INTRODUCTION
Originally portrayed as the ‘everyday ordinary person’ thrust into the middle of life and death conflict and adventuring, the Vagabond was easily one of the most overlooked Classes in the initial release phase of Rifts. The release of new books with ‘new and shiny’ Classes certainly did nothing to make the Vagabond a terribly compelling choice. But does the Vagabond functionally come across as such a deficit character class versus many of the other Adventurers, or some of the Men-at-Arms? Master of nothing and not the jack-of-all-trades, the Vagabond is meant to start at a deficit by comparison to the Men-at-Arms, Practitioners of Magic, Psionics, heck, even the other Adventurers and Scholars. So how does such a slouch on paper measure up in Rifts? Let’s have a look.
Type of Characters. As a Scholar and Adventurer, the Vagabond definitely fits into the latter of those two. These are not your skill, trained or combat capable characters, but what they bring to the table is a wide-eyed sense of adventure, either by choice or design. With a limited skill set to draw from, and few choices to make throughout advancement, the Vagabond is more about playing off your wits and bouncing from one problem space to the next. It’s a relatively common trope to have the “commoner” come through with a clutch series of events that saves the plot. Within the context of Rifts, the Vagabond really is working with only part of the deck, some would even say without any of the face cards. It’s more about the outlook, how they approach the adventure setting and characters the GM places in front of the party. This can make for a great class for some, while others will feel stymied and like they aren’t actively contributing to combat. For the former, this Class will feel constrictive, perhaps frustrating; for the latter, the world is your oyster and adventure awaits around every corner.
Key Characteristics of the O.C.C. The Vagabond is not well trained, doesn’t boast any special combat skills, has no magic, no cybernetics to start, and a middling psionic capability at best (from Character Generation). What does the most current version of the Vagabond provide then? Well, the Eyeball a Fella ability provides a series of bonuses to several O.C.C. Skills, along with the general ability to determine a fair amount of information on any PC or NPC encountered. This ability is somewhat limited in terms of what the GM decides to reveal, making it a bit of a hit or miss. Otherwise, there are a surprising number of O.C.C. Bonuses to Attributes and Saving Throws, more than I would have expected from what should be a ‘normie.’ The remainder of the class is fairly limited in terms of scale and scope; skills are somewhat limited with few bonuses, while standard equipment is fairly meagre to start. It does present a clean canvas for the Player to really create a unique and compelling character, someone who truly is just swept into the action. I will note that the new version of the O.C.C. does some things that don’t necessarily support the concept as well as the RMB version, but this is a personal quibble.
Relevant Books with Updates. The only real update we saw with this class is in the RUE; and even then, I consider that a side-grade or even a downgrade (detailed below).
World Book 17: Warlords of Russia. The closest thing I could find is the inclusion of the Russian Villager, which is closer to what the original intent was.
GAME CONTEXT
How I Would Play This OCC. This is really a story of two versions of the O.C.C. The RMB version actively plays into the idea of a person going out and finding adventure, making it up as they go along, based on wits and the good graces. I would love to play this O.C.C., either urban or rural settings, likely picking a tradecraft skill set (e.g. baker, gardner, farmer) and working up from there. Let’s go ahead and double down on the trope; no Boxing, no reliance on Physical skills to boost the Attributes. Just a wanderlust, a trusty weapon of choice and some armour to keep things even keel, taking things as they come.
The Vagabond in Context
All Human. A plucky adventurer amongst a group of better trained, magically, or psionically enhanced characters. What could go wrong? So long as you have a suit of body armour and an energy rifle and/or energy pistol, you are still contributing to the firepower output of the group. After that though, skills selected are not your forte, and you have no cybernetics to start helping you out. I mean, this could be a role-player’s dream O.C.C., but I get that most of these Players would have a blast with any of the O.C.C.s. In what many might find as a ‘tax’ on the group’s capabilities, there is something endearing about seeing how far any “Joe Schmoe” peasant, wanderer or farmer makes it. Oh, the stories they would tell of your exploits afterwards.
