Most awesomest power armor that is still technically EPA.

[Shorty Lickens]

First I was thinking the ultimax from NGR, then I remembered its actually a one man robot vehicle. Was also thinking it might be something from the 3 Galaxies that has space capabilities. Something with a contra-gravity or anti-gravity propulsion. Maybe even FTL speed. Does anything like that exist? I cannot find one. Or something with teleportation. Maybe there is some sort of magic armor with warp abilities I never noticed.

Any ideas?

[Shorty Lickens]

ok, I think my first guess was pretty close. In Phase World page 132 they describe the Silverhawk. Its called an exoskeleton but it has a whopping 420 MDC and all the normal P.A. systems plus a lot more. Its jets can achieve Mach 2 in air or Mach 12 in space, it has a force field, a stealth system, and can even go 1000 feet down it the water. And the freakin thing only costs 3.5 million credits which is a heck of a bargain compared to anything else this powerful. And to top it all off the suit only weighs 1000 pounds and thats much lighter than all the heavy, high-power EPA you find in other books.

[Shorty Lickens]

I found a better one. In the Phase World Sourcebook page 70 we have the Avenger power armor. Again, described as a powered exoskeleton but the body has 825 MDC, with an additional force field at 200 MDC. And it can do Mach 4 in air and Mach 10 in space. Thanks to the anti-matter power system it does not need cooling and will run for 50 years. And it also only weighs 1000 pounds.

[ITWastrel]

I think you're halfway to building it yourself.

Why not write up a description of the armor you imagine should exist, and then post it here.

The community can chime in with suggestions and revisions, and you can effectively crowdsource a new piece of equipment. Getting GM approval may be harder, but send them to peek this thread and we'll convince them.

I don't know for awesomest, but as far as the coolest armor ever, that's easy. Standard juicer plate. Juicers are metal. Juicer armor is metal, even though it's ceramic.

There IS a fine line, though. You go past that jacket to add a cool haircut, maybe a katana, then you find yourself with a fedora, neckbeard, and waifu body pillow. You find you went full Gencon. NEVER GO FULL GENCON!

Sorry, I lost a friend to My Chemical Romance, White Wolf games, and Reddit. He never came back. Last thing I know he was a 49 year old man with a Pinkie Pie body pillow and a strange need to tell me what anime is sexiest. I'm working through the trauma.

[ITWastrel]

I found a better one. In the Phase World Sourcebook page 70 we have the Avenger power armor. Again, described as a powered exoskeleton but the body has 825 MDC, with an additional force field at 200 MDC. And it can do Mach 4 in air and Mach 10 in space. Thanks to the anti-matter power system it does not need cooling and will run for 50 years. And it also only weighs 1000 pounds.

Rifter 9 1/2 has a few items on those lines. Check the section on Giga-Damage.

[Shorty Lickens]

OOOH! I found one I never noticed before!
in the Three Galaxies on page 121 they have something I assumed existed but never saw. Organic power armor. It feeds off the pilots PPE and can regenerate quite fast. It also has space flight and built in weapons. Ahh, but its bonded to its user at birth and can never be transferred. So its not purchasable at any market. Maybe if they PC's did something particularly noteworthy they could be given one......

[Shorty Lickens]

in Merc Ops on page 155 and 156 we have some magic TW armor. Both of them have good abilities. One can cast giant growth and the other has fly as the eagle.
they both have activated and passive abilities and some of them do NOT require PPE. The ones that do need PPE do not require the operator to be a wizard.

[Shorty Lickens]

Oh, a decent one in Thundercloud Galaxy. Page 119.
The Heavy Hands power armor has good MDC, a powerful deflection field, can fly in air and space, and (amazingly) operate 5 miles underwater, which is better than most seagoing vehicles I've seen in all the books.

[Shorty Lickens]

oh snap!

In Triax 2 on page 121 they have a flying Glitter Boy. The boom gun can fire in mid air.

[Shorty Lickens]

OK, i think I will design some P.A. with either a FTL drive or something else. Probably from Naruni or the United Warlocks.

[Curbludgeon]

I don't know about most awesome, but the Kittani Destroyer from Rifts Underseas probably has the most TW features in a PA, even if it is for Kydians only. The Super Trooper from Triax 1 is noteworthy for expressly being wearable while piloting a gargoyle bot which itself grants bonus actions per melee. Presumably something extremely lightweight such as a NG Stalker suit could replace standard Triax PA fatigues, and there's a decent argument that all three layers could have TW features added. That this still wouldn't equal the number of TW features the K.Destroyer has is saying something.

