Abider O.C.C.

Clergy

Guarding the Pyramid of Osiris is the Cult of the Great One, priests of Osiris. Since Osiris is dead, he cannot grant any powers to his followers. Instead, true Priests of Osiris are granted their priestly powers by the other Gods of Light. Since Osiris is considered the head of the pantheon it is the duty of all the Gods of Light to help care for his priests. Even considering this fact, Osiris has few true priests remaining. The few priests that remain can usually be found at one of these temples, often supplemented by Priests of Isis.

Not all faithful and devoted followers of Osiris are priests though. There is another group that worship Osiris and carry out his bidding known as Abiders. While they devote their lives to serving Osiris no less than a priest, they believe becoming true priests will hinder their ultimate goal: Finding all the pieces of Osiris and helping to restore him to power. They believe the Gods of Light are powerful and mean well, but the politics of gods will only complicate things.

Isis may actively try to restore Osiris as well, but her movements are watched by the Gods of Darkness who just as actively try to impede her progress. Prayers can be overheard by other gods, blessings observed, and bestowed powers even tracked to an area. This makes it difficult to ever accomplish such a monumental task because the other side always gets in the way. As a result, the Abiders have decided the only way to succeed is to leave the gods out of it all together.

Note: Like a radio signal can be overhead by the enemy or phone line tapped, gods are also capable of overhearing prayers from various followers. While this does take some effort, or luck of being in just the right place at the right time, it is possible. This can be used to gain information, and often used to further a god's politics. With proper maneuvering this can be used to steal away followers from other gods.

Abiders hunt through dimension after dimension looking for the pieces of Osiris using the Labyrinth. This gives them an understanding of the Labyrinth greater than any other living being. They can provide directions and even maps to help lost travelers, but their aid usually comes at a price. Recovering the pieces of Osiris is not an easy task. Even though they've dedicated their lives to the search, once they find the pieces they still often need help recovering them. To keep the gods out of it, Abiders tend to rely on the aid of adventurers. In exchange for helping recovering a piece of Osiris, the Abiders can provide directions, maps, and even serve as a guide for a time.

Abiders & Armor

While similar to priests, Abiders are dimensional travelers who face many threats. They may have started their quest favoring lighter armors in favor of traveling light and moving quietly, they've learned at times they need much heavier protection to protect themselves in their dangerous quest. Without any spell casting abilities like traditional priests, Abiders only need worry about standard encumberance/movement penalties. Some may still prefer lighter types, but most will use any type of armor available (including environmental armor in Rifts).

Special Abilities of the Abiders

1. Cartography: The specialized art of mapmaking. Characters with this skill can produce highly accurate maps with a wide variety of tools, including quill and parchment, pen and paper, and even computer plotting. Note: Computer plotting required the Computer Operation skill also to be known. Remember that abiders are dimensional travelers and many are familiar with technology and how to use it. Base skill: 30% +5% per level of experience. A successful roll means the map is accurate and easy to use. If the character also possesses the Art skill, the map can also be elegant and aesthetically pleasing. A failed roll indicates that some details are wrong, other details have been left out, and the scale and specified locations are off by 1D10 miles. Skill Bonuses: +5% bonus if the character has the Art skill and +10% bonus if the character has Advanced Mathematics. Requires: Basic Mathematics.

2. Bonuses: Due to all their dimensional travelers and prolonged exposure to the Labyrinth the Arbiters do receive a few additional bonuses: +1D6 S.D.C., +1D6 P.P.E., +1 to save vs. magic (in addition to P.E. attribute bonuses), and +1 to save vs. Horror Factor at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15.

Abider O.C.C.

Alignment: Honorable alignments only. Arbiters typically begin as Principled, but their obsession of recovering the pieces of Osiris causes many to drop down in alignment as they make comprise after comprise in pursuit of their quest. Regardless of how selfish or evil they become in their quest, Osiris is the Lawgiver. His followers respect this fact, creating lines that they will not cross. If someone has no regard for the law and honor, then they cannot truly call themselves a follower of Osiris.

Attribute Requirements: I.Q. 10, M.E. 10, and P.E. 10 or higher. A high M.A. is also useful, but not required.

O.C.C. Skills:

Archeology (+15%)

Land Navigation (+10%)

Languages: Native tongue 98% and two languages of choice (+20%)

Literacy: One of choice (+20%)

Law (+10%)

Lore: Religion (+20%)

Mathematics: Basic (+10%)

Spelunking (+15%)

Wilderness Survival (+10%)

W.P. Two of choice

Hand to Hand: Basic

Hand to hand: basic may be changed to expert for the cost of two O.C.C. Related Skills, or to martial arts or assassin for the cost of three O.C.C. Related Skills selections.

O.C.C. Related Skills: Select a total of eight other skills, plus one additional skill at levels four, six, eight, eleven, and fourteen. All new skills start at level one proficiency. Since Arbiters are dimensional travelers, they may select O.C.C. Related Skills from other categories such as Rifts and other Palladium settings. Remember, Arbiters are still native to the Palladium World. While they may learn technology, this is still foreign concepts to them and they'll never be as proficient as natives to those dimensions. Any technology skills start at the base proficiency without the benefit of bonuses, regardless of category.

Communications: Any (+5%).

Cowboy: None.

Domestic: Any (+10%).

Electrical: Basic Electronics only.

Espionage: Detect Ambush and Intelligence (+5%) only.

Horsemanship: General or Exotic only.

Mechanical: Basic Mechanics and Automotive only.

Medical: First Aid and Holistic Medicine only.

Military: Heraldry, Interrogation Techniques, and Surveillance only (+5%).

Physical: Any, except Acrobatics, Boxing, Gymnastics, and Wrestling.

Pilot: Any, except Power Armor, Robots, and Military vehicles.

Pilot Related: Any.

Rogue: Any.

Science: Any.

Scholar/Technical: Any (+10%).

Weapon Proficiencies: Any.

Wilderness Survival: Any.

Secondary Skills: The character also gets to select four secondary skills from the previous list at level one, and two additional skills at levels two, five, seven, ten, and thirteen. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get the advantage of the bonus listed in the parentheses. All secondary skills start at the base skill level. Also, skills are limited (any, only, none) as previously indicated in the list.

Starting Equipment: A set of traveling clothes, a traveling robe or cloak with hood, boots, belt, bedroll, backpack, a medium-sized sack to large purse/satchel, four small sacks, food rations for 2D4 weeks, a water skin, 2D4 sticks of charcoal or graphite (for writing and drawing maps), two crow quill pens, a bottle of ink, 3D4 sheets of parchment, a 100 page notebook, one or two symbols of Osiris or the Gods of Light, a large silver cross, four wooden spikes, a small mallet, 30 feet (9m) of rope, 1D6 vials of holy water (they are not priests and cannot make more), a silver chalice, small mirror, and a tinder box.

Armor: Starts with a suit of chain mail (A.R. 14, S.D.C. 44), or studded leather (A.R. 13, S.D.C. 38); player's choice.

Weapons: While an Abider may use any weapon, most favor a flail due to its association with Osiris. Starts with a silver coated dagger, and two other weapons of choice. All are basic S.D.C. weapons of fair to good quality. Magic weapons and other equipment must be acquired later.

Money: The character starts with 150 in gold. Additional money will come from payment for special services and booty. Rarely will an Abider be concerned with amassing personal wealth. Money is useful for supplies and buying information, but the only personal fortune they seek is reuniting all the pieces of Osiris. Once Osiris is reborn, they will be rewarded with all the fortune they could ever desire.

Experience Point Table: Same as the Soldier & Scholar.