker can bring home some PPE for Baby 'Stalker* after his 16 hour shift slaughtering and butchering cattle by hand, so YMMV by GM.



* Bay-bee 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! Baby 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! Baby 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! BABY 'STALK!

[Captain_Nibbz]

I have actually addressed this in my game. I reasoned there was a community of 'stalkers similar to Chinatown in San Francisco or Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis.

The locals referred to the neighborhood as "Stalkertown", and it was the poorest, least supported, most miserable pile of ghetto this side of the Chi town burbs.

The one thing 'Stalkertown provided was housing a stone's throw from the largest slaughterhouse and meat packing plant operating in post-rifts North America. That plant employed a majority of the 'stalkers in town, and operates 24 hours a day. The Meat Plant provides efficient and inexpensive slaughter-to-frozen services for communities for literally hundreds of miles, and has become a cattle-drive destination.
The company can offer these labor-intensive services because they employ 'Stalker laborers at near slave wages, and the laborers have literally no other option if they want to survive.

I also included an NPC with a lunch terrarium, a trio of hamsters in a bowl.
Families would raise small animals as feeders, maintaining a terrarium of rats to have for lunch every day.
There would also be a solid small animal breeding industry, with retail sales and advertising. "Try Kellerman's Ferrets! They're Bursting With Energy!"

Now, I run games so that a stalker who feeds can then pass it on to other stalkers later.
In my game Daddy 'Stalker can bring home some PPE for Baby 'Stalker* after his 16 hour shift slaughtering and butchering cattle by hand, so YMMV by GM.

Yes

* Bay-bee 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! Baby 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! Baby 'Stalk! Da dooo da-doo da-doo! BABY 'STALK!

No


For real though, this is a pretty solid idea. I'm going to lift this if I every get a chance to run Rifts again.

[SolCannibal]

While people have come with a number of entertaining explanations to adress or go around the issue of the large Psi-Stalker population given for Houstown, i think they don't really work that well in practice without handwaving it all due to sheer proportion, they are second largest population by numbers, while possibly looking largest population, since "vanilla humans" can be much more varied in physical type, skin color and other characteristics, while Stalkers have a distinctive "racial look", so they would appear more numerous than even the humans.

(Also for reference, while the population of San Francisco's Chinatown is indeed fairly large and densely packed to crazy degree in the group of city blocks it occupies - about seven times the average of the rest of the city - it's less than 2% of the city's whole population. Proportion-wise 20+% is more like "black" or "white", depending on the american city)

But whatever, that's not the thread's subject at all and i have derailed things aplenty with all this ranting on the brutal misuse of demographics and the ensuing statistical madness of taking them seriously.


Let me go back to the actual subject, law enforcement in Houstown.

- How much trouble is there going on in the city?
- Are barroom brawls, armed or barehanded, something of a regular issue?
- What gangs are found in the city, how much of a trouble are they, how feared, tolerated or even appreciated, are any of those by the authorities, other gangs, local powers or the population of districts-ghettos they share space with?
- How frequently must the authorities deal with rough-housing, petty vendettas or outright murder between visiting members of tribes or warbands from Pecos coming to the city for trade, formal or under the table?
- Also, is there any kind of merchandise that is frowned upon or outright illegal to trade upon in the city? And is there any criminal enterprise that might make some profit out of it? Any important people that might less respectable than they present themselves to be?

If you intend to explore the idea of a police force in Houstown, tinkering a bit with crime in the city and the underworld that exist around it seems like a natural direction, i guess.

How you portray the city, the gangs and clans at play is a big part of the story - do you see Houstown as a fantasy city, tavern quest-givers, guards at the gates & all, with some mechs and guns peppered in, a far west town with saloons, sheriffs, dragon hide ponchos & laser six-shooters or more of a Twin Peaks/Gravity Falls meets Mad Max place? What style of leader do you imagine Lord Mayor Orpheus the Titan being and how might that influence the maintenance of law & order in the place and what twists or complications might the ideas of advisors, rivals or interest groups bring to the mix?

Bringing all of that up because, while i love Ciudad Juarez as a locale of misadventure, i'd imagine Houstown as being a considerably different kind of place.

[guardiandashi]

While people have come with a number of entertaining explanations to adress or go around the issue of the large Psi-Stalker population given for Houstown, i think they don't really work that well in practice without handwaving it all due to sheer proportion, they are second largest population by numbers, while possibly looking largest population, since "vanilla humans" can be much more varied in physical type, skin color and other characteristics, while Stalkers have a distinctive "racial look", so they would appear more numerous than even the humans.

