Tribal Warrior and Totem Warrior OCCs

New variants for Rifts New Guinea
Adapted from Rifts World Book 15: Spirit West

There are a vast number of tribes in New Guinea, far too many to list here. The most important and powerful tribe in the world of Rifts, the Sepics, has already been dealt with. The minor tribes are "minor" only in terms of land area and political power; since the Sepics are concerned only with their Hunt, the minor tribes are left to vie against each other. Some have the remnants of the Golden Age's weapons and technology on their side, while others have rediscovered the powers of magic and mind. Among these latter individuals, Tribal Warriors and Totem Warriors are the most important faction.

Unlike the North American tribes, not every individual member of a tribe has a totem. Only the most important and strongest are granted totems through rituals that vary from tribe to tribe. (The Sepics are all considered to be a type of totem warrior, but their long association with Crocodile has made them more powerful and restricted that totem to their tribe alone.) The most common method of bonding with a totem is through ritual tattooing, a process which imprints the character's body with a pattern representing their chosen totem (and makes them fairly easy to spot; the tattoos are also an indication of one's position in society).

Also unlike Native American tribes, fetishes are completely unknown; the process of making spiritually charged items is unique to the North American continent. The only other people known to do anything even resembling fetish making are the sea-faring Polynesians who occasionally visit New Guinea in their enchanted long boats. (This process taps a primal energy called mana, and will be dealt with in a later conversion.)

Tribal Warriors are highly respected men and women who are the staunch defenders of their tribe. It is this group that leads raids on other tribes, and defends their own village when other tribes attack. Lesser warriors hunt animals; Tribal Warriors hunt men. Every Tribal Warrior has a totem which grants him or her special bonuses which remain with the character until death breaks the bond.

Totem Warriors, on the other hand, are the defenders not of a single tribe, but of the entire land. Tribal Warriors hunt men, but Totem Warriors hunt the monsters that hunt men. Totem Warrior are almost nobility among the tribes of New Guinea; they are given the best accomodations (after the tribal chieftain and priest, of course), any help they might require, and are unhindered by tribal boundaries. Totem Warriors are almost a tribe unto themselves, but are still bound to their original tribes by ties of family and history.

Note that while each Tribal and Totem Warrior has a totem, they are still bound by the customs and mores of their tribes. Each individual tribe has its own totem spirit (although many tribes claim the same totem spirit as their own), and warriors are expected to choose their tribe's spirit as their own. Those who do not are mistrusted by their tribe, but are allowed to stay so long as they do not act against the tribe. Those that pick a totem radically opposed to their tribe's totem (for example, picking Python in a tribe whose totem is traditionally Bird of Paradise) will cause the warrior to be outcast. This is not such a bad thing for Totem Warriors (their brotherhood is almost a separate tribe to begin with), but can be shattering for "mere" Tribal Warriors, who often die of loneliness or turn cruel and desire vengeance.

Tribal Warrior OCC (New Guinea)

1. Animal Totem: The Tribal Warrior may pick one animal totem from those available to New Guinea natives and apply the specific bonuses of that totem. While these warriors live mainly by their skills and wits, the little edge that Lizard (or whoever) gives can mean the difference between life and death. These bonuses remain with the character for his entire life, unless he somehow greatly offends his spirit animal, in which case all bonuses are lost permanently. The totem also shapes the character's personality.
   
   
2. Favored Weapon: Most tribespeople of New Guinea prefer a specific weapon, one which their tribe is best known for. This can be the spear, blowgun, hand/throwing axe, net, club, knife, or bow. "Favored" weapons will be decorated in the colors and patterns of the character's tribe, and the character receives special bonuses when using that weapon. When using the favored weapon, a special initiative bonus of +1, with an additional +1 per two points of PP above 16 (maximum PP 30, for a maximum bonus of +8), applies to every round of combat the weapon is used. The range of thrown/projectile weapons increases by 25%, rounded up (ex: a blowgun has a range of 50 feet; the new range is 63 feet). Using a one-handed weapon, the character can instead opt to wield two of them simultaneously, without penalty (using the standard paired weapons rules).
   
   
3. OCC Bonuses: +2 PE; +1 PP; +5D6 SDC (in addition to the 1D4x10 for being a warrior class); +2 to initiative; +2 to pull punch; +1 to roll with punch; +1 attack per melee; +3 vs. horror factor

Totem Warrior OCC (New Guinea)

1. Supernatural Attributes: In both human and animal form, the Totem Warrior's physical attributes are considered supernatural. The supernatural strength permits him to inflict mega-damage with punches and kicks (as detailed in Rifts Conversion Book One). The supernatural endurance changes the warrior into a mega-damage being; simply change the combined SDC and hit points into MDC. Even in human form, the warrior is a mega-damage being and recovers 5D6 MDC per 24 hours.
   
   
2. Heightened Senses: The Totem Warrior's sense are hyper-sensitive to the world around him. This contributes to the OCC bonuses listed below as well as giving the character perfect vision and keen senses of touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
   
   
3. Animal Totem: All Totem Warriors must pick a single animal totem, whose bonuses stay with the character until death. All the bonuses and totem skills are available to the character in human form. However, when the character transforms into giant animal form, he gets the powers of that totem as well. Only Totem Warriors can draw upon these powers. Most Totem Warriors pick medium to large predatory animals.
   
   
4. Animal Transformation: This is the ability of the Totem Warrior to physically transform into his totem animal's species. There are two versions of this transformation. The first is turning into a perfectly normal looking animal of the totem's species. In this shape, all of the totem bonuses and skills, as well as his own intellect remain; this form is still a mega-damage creature.
   The second transformation is the warrior's most potent and formidable weapon: turning into a giant version of his animal form. Most medium and large animals are now two to three times their normal size, while small ones are ten times larger. In this oversized form, the warrior gains all of the totem powers associated with his animal spirit.
   To transform into either form, or from the small form to the large form, costs 10 PPE. The duration is indefinite. To transform from animal to human form, or large animal to small, costs 5 PPE.
   
   
5. Psionic Abilities: When in animal form, the character may sense psychic and magic energy, and sense supernatural beings at no cost (identical to the powers of the Dog Boy RCC). In addition, the character may select one psionic power from the sensitive category at first level, and one more at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. Astral projection and clairvoyance may not be selected.
   ISP: ME attribute plus 1D6 per level of experience.
   
   
6. Limited Magic: Kinship with an animal spirit grants the Totem Warrior some magical abilities over normal animals. These include the equivalent of the following spells: Fear (5 PPE); repel animals (7 PPE); summon and control animals (only animals of the same species as the warrior's totem; 1D4 animals per level; 50 PPE). The warrior also uses PPE to transform to and from his animal forms in a manner similar to casting a spell. (However, the warrior has no real knowledge of spell casting or ritual magic.)
   PPE: PE attribute plus 1D4x10, plus 10 per level of experience.

Totems New and Old

Bird of Paradise

Cassowary

Tree Kangaroo

Lizard

Parrot