I’m putting together my interim Mega Power House Rules so I can convert my Rifts campaign to SWAdE in the next couple of weeks and get the Master Psionic and Master of Magic characters right back in the game immediately. To that end I went through every power in the Mega Powers List and noted the changes made in SWAdE for my own reference, then made an interpretation what I think a Mega Power of those changed powers might look like.
UPDATE: the column to the far right has my initial notes, but a lot of these ideas were modified when I made my houserules document to use at game. (“Jim’s Mega Power House Rules Pt 2”)
SWD Power Name |
Rifts Mega Power Name |
SWAdE Name |
Jim’s Notes on What’s Changed |
Jim’s |
— | — | Arcane protection | Doesn’t exist as a power in the old rules. | Greater arcane protection:Power Points: 2, -6 with Success, -8 with a raise, provides MDC protection. |
Armor | Greater armor | Protection | Armor is 2 Power Points, protectionis 1; armor in SWDE stacks with other armor, protection does not unless extra Power Points are spent to make it Toughness; protection can be cast on additional recipients at Range of Smarts for 1 Power Point each with no apparent limit; protection can be modified to increase the Armor value by 4 or 6 (w/raise). | Greater Protection:Power Points: 5, +6 MDC Armor, +10 w/raise; if upgraded to Toughness, 2 points MDC Armor remain. |
Banish | Banish the horde | Banish | Few, wording nearly identical | Leave unchanged |
Barrier | Stalwart walls | Barrier | SWAdE version has a set height of 1” and length of 5”, doubles with each additional Power Point spent, can be increased to Toughness 12 with an extra Power Point. | For +2 Power Points, adds +12 MDC Armor to the wall. |
Beast Friend | Exalted beast friend | Beast Friend | Range is now just Smarts; cost to cast is now just equal to the sum of the Size; small, medium, and large swarms are 1, 2, and 3 Power Points, respectively. | For +2 Power Points, extend duration to 30 minutes; Range of Smarts x 2. |
Blast | Greater blast | Blast | Power Points now just 3; Range is Smarts x2; 3d6 damage requires only a raise; increase to LBT costs one Point; 3d6 damage, 4d6 w/raise for +2 Points; Heavy Weapon requires additional Point. | +4 Power Points to increase damage dice from d6 to d10. |
Blind | Greater blind | Blind | Range is now Smarts; target suffers -2 to all sight-based actions, -4 with a raise, will roll Vigor end of his next turn to shake it off, with Success removing 2 points of penalties and a raise removing all effects; modifiers allow spending extra Power Points to increase to MBT or LBT, and/or impose penalty to Vigor roll. | For +2 Power Points, increase to Smarts x2, increase penalties to Vigor roll to -4 or -6 w/raise. |
Bolt | Onslaught | Bolt | Range is now Smarts x2, no Range penalties apply; damage is 2d6 or 3d6 with a raise; +2 Power Points buys 3d6 or 4d6 with a raise as before, but option to select additional targets is gone (Multi-Action rules changes in SWAdE mean three bolts could be cast in a round at -4 each). | Smarts x3 Range, single 6d6 bolt for 4 Power Points, Mega Damage. |
Boost/lower trait | Greater boost/lower trait | Boost/lower trait | No mention of exceeding d12 in SWAdE; target of lower traitautomatically rolls Spirit to resist at end of his next turn, success bringing Trait back up a die type and a raise removing the effect; big change: additional castings no longer stack. | Keep Mega version the same, Smarts x2, double the power’s effect for 4 Power Points. |
Burrow | Greater burrow | Burrow | Power Points is now 2, Range is Smarts; move at half Pace or full Pace with a raise; adds ability to add a Power Point to burrow through harder materials. | For 6 Power Points, burrowfive time Pace or ten times Pace with a raise. |
Burst | Greater burst | Burst | No mention of escaping via Agility roll, but references Area Effect Attacks rules; otherwise identical. | 4 Power Points to do 3d12 Mega Damage, and “Damage” Modifier may be applied to get to 4d12 with a raise. |
