Greetings, citizens!
It's been a mere two weeks since our last communique, and this time we're pleased to present the Order of the Cyber Knights!
If you're not familiar with Rifts earth or the Cyber Knights, just read the title one more time. It's pretty accurate.
Now, I can't speak for Matt, but I had a great time discussing this. There are so many things that a Cyber Knight can do that no other O.C.C. can do, and rarely can a player or NPC be as powerful as they are as a Knight.
And for those of you who are Star Wars fans, we draw a lot of comparisons between the Jedi and Cyber Knights. Of course, you can just as easily do it with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
Anyway, enjoy the episode.
Carry on, citizens!
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I never understood the appeal of the Cyber Armor in Rifts. Why would anyone trust their safety to an armor with an A.R.? Also, I liked Cyber Knights better before they were "upgraded" to be all anti-tech.
ReplyDeleteI can't really speak to the A.R. issue, but I think it's interesting that Cyber Knights are anti-tech. It presents a dichotomy within their ranks so that they both shun technology and wholly depend on it. It's like...well, the Jedi. Mace Windu said that they were keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Yet what did they become? Commanders and Generals. And they fit fairly well into that warrior role. I think we can riff on a similar vein.
ReplyDeleteI do have to admit that the way you guys discussed the anti-tech in the podcast put an interesting perspective on it that I hadn't considered previously.
ReplyDeletei think too the time the book was written (original version) and how it was a new IP within an established fantasy and modern setting. Full body armor that didn't have an AR was pretty new for the palladium system.
ReplyDeleteAs a game device i think it was brilliant, the Cyber Armor with its AR was meant in concept to give the CK an edge not available with other classes so they could function on a multi-world/dimensional level. While they function easily in Rifts Earth, should their adventures lead them off world they always have a competitive edge.
Also, it was referenced in the book that during the dark ages when demons/monsters ran wild, humans were for the most part cattle, effectively unable to fight back. Enter the CK to defend the weak, they look like everyone else. A monster that attacks would think nothing more of a CK than any other meat bag until its killing blow does nothing, absorbed by the hidden MD armor, and is now on the defense due to MD attacks. Now said monster has to think and consider vs. reckless abandon of a free buffet of easy food.
So yeah, i agree the AR is a risk but its not so much so as having nothing. The Cyber Armor conceal ability and its ability to be worn under gives great utility even w/ an AR.
I hadn't really thought of the concealment factor, but now that I am, that would be one of the primary benefits of the CK armor. Like Colossus from the X-Men.
ReplyDeleteRecently I was entertaining the notion of running a Rifts game based on the Rifts Sourcebook 2: Mechanoids adventure. When someone suggested a Cyber Knoght as a character I was taken aback when I thought about it and considered just how effective their new anti-tech abilities would be in that series of adventures.
ReplyDelete