With the Big Boss(es). A plucky adventurer amongst a group of expert warriors and big stompy robots, magic-slinging hot shots, or psionically enhanced mega-stars. What could go wrong? Sure, you have an energy rifle, hopefully some M.D.C. armour, but your dice rolls in combat are likely one-half to one-fifth the output of everyone else. Oddly enough, your skill selection may be on par with the others, but likely a few levels less in terms of percentages. Could this com across as an interesting character among the group? Possibly, but it would be one hell of a performance, perhaps at the risk of hogging the game time and inadvertently making the ‘nobody’ in the group the Prima-Dona for role-playing, which is NOT what the character is about. Oddly enough, this does allow the character to blend in with the surrounds and crowd much easier. Who is going to pay attention to the dude in the jean jacket when there is a Glitter Boy, Ley Line Walker and Combat Cyborg hulking around? Oh, the stories they would tell of your exploits afterwards.
With the Demi-Gods. A plucky adventurer amongst a group of mega warriors, paragons of magic, psionic characters capable of magnificent feats, and the odd demi-god. What could go wrong? Well, if you didn’t know what a Call of Cthulu-level of disparity was, this would be it. You are along for the ride, your combat output a pittance in comparison. But maybe this is not why you tagged along? Maybe at this point you actually have skill choices that the mega-characters of the group don’t have? Maybe they just kept you around out of pity, like the Companions for Doctor Who, or a puppy. There may be something there.
Rifts Main Book (RMB, or Grey Book) to Rifts Ultimate Edition (RUE). Well, let’s call a spade a spade, there was a definite glow-up from the RMB to RUE. We’re still talking about an untrained individual without any tangible special abilities, limited skills, and only a possibility of some level of psionics from baseline character generation. The RMB version has the dubious distinction of having less than a half-page of text for the complete O.C.C., with all of four O.C.C. Skills, one of which is the presumptive native language and one other of choice. Add to this, a combined total of bonuses to all Skill Categories of +24%; comparatively the RMB CS Grunt comes out with +25%, most others in the 40s to 50s in terms of percentage increases available. One of the biggest differences to the RUE version, and most negative impact, is in the Other Skills allowed through level advancement. The RMB Vagabond starts with eight (8) Other Skills, with four (4) additional skills at each 2nd and 3rd level, two at 6th, and one at 9th and 12th; the RUE version gets five (5) and 1 more at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th. This is off set by a significant upgrade in O.C.C. Skills found in the RUE. Many of these are selections of newer skills found in more recent books, and near double the bonuses across Other Skill selections. There is also the Eyeball a Fella rule, and significant O.C.C. Bonuses. Add to this a suit of M.D.C. armour in Standard Equipment that the RUE version lacked.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE VAGABOND
I found that the massive difference in design for the RMB and RUE versions makes this a difficult O.C.C. to discuss. The original denoted a civilian of some sort, going out into the world and living off their own devices. The first few levels they learned the hard way and gained new skills based on their experiences, scratching, and clawing their way through the Rifts world by the skin of their teeth. The new Vagabond comes across as something much different, and not one I feel meets the intent of the Class; heck, they gave them a Hand-to-Hand combat skill, which I thought was a mistake. This should be more akin to a person plucked off the streets, and either handed a weapon and armour and expected to make it without the skills we would expect from our “elite Player Character.”
You’re playing on God-mode with this O.C.C., layered on top of a game that often starts at God-mode. There should be significant risk, yes, but also the opportunity for significant reward based on masterful gameplay and bold attitude. Maybe you got lost, fighting to stay alive in a strange land; perhaps the small-town vibe was too much and adventure you thought awaiting you turned out to more than you thought, or better yet, exactly what you were looking for. The RMB version plays into that, while the RUE tries to make a milk-toast version of the CS Grunt or City Rat, which I feel is bad design and fails to meet the intent. I’m not down on many of the O.C.C.s, but the RUE Vagabond just seemed like a cop-out. Alternatively, I love the intent and design of the RMB Vagabond. It’s a class that can be overshadowed by some of the more ‘robust’ classes out there, but the Vagabond certainly can find a place in the party.
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