[ShadowLogan]

What criteria are you using to determine if something is "awesomest"?

[Hotrod]

The original G-10 Glitter Boy remains the most awesome power armor in my book. Rifts has some honorable mentions, but there's nothing else in Rifts that quite matches its combination of terms of distinctive aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, and immersion. It's both fantastical and grounded at the same time, which is how a great Rifts game should be. It's iconic, it's interesting to play, and the cutaways and little details for how live in it make it feel more real than almost any other power armor design I've seen. The Glitter Boy mini my wife got me last Christmas continues to be my favorite desk decoration.

Kevin Long made some great designs for power armors. The Jaeger is pretty darn awesome as a design, too, with its distinctive feet, the pilot compartment shape, and optional extra packages, but it's a robot, and it's not as distinctive as the Glitter Boy. The SAMAS is another great design, too.

Chuck Walton has made some fantastic power armor designs as well, my favorite being the Death Knight. Unfortunately, it seems like he creates a design and moves on, without exploring how each design gets lived in and works, and I don't get a sense of why different suits require a different chassis. When I look through NG2, easily half the suits look the same, just with different weapons/tools. This isn't a criticism of Chuck's work per se; I would have preferred to have Chuck do a couple of chassis designs (man-sized and Samson-scale, for instance) and present what we now have as different power armors as interchangeable add-on weapon and armor packages that could be swapped out on common frames.

This critique isn't unique to Chuck's work. A lot of Rifts books have a lot of forgettable power armors that we see once and never see again. I prefer well-developed designs that stick around for a long time. By that metric, the most awesomest power armors remain the Glitter Boy and the SAMAS, of which I prefer the Glitter Boy. The Phase World Silver Hawk and the Silver Eagle SAMAS are interesting combination of the two designs, but neither feel quite as distinctive or as cool as their predecessors.

Shameless plug: If you want to see the Glitter Boy fleshed out more, check out the upcoming Rifter.

[Emerald MoonSilver]

Shameless self promotion. I created two suits that I posted here that I believe could qualify or be changed minorly to suit your needs. take a look.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=159506

or this one:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=159760

hope you like,, Now if you excuse me it's back to work on my rifts steampunk campaign timeline.....

[ITWastrel]

Riathenor armor.

Sure, if you actually get the suit it absorbs you and creates a new Riathenor character, but it's still the ABSOLUTE Coolest armor ever, See HU: Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide Pp109 for details.

[Blue_Lion]

Shameless self promotion. I created two suits that I posted here that I believe could qualify or be changed minorly to suit your needs. take a look.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=159506

or this one:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=159760

hope you like,, Now if you excuse me it's back to work on my rifts steampunk campaign timeline.....

I have created a few suits of PA that i think are quite awesome.
SAMAS killer (flying tw PA that can teleport and tether to target, regenerate, has a strong melee weapon, deflect spell its biggest is weakness is that it can't use range weapons.)

CS urban combat PA. uses wide band imaging radar to detect people in building, armed with a fully automatic grenade launcher, shoulder mounted nero capacitor dart launcher (think ranged nero mace) fore arm mounted plasma ejector and pulse laser. (used In CS DRAT games.)

[Warshield73]

I know it's not the coolest but I have always loved the original Titan Flying PA in the RMB pg. 213. It was so simple and fun I used it for about 4 different characters over the years.

The original G-10 Glitter Boy remains the most awesome power armor in my book. Rifts has some honorable mentions, but there's nothing else in Rifts that quite matches its combination of terms of distinctive aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, and immersion. It's both fantastical and grounded at the same time, which is how a great Rifts game should be. It's iconic, it's interesting to play, and the cutaways and little details for how live in it make it feel more real than almost any other power armor design I've seen. The Glitter Boy mini my wife got me last Christmas continues to be my favorite desk decoration.

Kevin Long made some great designs for power armors. The Jaeger is pretty darn awesome as a design, too, with its distinctive feet, the pilot compartment shape, and optional extra packages, but it's a robot, and it's not as distinctive as the Glitter Boy. The SAMAS is another great design, too.

Chuck Walton has made some fantastic power armor designs as well, my favorite being the Death Knight. Unfortunately, it seems like he creates a design and moves on, without exploring how each design gets lived in and works, and I don't get a sense of why different suits require a different chassis. When I look through NG2, easily half the suits look the same, just with different weapons/tools. This isn't a criticism of Chuck's work per se; I would have preferred to have Chuck do a couple of chassis designs (man-sized and Samson-scale, for instance) and present what we now have as different power armors as interchangeable add-on weapon and armor packages that could be swapped out on common frames.