Clairvoyance | World skry | — | This power is exclusive to Rifts for Savage Worlds and does not appear in SWAdE under this name. | Keep as is. |
Confusion | Greater confusion | Confusion | Range reduced to Smarts; uses new States of Distracted and Vulnerable rather than Shaken if target fails Smarts test; effect removed at end of target’s next turn; additional targets are now a Modifier to affect MBT or LBT. | For +1 Power Point, Penalty for Smarts roll is -4 or -6 with a raise. |
Damage field | Exalted damage field | Damage field | Range is now Smarts, can be cast on others; now affects all adjacent beings, including allies, not just successful melee attackers, at the end of the caster’s turn; successful unarmed attackers also suffer damage immediately; damage reduced from 2d6 to 2d4 unless +2 Modifier is used, with no raise effect. | 6 Power Points to extend field to MBT, 2d6 or 2d8 Mega Damage with raise, Damage Modifier ups damage to 2d8/2d10 Mega Damage. |
Darksight | Exalted darksight | Darksight | Range is now Smarts; raise on roll eliminates darkness penalties. | Keep as is, negates blind, invisibility, and obscure. |
Deflection | Greater deflection | Deflection | Power Points now 3; Range is now Smarts; no longer any mention of deflection working as Armor against Area Effect attacks; now has Additional Recipients Modifier. | Keep as is, -4 and -6 on a raise. |
Detect/conceal arcana | Exalted detect/conceal arcana | Detect/conceal arcana | Range is now Smarts; effect on detecting invisible characters clarified; the analytical ability from the Mega Power version in Rifts is now partly described as a raise effect; Modifiers have been added. | Keep as is, reveals more detail, and finds weaknesses with a raise. |
Disguise | Mass disguise | Disguise | Power Points is 2; Range is now Smarts; Size increase/decrease is Modifier; no mention of penalty for unfamiliar person. | Keep as is, affects LBT for +4 Power Points. |
Dispel | Exalted dispel | Dispel | Power Points is 1; adds Modifier to disrupt enchanted devices. | For 5 Power Points, Range Smarts x2, affects LBT, disrupts enchanted items for 1d6 minutes vs TN of 4. |
Divination | Communion | Divination | No apparent differences. | Keep as is. |
Drain power points | PPE Thief | Drain power points | Rank lowered to Veteran; opposed by Spirit now instead of Arcane Skill Roll; Power Points is 2; effect is now 1d6 instead of 1d6+1; PPE thief is now a raise effect that may take caster above maximum; effect on Weird Science devices clarified; “Fatigue” Modifier added. | 6 Power Points, doubles effect to 2d6 or 2d8 w/raise. |
Elemental manipulation | One with the elements | Elemental Manipulation | Range reduced to Smarts; Strength die type of spell effects defined; additional changes to each element’s description. | Keep as is, extended duration and Range, costs 2 Power Points. |
— | — | Empathy | This power does not appear in Rifts. | Exalted empathy: 2 Power Points, Range is Smarts x2, opposed Spirit roll at -2. |
Entangle | Greater entangle | Entangle | Uses the new State rules of Entangled and Bound; adds Modifiers to add Area Effect and/or Strong. | Adds access to +1 Power Point Modifier to extend Range to Smarts x2 and apply additional -2 penalty to escape. |
Environmental protection | Life Support | Environmental protection | Range increased to Smarts; effect of extreme environments such as lava is spelled out, plus damage-reduction effects are included; no mention of double duration for rolling a raise on the casting; “Additional Recipients” modifier as before, 5-target limit no longer mentioned. | +2 Power Points to survive extreme environments, reduces 8 points damage vs “like sources,” 10 with a raise, protects against all environmental effects. |
Farsight | Greater farsight | Farsight | Power Points reduced to 2; Range increased to Smarts; the Mega Power version is now a raise effect; distance specified as “up to a mile”; “Additional Recipients” Modifier added. | +2 Power Points to ignore Range penalties and double distance to two miles. |
