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I haven't played seriously for a very long time and I was curious if anyone has written strategy guides for specific OCCs.

Anything out there worth reading?

If not, I'll start a thread to discuss an acceptable format and then maybe write a guide for Temporal Wizards if time allows.

--flatline

step 1: create character.
step 2: ???
step 3: profit.

Step One : Create Character
Step Two : Adventure
Step Three : Have Fun

TechnoGothic wrote:Step One : Create Character
Step Two : Adventure
Step Three : Have Fun

Not quite what I had in mind...

--flatline

Yes, kinda.

There isn't much need for a tricks-of-the-trade unless you're just trying to munchkin (in which case you should totally use the optional rules to get Snake Style or T'ai-Chi Ch'uan for your cosmoknight, then have him use his high willpower to fend off the Lord of the Deep, granting him the Inquisitor's magic/psionic resistence, then activate his "discorporate" zenjorike power and ascend to Taoist Immortalhood).

What's more useful is advice on how to avoid common pitfalls while you're playing. The best thing I've seen is a Rifter article about ley line walkers. They're totally dependent on the GM giving them access to spells, but it's really common for GMs to hold out on anything decent, even though the Glitterboys and borgs start with all of their toys right out of the box.

Not really what you were asking about, but useful.

llywelyn wrote:Yes, kinda.

There isn't much need for a tricks-of-the-trade unless you're just trying to munchkin (in which case you should totally use the optional rules to get Snake Style or T'ai-Chi Ch'uan for your cosmoknight, then have him use his high willpower to fend off the Lord of the Deep, granting him the Inquisitor's magic/psionic resistence, then activate his "discorporate" zenjorike power and ascend to Taoist Immortalhood).

I didn't really follow any of that, but I'll take your word for it that that's a "munchkin" thing to do.

What's more useful is advice on how to avoid common pitfalls while you're playing. The best thing I've seen is a Rifter article about ley line walkers. They're totally dependent on the GM giving them access to spells, but it's really common for GMs to hold out on anything decent, even though the Glitterboys and borgs start with all of their toys right out of the box.

Not really what you were asking about, but useful.

If I find the time, I'll write something up on Temporal Wizards (the only OCC that I claim any expertise on) and maybe others will follow up with guides for other OCCs. Even if you choose to disregard the contents of a guide, it's still interesting to know how others play particular OCCs.

--flatline

Personally, I am very glad PB hasn't put out any guides for playing OCC's. I think that should be up to the individual player.

Come up with a description, a background and a character on your own, it will mean a LOT more to you than some twinked out POS that you get off the net.

Yeah I don't really understand how a guide could really exist in a RPG...
You could have two characters of the same race, same OCC, same alignment and even the same stats but still play radically different.
No guide could cover more than one character and if that guide only applies to that character, he may as well keep it to himself because it doesn't mean sh*t to anyone else.

If you mean to compile a list of strategies which are helpful in combat or some other generic but commonly encountered situations in Role-playing then I commend you as that is no easy task. Considering the near limitless number of variables that could be involved and would need to be catered for in any situation, writing a guide that included even a small amount of them would be extremely time consuming.

My suggestion for playing OCCs is research them, find a real life example of an OCC an use it as a general guide to start, then fill in the blanks with your own imagination.

My intent for a guide would be to educate the reader of things that they should be aware of when creating and playing a character. For instance, knowing how autododge works would be important to someone interested in playing a Juicer but not of particular interest to someone playing an Operator. A master psychic should know the effects of ley lines and nexuses on psychic abilities so that they could use that to their advantage whereas full conversion borg couldn't care less about ley lines. A spell caster should know about particularly important spells available to them when they make their spell selections.

If there are particular combat strategies that are important to that class, this should be explained.

That sort of thing. I'm not talking about character optimization guides that you might read online about Diablo or something.

--flatline

Most of what you're talking about is covered under the rules, namely: effects of Ley lines on Psisonics & Mages, auto dodge, etc.
Effective spells for a mage is up to the player and falls very much under the concept of "Game Guide optimization".
My suggestion was more along the lines of character "feel" as opposed to "specific strageis".
In the end it is up to the player to read the material and figure out thow best to use their character's strengths and weaknesses.

Let's try this from another direction.

I have zero interest in playing a PA pilot. I'm not going to put the time and effort into learning to play a PA Pilot like I have with other OCCs that are more to my liking. But as a GM, it would be nice to have a guide that can bring me quickly up to speed on how to use a PA pilot effectively so that if my players run into a PA pilot, it's not just some shallow mockery of what a PA pilot should be. As a player It would be nice to read something that gives me a better idea of what a PA pilot is capable of (the description in the book doesn't do that).

All you guys seem resistant to a document that shows someone how to play their character. I'm not asking for that. I'm asking for a document that shows how someone *could* play such a character and the reasoning behind it.

--flatline

flatline wrote:Let's try this from another direction.

I have zero interest in playing a PA pilot. I'm not going to put the time and effort into learning to play a PA Pilot like I have with other OCCs that are more to my liking. But as a GM, it would be nice to have a guide that can bring me quickly up to speed on how to use a PA pilot effectively so that if my players run into a PA pilot, it's not just some shallow mockery of what a PA pilot should be. As a player It would be nice to read something that gives me a better idea of what a PA pilot is capable of (the description in the book doesn't do that).

All you guys seem resistant to a document that shows someone how to play their character. I'm not asking for that. I'm asking for a document that shows how someone *could* play such a character and the reasoning behind it.

--flatline

I don't think we're "resistant". I, personally, as a gamer of 20+ yrs of expereince w/Rifts know of no single source that tells me how to "play" a character. Every concept I use was developed "the old fashioned way" by reading sci-fi novels, watching Bubblegum Crisis and other assorted anime and actually running the character, or in the case of Rogue Scholars/Scientists due to my actual educational background in related fields (and watching Stargate one too many times ). Everything is personal hands on experience, that's just how it is.

keir451 wrote:I don't think we're "resistant".

Me either.

Flatty, go ahead and make some up, preferably in wiki format.

And in answer to your other question: SAMAS work the same way cops work. Any particular one might be outgunned, but they don't go in solo and they've got the 501st Armored Cav. on speed dial. If they disappear, people come looking.