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Has there ever been any sort of approach to this kind of thing as a spell or ritual or natural ability for alien intelligences and demon lords to create mechanics that would slow down them mass-spamming amplified minions at a ridiculous infinite rate?

PPE costs or temporary HP/MDC sacrifice to inconvenience them would help give some perspective here.

I tend to view it as similar to the "Fragment Self" Deific power of Deevil Lords (Dragons & Gods, p. 192)

That's super-cheap to use though there's not even an HP cost. What keeps that in check is the numerical limit and vampires don't have that unless the 1-master-per-1000-vamps counts interdimensionally including seedervamps

Plane wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 1:28 am That's super-cheap to use though there's not even an HP cost. What keeps that in check is the numerical limit and vampires don't have that unless the 1-master-per-1000-vamps counts interdimensionally including seedervamps

For vampires, I would say the limit doesn't apply to all vampires, just to Master vampires... secondary and wild vampires are not the ones receiving the fragment, which is why they're so much less powerful. You might also make this limit apply to Major Pacts, or even just the Gift of Union.

But, if you're looking for "What are the Megaversal RPG mechanical limits that prevent this from happening", there aren't any. The Megaverse runs on vibes. The hard limits aren't written, they've been inside the GM all along.

Secondary vamps get a fragment too it's just smaller and of unspecified size. Like you'd think a fragmented essence would mean they progressively get weaker but I think it builds itself up to full strength soon after which is why they can do it eventually.

Plane wrote:Has there ever been any sort of approach to this kind of thing as a spell or ritual or natural ability for alien intelligences and demon lords to create mechanics that would slow down them mass-spamming amplified minions at a ridiculous infinite rate?

The most obvious one I think would be finding willing participants. Not everyone in a population likely wants to become a (Master) Vampire for example, and even those who might still have to be successful in contacting the appropriate power (sure you could force the issue I think w/2ndary & Wild, but not Master) or Necromancer. For those that don't require willing participants, like the AI in Rifts WB7 you still have to source the subjects which could limit growth by creation.

There might also be "agreements" like the VI in the Palladium World (the sole VI/God, actively opposes other VIs so is tolerated by other Gods) that have yet to be detailed/mentioned. Splynn also has some type of "agreement" that limits his ability to control territory on Rifts Earth.

The Nxyla AI (Rifts WB12) has a limit to what he/she/it can create at any given time (which depends on a variety of factors, number of Harvesters, number of Xombies, time, and location). Other AIs might have similar restrictions when you dig into details, though this might be unique to Nyxla.

Other AI/DL/Gods might not like it either and could respond with their own mass-spamming to counter the offender(s) grab for power.

Plane wrote:Secondary vamps get a fragment too it's just smaller and of unspecified size. Like you'd think a fragmented essence would mean they progressively get weaker but I think it builds itself up to full strength soon after which is why they can do it eventually

Citation Please?

it's all over the place like page 37 of revised:

"All vampires spawned by the Master, and those made by the vampires he has created, all share a tiny fragment from the same eviI Vampire Intelligence."

A vampire intelligence can create Blood Priests which isn't far from a gift of power witch, as found in Arzno.

There's also the Maelstrom-Maker in Coalition Navy, which empowers Sea Witches, and the Adze in DB14, which makes Beetle Witches.

In general though I'd go with Library Ogre's suggestion of the deific power.