(Also for reference, while the population of San Francisco's Chinatown is indeed fairly large and densely packed to crazy degree in the group of city blocks it occupies - about seven times the average of the rest of the city - it's less than 2% of the city's whole population. Proportion-wise 20+% is more like "black" or "white", depending on the american city)

But whatever, that's not the thread's subject at all and i have derailed things aplenty with all this ranting on the brutal misuse of demographics and the ensuing statistical madness of taking them seriously.


Let me go back to the actual subject, law enforcement in Houstown.

- How much trouble is there going on in the city?
- Are barroom brawls, armed or barehanded, something of a regular issue?
- What gangs are found in the city, how much of a trouble are they, how feared, tolerated or even appreciated, are any of those by the authorities, other gangs, local powers or the population of districts-ghettos they share space with?
- How frequently must the authorities deal with rough-housing, petty vendettas or outright murder between visiting members of tribes or warbands from Pecos coming to the city for trade, formal or under the table?
- Also, is there any kind of merchandise that is frowned upon or outright illegal to trade upon in the city? And is there any criminal enterprise that might make some profit out of it? Any important people that might less respectable than they present themselves to be?

If you intend to explore the idea of a police force in Houstown, tinkering a bit with crime in the city and the underworld that exist around it seems like a natural direction, i guess.

How you portray the city, the gangs and clans at play is a big part of the story - do you see Houstown as a fantasy city, tavern quest-givers, guards at the gates & all, with some mechs and guns peppered in, a far west town with saloons, sheriffs, dragon hide ponchos & laser six-shooters or more of a Twin Peaks/Gravity Falls meets Mad Max place? What style of leader do you imagine Lord Mayor Orpheus the Titan being and how might that influence the maintenance of law & order in the place and what twists or complications might the ideas of advisors, rivals or interest groups bring to the mix?

Bringing all of that up because, while i love Ciudad Juarez as a locale of misadventure, i'd imagine Houstown as being a considerably different kind of place.

I agree in a broad sense.

the first thing is to decide how you want to design and build the police force.

you could go all dominion tank police (anime) on one extreme. or SAPD san angels from Demolition man on the other extreme.
I suspect in most examples its going to be somewhere in between.

I think I would set a lot of police forces up under a high/low design. with the specifics varying depending on the threats they are intended to deal with.

the low would be something like the general police today, in that they are the "common" police, they may (likely would) have some form of MDC armor I look at is like the bullet resistant vests a lot of police have. and limited weaponry, mostly less lethal and work to deescalate encounters if possible.

the "high" team(s) are kind of like modern SWAT teams they deploy heavy more (heavier armor) heavier weapons and are more likely to shoot to kill if necessary to reduce collateral casualties

[SolCannibal]

Considering Houstown is described as being run in a "somewhat tribal/feudal manner" and the Lord Mayor himself is himself a Palladium native, i'd guess they are not big on the kind of specialization or administrative department division we are used to. Their guard probably not quite military or police force, but something in between, mostly composed of men-at-arms patroling the city and dealing with at the spot situations than cops as we know them doing proper criminal investigation, registering witnesses, gathering of evidence and so on, though some sort of self-made criminalist or dilletante genius detective acting as officer, advisor or even chief are also possibilities.

That said, a focus on deescalation and negotiation rather than solving things through shooting is definitely in character for a city that has "neutral ground for tribes and gangs to meet and resolve their differences without violence" among its major services to the region and a function where those with good social skills and/or powers to influence other people can clearly shine (specially considering that, as described in the book, are a about a handful of Ley Line Walkers and Techno-Wizards around, with ideas of a TW school and manufacturing center being established in town more rumor than fact).

It's a nice and growing city indeed, but no Ciudad Juarez, for good and for ill (though overall more good).

[Library Ogre]

For example, this adventure will be placed in Houstown as some clan heads are in town to meet with each other using the neutral arbitration provided by Lord Mayor Orpheus.

Not official, but I wrote up a bit about Houstown a few years ago.

[Library Ogre]

Since I like to share, some things about psi-stalkers in Houstown:

In addition to humans, there's a sizable population of psi-stalkers (6400) who live in and around the city. Many congregate in the city center, fighting monsters and entities, bringing out occasional bits of Pre-Rifts loot to sell for needed supplies. Others range around the city, both inside and out, seeking prey and excitement. Psi-stalkers are frequently hired as private security because of their physical abilities and senses. Many join the city guard, and they're frequently used as scouts and shock troops. Feeding within the city is tightly controlled, and it must be voluntary or in the line of an approved duty (or committed against an acknowledged monster). Employers whose psi-stalkers get too rough on duty can find themselves fined, in addition to fees levied against the psi-stalker himself, so those inclined to break the law are frequently unemployed. Psi-stalkers in the city will approach individuals with high P.P.E. bases and ask them if they would be willing to donate P.P.E. for their feeding. The usual price for P.P.E. can vary, but most psi-stalkers find themselves paying approximately 100-200 credits per week for "food", plus an additional 50 for a clean blade and healing the small cuts they cause.