This critique isn't unique to Chuck's work. A lot of Rifts books have a lot of forgettable power armors that we see once and never see again. I prefer well-developed designs that stick around for a long time. By that metric, the most awesomest power armors remain the Glitter Boy and the SAMAS, of which I prefer the Glitter Boy. The Phase World Silver Hawk and the Silver Eagle SAMAS are interesting combination of the two designs, but neither feel quite as distinctive or as cool as their predecessors.

Shameless plug: If you want to see the Glitter Boy fleshed out more, check out the upcoming Rifter.

I agree with all of this but it is not just power armor it is a lot of military vehicles and equipment. After a cool piece of art or idea needs to be paired with a purpose. What is this vehicle supposed to accomplish? Many vehicles seem to have something in the description but the ability to perform that function is often absent from the stats.

The GB, on the other hand, performs its job perfectly. A wonderfully uncomplicated mobile gun bunker and I love it and the pre-Rifts history. The original RMB version wasn't great but the additional lore added in RUE and other books really makes it something.

[guardiandashi]

I know it's not the coolest but I have always loved the original Titan Flying PA in the RMB pg. 213. It was so simple and fun I used it for about 4 different characters over the years.

The original G-10 Glitter Boy remains the most awesome power armor in my book. Rifts has some honorable mentions, but there's nothing else in Rifts that quite matches its combination of terms of distinctive aesthetics, gameplay mechanics, and immersion. It's both fantastical and grounded at the same time, which is how a great Rifts game should be. It's iconic, it's interesting to play, and the cutaways and little details for how live in it make it feel more real than almost any other power armor design I've seen. The Glitter Boy mini my wife got me last Christmas continues to be my favorite desk decoration.

Kevin Long made some great designs for power armors. The Jaeger is pretty darn awesome as a design, too, with its distinctive feet, the pilot compartment shape, and optional extra packages, but it's a robot, and it's not as distinctive as the Glitter Boy. The SAMAS is another great design, too.

Chuck Walton has made some fantastic power armor designs as well, my favorite being the Death Knight. Unfortunately, it seems like he creates a design and moves on, without exploring how each design gets lived in and works, and I don't get a sense of why different suits require a different chassis. When I look through NG2, easily half the suits look the same, just with different weapons/tools. This isn't a criticism of Chuck's work per se; I would have preferred to have Chuck do a couple of chassis designs (man-sized and Samson-scale, for instance) and present what we now have as different power armors as interchangeable add-on weapon and armor packages that could be swapped out on common frames.

This critique isn't unique to Chuck's work. A lot of Rifts books have a lot of forgettable power armors that we see once and never see again. I prefer well-developed designs that stick around for a long time. By that metric, the most awesomest power armors remain the Glitter Boy and the SAMAS, of which I prefer the Glitter Boy. The Phase World Silver Hawk and the Silver Eagle SAMAS are interesting combination of the two designs, but neither feel quite as distinctive or as cool as their predecessors.

Shameless plug: If you want to see the Glitter Boy fleshed out more, check out the upcoming Rifter.

I agree with all of this but it is not just power armor it is a lot of military vehicles and equipment. After a cool piece of art or idea needs to be paired with a purpose. What is this vehicle supposed to accomplish? Many vehicles seem to have something in the description but the ability to perform that function is often absent from the stats.

The GB, on the other hand, performs its job perfectly. A wonderfully uncomplicated mobile gun bunker and I love it and the pre-Rifts history. The original RMB version wasn't great but the additional lore added in RUE and other books really makes it something.

the glitter boy is pretty good, although I will say the version from mutants in orbit with the big flipping energy cannon is one of the best gb varients.

with that said in one of our campaigns we had some homemade power armor that was pretty sick.
although there is a power armor that is really sick awesome for 1 feature but otherwise is more or less so so. and that is the saber cyclone from the robotech (invid invasion) but only because of the special ability of the cads shields when the blades are active. they have a rapidly regenerating forcefield that is essentially indestructible. in all other aspects it isn't all that great, I mean its not bad... and pretty cool, but

[Hotrod]

I agree with all of this but it is not just power armor it is a lot of military vehicles and equipment. After a cool piece of art or idea needs to be paired with a purpose. What is this vehicle supposed to accomplish? Many vehicles seem to have something in the description but the ability to perform that function is often absent from the stats.