Fear | Greater fear | Fear | Range reduced to Smarts; Area Effect is now a Modifier; Wild Cards now get +2 to Fear Table results. | +2 Power Points to increase Range to Smarts x2 and increase penalty to -2 or -4 with a Raise. |
Fly | Swift flight | Fly | Range increased to Smarts; Power Points reduced to 3; double Pace is now a raise effect; Additional Recipients Modifier is 2 Power Points per additional recipient. | 8 Power Points to fly at Pace x4 with -1 to be hit by ranged attacks, and, with a raise, at Pace x8 with -2 to be hit by ranged attacks; penalties do not stack with similar spell effects such as deflection. |
Greater healing | Resurrection | — | Now a Modifier for healing; resurrection now a separate power. | See entry on resurrection, below. |
Growth/shrink | Tiny yet mighty | Growth/shrink | No significant change. | Keep as is. |
Havoc | Greater havoc | Havoc | Pummel now rolled into this power; Rank reduced to Novice; Range reduced to Smarts; Cone Template free option added; effects use new Distracted state, after which the Strength roll is called for; damage for hitting hard object added, Shaken effect removed; effects on flying characters simplified; LBT is now +1 Modifier. | +1 Power Points for Range x2, -2 to Strength roll, -4 with a raise, targets knocked back 3d6”. |
Healing | Mass Healing | Healing | Wording simplified; Modifiers now add the effects of greater healing to the healing power for significant additional Power Point expenditures and 1 Power Point to heal poison or disease; may be cast multiple times to cure multiple Wounds. | Keep as is except to add resurrectionas a 27-point Modifier that follows rules set down for the resurrectionMega Power in Rifts for Savage Worlds. |
Illusion — see mental illusion |
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— | Illusion | — | Different power with the same name. | +2 Power Point to increase size of illusion to LBT, increase Range to Smarts x2. |
Intangibility | Astral form | Intangibility | Range increased to Smarts; can be used on others, if resisted, opposed by Spirit. | Keep as is. |
Invisibility | True Invisibility | Invisibility | Range increased from Self to Smarts (a massive change); language simplified; “Additional Recipients” Modifier is 3 Power Points per. | Keep as is except extends Range to Smarts x2. |
Light/obscure | Eternal light/obscure | Light/obscure | Duration extended to 30 minutes; raise effect noted as 30-foot-long beam option; references Illumination rules elsewhere in the book; Modifier allows the area to be moved. | Keep as is. |
Illusion (Mental) | Deadly illusion | This is illusion in Rifts for Savage Worlds, renamed to eliminate confusion with new illusions power in SWAdE. | — | Keep as is. |
Mind reading | Mind walk | Mind reading | Power Points reduced to 2; Duration reduced to Instant; no other substantive differences. | Keep as is except reduce Power Points to 5. |
— | — | Mind wipe | This power does not yet exist in Rifts for Savage Worlds. | Exalted mind wipe: +2 Power Points, Range is Smarts x2, victim loses up to a day’s worth of memory, up to three days with a raise. |
— | — | Object reading | This power does not yet exist in Rifts for Savage Worlds. | Theater of the mind: the caster may be joined in the experience by allies at 1 additional Power Point each so long as they link hands or other appendages. |
Quickness | Exalted quickness | (Now a Modifier for sloth/speed) | — | — |
Puppet | Mind Control | Puppet | Target is at -2 to resist if losing by a raise or more when re-rolling due to being ordered to do something especially self-harmful; “Additional Recipients” Modifier added at +2 Power Points per. | Keep as is. |
— | — | Resurrection | This is the Mega Power version of greater healing in Rifts for Savage Worlds and is now a separate power; major differences with the Rifts version: no modifiers for length of time the subject has been dead; no time frame for casting given; no rule that the caster dies if unsuccessful; rules for aiding in the casting of the power are now likely covered by SWAdE’s Support rules. Best to make resurrectionunavailable as a standalone power. | Make this power a 27-point Modifier for the Healingpower, keep all restrictions and risks as they are in Rifts for Savage Worlds. |