...

Inside the city, there is an active reclamation industry. The remains of old buildings from the ruins of Houston and surrounding cities are recycled into new buildings. Psi-stalkers frequently accompany teams who go into these ruins to defend them against ghosts and entities who haunt them; they often find themselves defending their employers against the psi-stalkers of Downtown, as well.

And the police and military forces

From 80 P.A. until 101 P.A., Houstown did not have an official military. In the 80s, the remainder of Houstown's forces were whittled down to nothing in conflicts with sea monsters. After that, there has been less money available, and so the city militia has kept up the needs of defense. With the invasion of Port Horus by the Coalition, Houstown has increased its purchases and hiring of military forces. Los Alamo is a major source of Houstown's weapons and vehicles, though the city is slowly becoming more self-reliant.
Houstown has a permanent standing army of about 3000, and a militia of trained, part-time soldiers that numbers another 7000. In addition to this, there is an “unofficial militia” of retired adventurers; they number around 100, and work with the militia in exchange for repairs and ammunition, a unit of 400 psi-stalkers and rogue mutant animals, and about 300 men of magic who have at least some connection with the military.
The Houstown military is also the city police force. They maintain law and order as best they can, though many of them work more to referee and contain fights in the wilder areas of town (like the North Market). The city, while trying for a law and order reputation, is also a haven for Pecos Bandits, and so deals with flare-ups of violence, so long as they are contained and personal. Many minor crimes (such as a mutual fight, or public drunkenness) nets the perpetrators a night in jail, and a fine of 50-1000 credits. Greater crimes are investigated, both mundanely and with magical or psionic powers. The Houstown police force does not have a great success rate in arresting criminals, since many perpetrators will escape to the Badlands if anything serious happens.
...
The standard armor for the city guard is Bushman body armor, with officers being given either Chipwell Challenger or knock-offs of NG Gladius armor; most are armed with energy rifles, vibro-knives, and neural maces.
...
The 400 psi-stalkers and mutant animals of the Houstown police department are concentrated in North Houstown. Unlike the non-psychic soldiers, they are not provided with cybernetics, but they are armed and armored similarly to regular line soldiers (though their officers are given the option of Gladiator armor instead of powered suits). The mutant animals are paid identically to human soldiers, but the psi-stalkers receive only 1700 a month, in addition to willing donors of P.P.E..
The men of magic (primarily Ley Line Walkers and Techno-Wizards, though 10% are Shifters, 5% are Warlocks, and another 5% are Mystics and more exotic types) are concentrated in South Houstown. They're given Urban Warrior armor, energy pistols, and a Talisman with Armor of Ithan; they are expected to provide the P.P.E. to fill their own Talismans, if they expend them. Magical members of the militia are paid 2000 credits a month, and are encouraged to share spells with each other, though it is not required.
...
The “unofficial” militia is a scarce hundred retired adventurers who work with the city guard in times of trouble. Most of them are Men at Arms who maintain their own equipment and live their own lives; they may have settled into a mundane profession, or be independent mercenaries who hire on with the city when needed. They're paid either 70 credits a day, or 2500 credits if they work for a full month, plus repairs for damage sustained in service to the city, and ammunition reloads. Most are experienced (levels 5-7), and so the city uses them to lead independent units, or provide hardware that the city can't afford.

[Rifter_GM]

WB1: Vampire Kingdoms has some solid Texico area police stats. Page 130 should be of some use.

that the first edition or second edition?

Page reference is for Revised. Both versions include the same info, though not on the same pages I'm sure.

This was exactly what I was looking for. The example given was for a comparable population so it gives me the perfect starting point for Houstown. I figure they'll use Psi-stalkers as a sort of SWAT team when needed. When something really bad happens, it's time for the Lord Mayor to suit back up and get into action.

For the most part, I'll probably use very little of this, but I needed to know what might happen when firefights break out. First responders will probably be a pair of hovercyle cops who would set up a perimeter. The rest will depend on how the PCs react.