The GB, on the other hand, performs its job perfectly. A wonderfully uncomplicated mobile gun bunker and I love it and the pre-Rifts history. The original RMB version wasn't great but the additional lore added in RUE and other books really makes it something.

The "purpose-built" aspects of power armor design are one of Chuck Walton's great strengths as an artist and designer. NG2 has some fantastic ideas for suits that specialize in firefighting, medical, dashing-assault, I'd just like to see some more interchangeability, maybe something that's a bit more of the the "everything's interchangeable" approach of Fallout 4 than the "everything comes as a complete package" approach that seems dominant now.

This is especially true for situations where we have the same manufacturer. I guess I'd like to see more options for personalization, like what we have for combat cyborgs who don't just get a single stock body.

[ShadowLogan]

For an awesome PA from Phasewolrd setting checkout the Invader Power Armor from the SB. While it isn't as fast flying as some, it has regenerating armor. The main draw backs are the limited weapon options and its exclusive to a particular faction/race.

although there is a power armor that is really sick awesome for 1 feature but otherwise is more or less so so. and that is the saber cyclone from the robotech (invid invasion) but only because of the special ability of the cads shields when the blades are active. they have a rapidly regenerating forcefield that is essentially indestructible. in all other aspects it isn't all that great, I mean its not bad... and pretty cool, but

Fun Fact, the CADS Blades are never used in the animation, they are always shown as retracted (they are only deployed in lineart/comics).

The "purpose-built" aspects of power armor design are one of Chuck Walton's great strengths as an artist and designer. NG2 has some fantastic ideas for suits that specialize in firefighting, medical, dashing-assault, I'd just like to see some more interchangeability, maybe something that's a bit more of the the "everything's interchangeable" approach of Fallout 4 than the "everything comes as a complete package" approach that seems dominant now.

This is especially true for situations where we have the same manufacturer. I guess I'd like to see more options for personalization, like what we have for combat cyborgs who don't just get a single stock body.

Does Australia have a modular Power Armor (sorry I don't have the book)? Triax does have modular PA of a fashion (WB5, want to say WB32 expands that) along with some GBs (FQ and Japan), though these are weapon options only (IIRC).

But yeah, I agree more modularity like the FCBs. Something I've considered in the past is adapting the FCB and its specialized chassis found in various books, I even tested it by getting a rough clone of the CS SAMAS (not perfect clone, but it came out pretty close IIRC).

On the other hand, I can see why the manufacturers produce it this way, they get to make a bigger sale.

[Warshield73]

For an awesome PA from Phasewolrd setting checkout the Invader Power Armor from the SB. While it isn't as fast flying as some, it has regenerating armor. The main draw backs are the limited weapon options and its exclusive to a particular faction/race.

I have never used the Intruders, the race that the PA belongs to, but I have used the solid energy frigate, space fighter and power armor because they are super cool.

although there is a power armor that is really sick awesome for 1 feature but otherwise is more or less so so. and that is the saber cyclone from the robotech (invid invasion) but only because of the special ability of the cads shields when the blades are active. they have a rapidly regenerating forcefield that is essentially indestructible. in all other aspects it isn't all that great, I mean its not bad... and pretty cool, but

Fun Fact, the CADS Blades are never used in the animation, they are always shown as retracted (they are only deployed in lineart/comics).

I rewatched the series a few years ago and I had only watched Invid/New Gen once before, and I was shocked that we never saw a saber cyclone in action.

The "purpose-built" aspects of power armor design are one of Chuck Walton's great strengths as an artist and designer. NG2 has some fantastic ideas for suits that specialize in firefighting, medical, dashing-assault, I'd just like to see some more interchangeability, maybe something that's a bit more of the the "everything's interchangeable" approach of Fallout 4 than the "everything comes as a complete package" approach that seems dominant now.

This is especially true for situations where we have the same manufacturer. I guess I'd like to see more options for personalization, like what we have for combat cyborgs who don't just get a single stock body.

Does Australia have a modular Power Armor (sorry I don't have the book)? Triax does have modular PA of a fashion (WB5, want to say WB32 expands that) along with some GBs (FQ and Japan), though these are weapon options only (IIRC).

But yeah, I agree more modularity like the FCBs. Something I've considered in the past is adapting the FCB and its specialized chassis found in various books, I even tested it by getting a rough clone of the CS SAMAS (not perfect clone, but it came out pretty close IIRC).

On the other hand, I can see why the manufacturers produce it this way, they get to make a bigger sale.

Australia has the Rusty PA which isn't so much modular as customizable. You can't easily swap out weapons or gear but you can make many variants of the armor.

