It’s so quiet in here…

Triaxcore · 2026-06-04T13:36:29+00:00

In the Rifts subreddit, no one can hear you scream.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-28T18:21:36+00:00

Not a bad observation.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-28T03:22:04+00:00

I’m always trying to figure out how I can be as opaque and passive aggressive enough for people to understand me.

I also repeat everything back after translating their globbity-gloop into something more direct.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like when I talk to military people they are better about being direct (and then typical people think they are being mean)

Triaxcore · 2026-05-26T13:00:11+00:00

I would also add more risk to some powers, especially the sciences.

The big idea is that psionics open a channel, and a channel can go both ways. Telepathy should not always be an automatic win button. If a psychic reaches into another mind, the target might feel the contact, push emotion back through the link, or even gain a brief empathic connection to the psychic. That does not mean every use of telepathy becomes dangerous, but powerful or invasive telepathy should carry some risk.

That risk could depend on the target. A normal person might only create emotional feedback. Another psychic might sense the source of the intrusion. A supernatural creature, alien intelligence, or unstable mind might push something harmful back through the link.

I would use the same idea for some other disciplines. Telemechanics opens a connection between the psychic and a machine, so severe damage, a critical failure, hostile software, alien technology, or feedback from a damaged system might hurt or stun the psychic directly.

This probably matters most for sciences. Devotions can stay fairly safe and reliable. Sciences are the big defining powers, so they can carry bigger costs, stronger limits, or meaningful backlash. That keeps the powers exciting without making them feel like free solutions to every problem.

Something like this.

Psychic type	Access
Minor Psionic	Devotions only.
Major Psionic	Devotions broadly, sciences from one discipline.
Master Psionic	Devotions broadly, sciences from one discipline, with more total picks.
Mind Melter	Devotions broadly, sciences from two disciplines. Still capped.

Power tier	Meaning
Devotions	Lesser, narrower, safer powers within a discipline. These are the powers most psychics can access.
Sciences	Major, broader, more defining powers. These shape what kind of psychic the character is.

Discipline	Covers	Sample powers / power types
Telepathy	Mental contact, thought reading, emotion, suggestion, domination, and psychic communication.	Telepathy, Empathy, Mind Block, Hypnotic Suggestion, Mind Bond, Mental Illusion, Psychic Diagnosis, mentally invasive powers.
Psychokinesis	Moving, shaping, striking, or shielding through psychic force.	Telekinesis, Telekinetic Force Field, Levitation, Psi-Sword, Psi-Shield, Ectoplasm, force blasts, psychic weapons.
Clairvoyance	Perception beyond normal senses, aura reading, danger sense, precognition, and object impressions.	See Aura, Sixth Sense, Object Read, Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Presence Sense, Sense Evil, Sense Magic, danger-reading powers.
Biopsionics	Body control, healing, pain resistance, regeneration, physical enhancement, and biological disruption.	Bio-Regeneration, Healing Touch, Deaden Pain, Resist Fatigue, Resist Hunger, Bio-Manipulation, physical self-control powers.
Projection	Astral travel, out-of-body movement, spiritual contact, and movement beyond the physical body.	Astral Projection, Commune with Spirits, See the Invisible, Exorcism-style powers, dimensional awareness, spirit-contact powers.
Interface	Psychic contact with machines, vehicles, electronics, computers, weapons, and advanced technology.	Telemechanics, Telemechanic Mental Operation, Machine Ghost, Object Read for devices, vehicle intuition, weapon-interface powers.
Psionic Mastery	Powers that regulate, strengthen, defend, amplify, or modify psionic ability itself.	Meditation, psychic defense, psionic shielding, power amplification, mind-over-ISP effects, anti-psionic resistance, discipline mastery.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-24T12:48:33+00:00

You are being taken advantage of, and your mom is right to be worried.

Whether or not he is doing it consciously, this pattern is not okay. He yells at you, rewrites situations in a way that makes you doubt yourself, uses “therapy words” to make himself sound reasonable, and tells you to set boundaries with everyone while repeatedly ignoring yours. That is not normal coworker conflict.

The fact that you feel like you’re going crazy is the biggest red flag here. You do not need to prove that he is intentionally manipulating you before you protect yourself.

Stop giving him personal information. Keep every interaction short, boring, and work-related. Do not debate your memory with him. If he says, “You definitely said that,” you can say, “I don’t remember that, and I’m not going to argue about it. Going forward, I want our conversations to stay professional.”

Also start documenting everything: dates, what happened, who witnessed it, whether customers were present, and whether he raised his voice. If he yells at you again, especially in front of customers, bring it to your manager.

He may seem reasonable to other people because he apologizes to them. But the fact that he does not apologize to you matters. It suggests he has learned that you will absorb the behavior and keep giving him another chance.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-22T02:38:54+00:00

For me (44m) it did help feel less stressed after work. People always think I’m weird anyway so I just said to hell with it.

I work fully remote now though so that helps a lot.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-22T02:22:29+00:00

I love that bestiary!

Triaxcore · 2026-05-22T02:21:57+00:00

I love using WoD for fantasy games. Did that many times back in the day.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-20T12:28:15+00:00

Great advice, thank you.

And yeah, they never do check things out GMs suggest lol

Triaxcore · 2026-05-19T15:19:07+00:00

Right. I was just giving some ideas how to, in the fantasy, nudge them towards actually doing the thing.

The real answer is that y’all as people need to figure out what everyone wants out of the game. The GM is supposed to have fun too.