[Rifter_GM]

Since I like to share, some things about psi-stalkers in Houstown:

In addition to humans, there's a sizable population of psi-stalkers (6400) who live in and around the city. Many congregate in the city center, fighting monsters and entities, bringing out occasional bits of Pre-Rifts loot to sell for needed supplies. Others range around the city, both inside and out, seeking prey and excitement. Psi-stalkers are frequently hired as private security because of their physical abilities and senses. Many join the city guard, and they're frequently used as scouts and shock troops. Feeding within the city is tightly controlled, and it must be voluntary or in the line of an approved duty (or committed against an acknowledged monster). Employers whose psi-stalkers get too rough on duty can find themselves fined, in addition to fees levied against the psi-stalker himself, so those inclined to break the law are frequently unemployed. Psi-stalkers in the city will approach individuals with high P.P.E. bases and ask them if they would be willing to donate P.P.E. for their feeding. The usual price for P.P.E. can vary, but most psi-stalkers find themselves paying approximately 100-200 credits per week for "food", plus an additional 50 for a clean blade and healing the small cuts they cause.

...

Inside the city, there is an active reclamation industry. The remains of old buildings from the ruins of Houston and surrounding cities are recycled into new buildings. Psi-stalkers frequently accompany teams who go into these ruins to defend them against ghosts and entities who haunt them; they often find themselves defending their employers against the psi-stalkers of Downtown, as well.

And the police and military forces

From 80 P.A. until 101 P.A., Houstown did not have an official military. In the 80s, the remainder of Houstown's forces were whittled down to nothing in conflicts with sea monsters. After that, there has been less money available, and so the city militia has kept up the needs of defense. With the invasion of Port Horus by the Coalition, Houstown has increased its purchases and hiring of military forces. Los Alamo is a major source of Houstown's weapons and vehicles, though the city is slowly becoming more self-reliant.
Houstown has a permanent standing army of about 3000, and a militia of trained, part-time soldiers that numbers another 7000. In addition to this, there is an “unofficial militia” of retired adventurers; they number around 100, and work with the militia in exchange for repairs and ammunition, a unit of 400 psi-stalkers and rogue mutant animals, and about 300 men of magic who have at least some connection with the military.
The Houstown military is also the city police force. They maintain law and order as best they can, though many of them work more to referee and contain fights in the wilder areas of town (like the North Market). The city, while trying for a law and order reputation, is also a haven for Pecos Bandits, and so deals with flare-ups of violence, so long as they are contained and personal. Many minor crimes (such as a mutual fight, or public drunkenness) nets the perpetrators a night in jail, and a fine of 50-1000 credits. Greater crimes are investigated, both mundanely and with magical or psionic powers. The Houstown police force does not have a great success rate in arresting criminals, since many perpetrators will escape to the Badlands if anything serious happens.
...
The standard armor for the city guard is Bushman body armor, with officers being given either Chipwell Challenger or knock-offs of NG Gladius armor; most are armed with energy rifles, vibro-knives, and neural maces.
...
The 400 psi-stalkers and mutant animals of the Houstown police department are concentrated in North Houstown. Unlike the non-psychic soldiers, they are not provided with cybernetics, but they are armed and armored similarly to regular line soldiers (though their officers are given the option of Gladiator armor instead of powered suits). The mutant animals are paid identically to human soldiers, but the psi-stalkers receive only 1700 a month, in addition to willing donors of P.P.E..
The men of magic (primarily Ley Line Walkers and Techno-Wizards, though 10% are Shifters, 5% are Warlocks, and another 5% are Mystics and more exotic types) are concentrated in South Houstown. They're given Urban Warrior armor, energy pistols, and a Talisman with Armor of Ithan; they are expected to provide the P.P.E. to fill their own Talismans, if they expend them. Magical members of the militia are paid 2000 credits a month, and are encouraged to share spells with each other, though it is not required.
...
The “unofficial” militia is a scarce hundred retired adventurers who work with the city guard in times of trouble. Most of them are Men at Arms who maintain their own equipment and live their own lives; they may have settled into a mundane profession, or be independent mercenaries who hire on with the city when needed. They're paid either 70 credits a day, or 2500 credits if they work for a full month, plus repairs for damage sustained in service to the city, and ammunition reloads. Most are experienced (levels 5-7), and so the city uses them to lead independent units, or provide hardware that the city can't afford.

Thanks for the great info!

[SolCannibal]

Since we are speaking of Lone Star and other post-apoc Texas places, here's a little something i came across today that caught my interest.

Now i can't stop thinking of that statue, after receiving emotional/psychic charges from thousands of soldiers of the III Army for more than a century, coming to life during the Coming of the Rifts through the intercession of some Entity variant - to lead them in battle against the horrors of the Chaos Earth, as inspired by the memories, thoughts and emotions of troopers past left in their mascot-patron.