Shape change | Greater shape change | Shape change | Range raised to Smarts. | Keep as is. |
Slow and speed (combined) | Exalted slow and greater speed (combined) | Sloth/speed | Two separate powers combined into one; sloth: target first makes a Spirit roll to shake it off at the end of his next turn; “Additional Targets” modifier applies to speed only; Area Effect available for sloth; no longer affects initiative; quickness power’s Multi-Action penalty modifier now a Modifier for speed; cost for each effect is 2 Power Points; speed can use Additional Recipients Modifier. | +1 Power Point to invoke exalted versions of each of the powers. |
Slumber | Greater slumber | Slumber | Range reduced to Smarts; Duration increased to one hour; Area Effect is now a Modifier; external waking attempts or loud noises require Spirit roll by target to wake up. | +2 Power Points to increase Range to Smarts x3, increase Spirit roll penalty to -2, -4 with a raise, and target will not wake from loud noises, only an active and deliberate external attempt to awaken. |
Smite | Greater smite | Smite | Range increased to Smarts. | Keep as is. |
— | — | Sound/silence | This power does not yet exist in Rifts for Savage Worlds. | Exalted sound/silence:+1 Power Point, Range Smarts x10, opposed Tests against caster are at -2. |
Speak language | Mass understanding | Speak language | Range increased to Smarts; “Additional Recipients” Modifier available. | Keep as is. |
Stun | Greater stun | Stun | Range is Smarts; Area Effect now a Modifier, target is Stunned rather than Shaken. | +1 Power Point, Range increases to Smarts x3, penalty is -4 or -6 with a raise, Area Effect not included, other effects as per greater stun. |
Succor | Mass Succor | Relief | Range increased to Smarts; no mention of restoring consciousness to incapacitated characters; “Additional Recipients” Modifier. | Mass relief: keep same as mass succor. |
Summon ally | Force multiplication | Summon ally | Cost is higher; no writeups for “Bodyguard” or “Sentinel”; adds “Mind Rider” Modifier. | Keep as is. |
Telekinesis | Exalted telekinesis | Telekinesis | Range increased to Smarts x2; Strength is expressed in die type rather than lift; weapon fighting simplified; references falling damage without specifics. | Range Smarts x3, Strength is d12+1 or d12+2 with a raise, consult Super Strength Table. |
Telepathy | Mind Link | Telepathy | Duration now 30 minutes; Range reduced to Smarts, but once established can remain up to one mile or five with a raise; caster need not be included in the link; a Wound on a linked mind forces a Smarts roll by others or be Shaken; with a raise, 30 seconds of speech can be compressed into single combat turn; Additional Recipients Modifier added, 1 ISP each. | For 3 ISP, Duration is one hour, Range is Smarts x2; may contact allies within Range without a roll; may broadcast mental message to all sentient beings within one mile or five miles with a raise. |
Teleport | Greater teleport | Teleport | Distance is 12” or 24” with a raise; Power Points is 2; Range is Smarts; teleporting to unseen location incurs flat penalty rather than requiring Smarts roll; Modifiers include “Additional Recipients” and “Teleport Foe.”
UPDATE: As of 2.0 SWAdE rules, Range to “Teleport Foe” is now Touch and a separate Touch Attack action is required. |
4 Power Points, Range Smarts x 2 to teleport allies, distance 24″ or 48″ with a raise, resist roll at -2. |
Wall walker | Greater wall walker | Wall walker | Range increased to Smarts. | Keep as is. |
Warrior’s gift | Greater warrior’s gift | Warrior’s gift | Range is now Smarts; requirement is same Rank or higher rather than one Rank higher; Improved version of Edge is now a raise effect. | +3 Power Points to gain two Combat Edges. |
Categories: Adventure Edition/House Rules/Musings