Understanding D-Bees - Dimensional Beings
Imagine you're at home, going about your day, when suddenly the ground tears open and you're pulled through a swirling vortex of light and energy. When you finally stop tumbling, you're on an alien world where the natives see you as a monster, an invader, or at best, an unwelcome refugee. This is the reality for billions of D-Bees on Rifts Earth.
The Weight of Being Different
D-Bee isn't just a classification - it's often a burden. In Coalition territory, being identified as a D-Bee is like wearing a target on your back. The term itself started as military jargon but has become a catch-all for "not from here, not like us, not welcome."
At the table, that prejudice mostly shows up as the starting attitude of the people you deal with. The chart below uses the familiar Savage Worlds attitude steps; how far a given town leans one way or the other is the GM's call.
Meet the D-Bees - Stories of Survival
The Altara - Blind Warriors of Defiance
Picture a warrior who doesn't need eyes to see your soul. The Altara are living contradictions - bred as slaves by the Splugorth, yet some break free to forge their own destiny. They "see" through a natural radar sense that reaches far beyond arm's length in every direction.
Real World Example: Imagine having echolocation like a bat, but far more sophisticated. An Altara can "see" your heartbeat, sense the electricity in your nervous system, and detect the heat of your breath. They wear sunglasses not to look cool (though they do), but to hide their obvious blind eyes from those who would recognize them as escaped slaves.
D'Norr - The Devilish Charmers
Imagine being so naturally charming that people want to like you, but looking so much like classical depictions of devils that they instinctively fear you. This is the D'Norr's burden. With elongated skulls, small horns, and red-tinted skin, they trigger primal fears in humans despite being naturally peaceful and social.
Living Example: A D'Norr merchant might have the most honest prices and fairest deals in the market, but still need to work twice as hard to earn trust. They often become philosophers and scholars, using their natural intelligence to bridge the gap their appearance creates.
Fennodi - The Quiet Walkers
The Fennodi are seven-foot-tall beings who look like they stepped out of an alien's dream - whisker-like fins for noses, eyes on the sides of their heads, and gray-tan skin. But here's the beautiful part: they're natural psionics who can phase partially out of reality, becoming intangible.
Practical Application: A Fennodi can literally walk through walls, but more importantly, they can walk through conflict. Their culture values peace and defense over aggression. When threatened, they don't fight - they simply stop existing in the same space as the threat.
Grackle Tooth - Mighty and Misunderstood
Picture a humanoid dinosaur with the personality of a friendly giant. Grackle Teeth (yes, that's the plural) tower over humans, covered in tough, leather-like skin, with spines on their shoulders and a prehensile tail. They look terrifying but are often the most easy-going beings you'll meet.
The Grackle Paradox: They rarely take to cybernetics or magic, but they shrug off injuries remarkably fast. They're massive and intimidating, but often work as mechanics and engineers. Their tail acts like a third arm, letting them perform multiple tasks simultaneously - imagine changing a tire while simultaneously holding a flashlight and reaching for another tool.
Lyn-Srial - The Golden Sky-Knights
If angels were real and had four arms, they'd be Lyn-Srial. These golden-skinned beings can fly naturally and have an inherent drive to help others. They're living proof that not everything from the Rifts is hostile or alien in mindset.
The Four-Armed Advantage: Imagine being able to pilot a vehicle while simultaneously operating weapons systems, treating a wounded companion, and maintaining communication with your team. Extra arms let a Lyn-Srial juggle more at once than a two-armed hero; how much that eases the usual multi-action penalty (see Combat Basics) is set by their racial abilities in the Player's Guide.
Quick Flex - Speed Given Form
Quick Flex aliens look almost human until you notice their larger eyes and slit noses. But watch them move, and the difference becomes clear. They process the world at a different speed than humans - to them, we move like we're walking through molasses.
Living at High Speed: A Quick Flex experiences time differently. In the time it takes you to draw your weapon, they've already assessed threats, planned escape routes, and possibly made coffee. Their short attention span isn't a flaw - it's because they're mentally three steps ahead and getting bored waiting for the world to catch up.
Mutants - Evolution's Answer to Apocalypse
Dog Boys - Loyalty Engineered
The Coalition took humanity's best friend and turned them into soldiers. Dog Boys are engineered mutants with the loyalty of dogs, the intelligence of humans, and the ability to psychically sense the supernatural. They're living metal detectors for magic and psionics.
The Tragedy of Dog Boys: Imagine being created to serve, with loyalty literally written into your DNA, then developing enough consciousness to question why you're hunting refugees and children just because they're "different." Free Dog Boys carry the weight of their engineered purpose while trying to forge their own path.
Psi-Stalkers - The Psychic Vampires
Evolution's answer to the supernatural threat, Psi-Stalkers are mutant humans who feed on magical and psionic energy. They're not evil - they're just built different. Like a shark needs to keep swimming, a Psi-Stalker needs to feed on PPE, the mystic energy every living thing carries, to survive.
Understanding the Hunger: Imagine if your body required Wi-Fi signals to survive. You'd naturally gravitate toward cities and avoid dead zones. Psi-Stalkers are similar, but they feed on the energy that mages and psychics naturally produce. In the wilderness, they hunt supernatural creatures. In civilization, they might make deals with willing mages and psychics for regular "meals."
Playing a D-Bee or Mutant - The Real Experience
The Daily Reality
Playing a D-Bee isn't just about having different stats - it's about navigating a world that often sees you as "other." Here are real situations you'll face:
- The Gear Problem: Imagine trying to buy armor when you have four arms, or finding boots for digitigrade legs. Everything costs more and takes longer to find.
- The Medical Emergency: You're injured, but the doctor has never seen your species before. Any penalty the GM applies to that Healing roll represents real uncertainty and fear.
- The Social Minefield: Walking into a human settlement as a Grackle Tooth is like being a tiger trying to convince sheep you're vegetarian.
The Advantages of Different
But it's not all challenges. D-Bees bring perspectives and abilities humans simply don't have:
- Natural Abilities: Grackle regeneration, Lyn-Srial flight, Fennodi intangibility - these aren't just powers, they're different ways of existing in the world.
- Cultural Wisdom: A D-Bee might know techniques, technologies, or philosophies from their home dimension that could revolutionize life on Rifts Earth.
- Bridge Building: In the Tomorrow Legion, D-Bees are living proof that different species can work together for a better future.
Creating Your Own D-Bee
The Megaverse is infinite, which means your character could be literally anything. Mechanically, a custom D-Bee is built like any custom ancestry in the core rules (see Character Creation), with your GM's approval. The story questions are the Rifts-specific part - think about:
Integration and Acceptance
The Tomorrow Legion represents hope for D-Bees and mutants because it's built on a simple principle: judge beings by their actions, not their appearance or origin. In the Legion's camps, a Grackle Tooth mechanic might share a meal with a human scholar, while a Psi-Stalker and a Ley Line Walker figure out a sustainable feeding arrangement.
This is the future the Legion fights for - not just survival, but a world where diversity is strength, where the accident of your birth doesn't determine your worth, and where "different" doesn't mean "enemy."
Remember This
When you play a D-Bee or mutant, you're not just playing a collection of stats and abilities. You're playing a refugee, a survivor, a bridge between worlds. You're playing someone who proves every day that humanity doesn't have a monopoly on heroism, that courage comes in all shapes and sizes, and that the future of Rifts Earth belongs to all its inhabitants, not just those born here.
Your character is living proof that the Tomorrow Legion's vision is possible. Make it count.