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Bogsworth wrote:I'm rolling around with a Supernatural PS of 26 (3d6 MD punching damage) in a world where everything is just straight MDC. I have a standard 2d6 Vibrosword and the ability to summon a 2d6 MDC sword via the Flaming Sword tattoo that is a part of the Chiang-Ku's Marks of Heritage. At one point my GM said that physical weapons allow you to add your PS to the damage and he counts the Vibrosword as one (which seems rather wrong since it's the energy field that does the damage instead of the strength of the slash), yet says the Flaming Sword weapon does not since it's a "magical tattoo weapon." From what I've read, the tattoo says I simply create a physical, MDC material blade to attack with. Either way, both seem wrong since SNPS doesn't normally get added to weapon damage unless people override that in a campaign. If that's the case, I'd be better off just never wasting my PPE to create the Flaming Sword weapon and should just slash with the Vibrosword for my punching damage instead, right? Or pray that he lets me spend my 120,000 credits at a premium on a Xiticix sword and spear... Perhaps I could make use of Dimensional Teleport to pull that off.

Greetings and Salutations. I'll preface this the best I can by stating whatever your G.M. says is the way the game will be run. Nothing said on these boards will change that, so always talk to your G.M. and respect those decisions (or leave the game). With that said, I'll try to answer the best I can by the book and rules as written. Okay, I'll start with the official Rifts* weapon and Supernatural Strength rule, per Rifts Ultimate Edition (RUE) page 286.

1: If higher, Supernatural Punch damage replaces weapon damage.
2: If higher, weapon damage plus P.S. damage bonus (in S.D.C.).

*Some other settings (such as Nightbane and HU2) have a different rule, but there's no evidence that this rule has ever changed in Rifts (other than specific weapons which have unique properties, such as the Xiticix weapons, but specific weapons do not make general rules).

Now, as for the Vibro-Blade vs. the Flaming Sword. This sounds like the G.M. is using Rifts Game Master Guide (RGMG) as the reference point. RGMG, page 32 ...

[b]Do Hand to Hand P.S. damage bonuses apply to energy weapons?[b]
No damage bonuses apply to the use of energy melee weapons unless there is a physical damage component to the weapon involved. Not evene if the attacker has Supernatural Strength.
For example, with a Psi-Sword, Flaming Sword or Energy Sword only the weapon damage applies any P.S. damage (supernatural or otherwise) is not added.
However, a Vibro-Sword uses a physical core and so damage bonuses can be applied to this weapon. The same is true of rune weapons and TW weapons which have an actual cutting blade and such.

So, this notes a Vibro-Weapon has a physical core and counts. This also states that a Flaming Weapon does not.

With that said, I believe this is referencing a Flaming Weapon in the terms we see in other game lines such as Palladium Fantasy (there may be an equivalent in Rifts as well), where the blade itself is made of flames. From what I can tell, the Tattoo Weapon is different and not what's being references in the Q&A above, as the flames are just part of the tattoo that indicates it's a M.D. weapon (ergo, should still be physical). Note: I'm not exceptionally versed in Rifts, so I may be missing something more.

Now, if we go to the above, where the P.S. damage being added is from the Hand to Hand table (with a P.S. of 26, that's +11) and that's only S.D.C., that's not very useful. More than likely though the G.M. is thinking it should be added as M.D. as opposed to being a pointless rule that only applies if you have a P.S. over 100. So winning this battle may not even be winning the war.

Bogsworth wrote:I suppose I have another issue as well with one aspect of the Chiang-Ku. In WB England, it says they only gain the chosen MOM OCC's magic, magic combat bonuses, language, and reading skills, whereas the later Dragons and Gods says "A typical Chiang-Ku will dedicate himself to the study of his chosen mystic art and try to learn everything about it" (D&G 23). With that in mind, if going by Dragons and Gods would I still gain other perks from the Temporal Warrior, namely access to physical skills to gain Boxing and whatnot as a part of the whole having spent 10 years training with the Temporal Raiders? Or would I still limit myself to just the reading and language skills mentioned by England (of which the Temporal Warrior has none for some reason).

I'm not going to address this much. But don't you get some Secondary Skills at the very least? Boxing may not be an option (depends on which rules are being used), but that should still provide some more choices.

Bogsworth wrote:Lastly, does anyone know how one should handle the casting of a Temporal Warrior? They were released before the RUE update that changed spellcasting actions altogether. As it stands, when a Temporal Warrior casts a spell, they can cast one spell per melee but doing so counts as three actions. This is troubling since I only have 4 actions total without boxing (two attacks from Aikido, one for being a hatchling, and one more from the 10-year Temporal training bonus). It didn't come up in combat last time since I opted not to cast, but I tried reading around here and found folks haven't been too keen on the TWarrior's casting either and usually have to compromise. I'll try to bring it up, but my DM can often be stubborn. >_> I guess I just don't want to be stuck doing nothing after one spell and a single attack while my Mega Juicer buddy goes to town with his 8 actions every single round.

Okay, I'm not entirely sure I understand your problem, but I'll propose a statement I think captures your issue and you can correct me if I'm wrong.

The Temporal Warrior was written before the RUE spell casting rules, and you feel the new rules are limiting?

So I'll start by saying that the RUE rules are much faster. So, if something takes 3 actions in the new rules (indicating level 11-15), then it would've taken a full 2 melee rounds by the old rules (so 8 actions for your character).

With that said, from what I can see, most Temporal Spells will be 2 to 3 actions, because they're considered high level spells. However, the Temporal Warrior also gets a handful of standard Invocations, some of which are level 1-5. Those spells can be cast in a single action. So if you insist on only casting your most powerful spells, then yes, you'll be limited in what you can do. So use what's appropriate for the situation. If you want to cast a high level spell to control the combat, then get cover and understand you'll only be doing 1 or 2 actions this round but what you do should have a massive impact on the battle. Or use just low level spells (level 1-5) and standard combat actions if you want to do as many actions as possible.

Now, if for some reason the G.M. is ruling that all your spells use 3 actions regardless of level ... then I have no idea what or why the G.M. made such a ruling.

If you feel there's some other reason this new rule is limiting your options, can you please try to elaborate more?

Anyways, hope some of that helps. Farewell and safe journeys for now.