I think it would be interesting if you had some in universe aspect to modular weapons. If you have built in standard weapons it is cheaper and/or lighter and/or better armored but modular gives you the versatility and at the very least is more expensive.

We also need more modular weapons that can be used across platforms so you have a forearm laser that can be used on sever types of PA or even other vehicles.

[ShadowLogan]

I rewatched the series a few years ago and I had only watched Invid/New Gen once before, and I was shocked that we never saw a saber cyclone in action.

Actually, we do see the Saber Cyclone in action on multiple occasions*, its sole weapon was the GR-103s (in one episode/scene it carries/uses an energy gun). What we do not see in use are the forearm blades.

*Ep64, Ep65, Ep67-71, Ep75, Ep79, Ep81. Now some of these are just bike mode only.

[Warshield73]

I rewatched the series a few years ago and I had only watched Invid/New Gen once before, and I was shocked that we never saw a saber cyclone in action.

Actually, we do see the Saber Cyclone in action on multiple occasions*, its sole weapon was the GR-103s (in one episode/scene it carries/uses an energy gun). What we do not see in use are the forearm blades.

*Ep64, Ep65, Ep67-71, Ep75, Ep79, Ep81. Now some of these are just bike mode only.

I should have been more specific in that we do not see the CADS but the saber without the CADS is like the Tomahawk/Excalibur without the particle-beams.

[Shorty Lickens]

Weird, I was just having this debate with someone else on another forum.
So yeah, I agree that Fallout armor is kinda garbage compared to Rifts or Starship Troopers. Its clunky and loud and breaks easily, and needs a constant supply of energy that makes lots of waste.


NEW QUESTION:

What is the lightest, slimmest power armor in Rifts that is still technically power armor? (requires the PA pilot skill to use.)
I used to think it was the Terrain Hopper but I believe I found another one somewhere that was even lighter.

[Curbludgeon]

In a thread on armor stacking I started with the assumption that the Northern Gun Coyote, itself explicitly able to be worn under the New West-style Branaghan long coat or other clothing, was the heaviest PA armor capable of such, and found these lighter models detailed:

Japan: ATPA-25 Power Spy (90lb)
Naruni Wave 2: Stealth (100)
Arzno: Jackrabbit (110)
NG2: Night Reaper (124)
Black Market: Mirage (140)
NG2: Coyote (142)

[ShadowLogan]

Weird, I was just having this debate with someone else on another forum.
So yeah, I agree that Fallout armor is kinda garbage compared to Rifts or Starship Troopers. Its clunky and loud and breaks easily, and needs a constant supply of energy that makes lots of waste.


NEW QUESTION:

What is the lightest, slimmest power armor in Rifts that is still technically power armor? (requires the PA pilot skill to use.)
I used to think it was the Terrain Hopper but I believe I found another one somewhere that was even lighter.

The Atlas and Flying Dragon TW PA in MercOps have a dry mass of 26kg, and the MA-7S Swordsman TW PA is 14.4kg. These are Techno-Wizard PA so might not count.

The ATPA-85 Power Spy (Japan) has a dry mass of 40.8kg
NE-SA40 Stealth Power Armor (NW2) has a dry mass of 45kg
CHA-50 Challenger Light Combat Armor (Mercenaries) dry mass of 58.5kg
Vampire Combat Armor (MercOps) has a dry mass of 67.5kg
Flying Titan PA (RMB/RUE) has a dry mass of 72kg.
K-Universal (WB2), Land Roamer (MercOps), and Sky (MercOps)Power Armors have a dry mass of 90kg

[Hotrod]

Weird, I was just having this debate with someone else on another forum.
So yeah, I agree that Fallout armor is kinda garbage compared to Rifts or Starship Troopers. Its clunky and loud and breaks easily, and needs a constant supply of energy that makes lots of waste.

There are things I like about it, and there are things I dislike about it. The modularity and adaptability are awesome; you can make it fit a huge range of playstyles (I like the jet jumping mode, myself). I also like that they fully modeled and rendered getting in and out of the suits. It is a bit more fragile than I think is appropriate, and the power requirements are a little irksome. That said, it feels like you're driving a war machine when you're in one in Fallout 4, and I like that.

I don't want Rifts power armor to be just like Fallout 4 power armor; I'd just like to see more modularity.

As for Starship Troopers, it all depends on if you're talking about the book (in which case, very much yes) or the movie (in which case, very much no). Both are interesting works in their own ways, but only the book truly captures a power armor experience that I find compelling. The movie's weapons, tactics, and maneuvers are pretty dumb.