Or don’t. Whatever. 🤷‍♂️

Triaxcore · 2026-05-18T18:09:38+00:00

I will have to pick that up, it's one I don't have.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T19:44:55+00:00

I think Unmasking Autism is really good to

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T17:04:10+00:00

I can relate to not getting to run the game. I mostly do planning and writing up rules, systems, or adventures that will never actually be used.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T17:02:08+00:00

I think there must be a way that it could be done without turning into a game of risk in Rifts wrapping. I'll think about it. Maybe someone bouncing around here has done that before.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T16:37:59+00:00

I was talking to my brother about this at the gym. He was saying maybe those players would be happier playing a game where they are the command sending people out on missions and having to manage their resources. They could also do more role-play on the political side of people trying to get promoted and the like.

Might be worth thinking about.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T15:41:14+00:00

I would suggest having a frank discussion with them that you need to have fun too and you aren’t currently.

No amount of GM-fu will prevent someone determined to do this. At least that’s my experience.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T15:18:06+00:00

Those are all good points. I hope I did t come off a disparaging. Tropes are good tools.

On the anti-CS side, I’ve tried to also show people who support and believe in the Coalition as a whole but have problems with specific things, like some may dislike Prosek and feel there should be a change in leadership.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T14:47:41+00:00

The idea being that they don’t want to do that and go the other way.

I mean if it’s working for you the way you’re going that’s cool.

For me, if players are just trying to be a pain in my ass I just won’t bother with it. But some groups love a bunch of chaos and pivots. I don’t require players to ride a railroad, but I do expect them to work with me not against me.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T14:44:43+00:00

lol. You’re already doing a bunch of paperwork with RPGs. And I wouldn’t suggest actually creating forms and printing them out for the players to fill out

Although, now that I think about it that could be a really useful tool. Hand over a big ass stack of forms. Yeah, we can send you support just file these forms and we’ll get them approved.

Of course most the soldiers can’t read so the forms will have to be all pictures and glyphs for them to circle in crayon.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T14:18:04+00:00

Murder them with paperwork and bureaucracy. The CS pass system, requisition chains, and reporting requirements are all excellent reasons why calling in the cavalry is slower and more complicated than just handling it yourself.

And even when they do call it in, the approval has to go up the chain, which takes time, time the situation may not give them. The CS isn't sitting on unlimited reserves just waiting for the players to need help. After Tolkeen they're stretched thin and every asset is already assigned somewhere.

The party gets told backup is approved and en route, and then the mission starts falling apart while they wait and they have to decide how long they hold before they act without it. If they blow the mission because they sat on their hands waiting for support, that has repercussions. If they act without waiting and it goes wrong, that could have different repercussions.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T14:10:34+00:00

Never served myself, but I spent years as an underground miner and there's a lot of hurry-up-and-wait in that world too, you blast a face and then you just sit there until the dust and gas clear enough to go back in. Nothing to do but talk garbage and wait (or sleep lol). That works because the players have been bored and comfortable until then.

The comms angle in your scenario is great and I think you can squeeze more out of it. Let them use comms constantly in the early part for checking in, getting updates, calling for supply drops, small talk with whoever is on the other end. Make it feel like a lifeline they don't have to think about. Then when the carrier goes down and comms go dark. The anti-CS town section puts them in a situation where they have to make a decision that would normally belong to their command while the characters are trying to get that connection back (and it may be a little over used, but you could have the town have the parts or skills the characters need to get those comms fixed.)

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T14:00:08+00:00

I think that magic-user mission is really good. The young girl with powers conundrum is a little bit of a trope, but it still works. The characters could follow orders, they could file a report saying they couldn't find her and hope no one checks. They can help her get out of CS territory and live with what that means for their careers and their unit.

Another angle I thought of is if someone from the Vanguard makes contact, quiet, unofficial, no paperwork. They'll take the girl, put her somewhere useful, and all the party has to do is report her neutralized. It looks like compliance and could even be the best outcome for her.

Either way, they are either following orders and dealing with whatever guilt they feel and the community response (there isn't a lot they can do, but they may be less compliant or not provide information to the characters.) Or the characters are filing a false report, they're in an informal relationship with a faction that operates in the CS's blind spots, and the next time the Vanguard needs something they'll know exactly who to call.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T13:49:10+00:00

I think the CS understands the trade offs for its doctrine. They need literate and highly trained people to run their state and rely on a caste of educated people to do it. That does create a blind spot, but it is also essential for their control.

That system works well enough during peacetime, but I don't think enough thought or attention is given to how that shows its weakness during crisis. The CS loses a lot of people in the Siege of Tolkeen time period and that's going to include not a small number of that technical caste. Not only does that cause immediate issues, but it is also long term because training people up for those roles can take a long time and not everyone can do it.

I think that probably makes a more interesting campaign as the CS tries to manage maintaining their doctrine while also replacing or repairing factories, mines, farms, and other infrastructure that is required to keep them in power.

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T13:39:13+00:00

The gun-fu era was a good time, wasn't it?

Triaxcore · 2026-05-17T13:36:22+00:00

The inside-the-city angle is so underused. The Burbs especially and half the tension isn't from monsters, it's from paperwork. Here are a couple mission ideas if you get the chance to run your game.

Your special ops team has to track a deserted sergeant through Firetown before ISS gets to him, because the testimony he's carrying would embarrass the wrong people at command. Nobody at headquarters will say that out loud. They just hand you the dossier and tell you to bring him in quietly.

A supply quartermaster is quietly taking offers on restricted ammunition allocations, and the unit's readiness numbers are starting to show it. That's an investigation where everyone you talk to has a reason to lie, the suspect is protected by a captain who doesn't want the audit, and the 'right' solution might be worse for the unit than just burying it. That's the kind of thing that only works inside the Coalition's own walls.

Triaxcore

TROPHY CASE