Psychology...People on Rifts Earth quite simply think differently than we do in 20th century Earth. Up until now (1995) the world has always gotten bigger, that is our knowledge of the world has only increased over time. With the coming of the Rifts, it simultaneously got much bigger and much smaller. People knew there was more out there, but also were cut off from most of it, this has brought about several important changes in the general psychology and sociology of humans (and everyone else).
The main issue in most people's minds is trust. With all the rogues, changelings, dictators, illusions, demons and other unsavory creatures people tend to be a)even less trusting of strangers and "others" than we are and b)very, very loyal and trusting to anyone that eventually does gain their trust. In a state of war (and most of the populated Rifts Earth is in something like a state of war) people act desperate. People in Rifts, statistically speaking, actually have sex more often than we do. The world is scary, comfort is hard to find.
The Coalition, of course, is obsessed with mass psychology. They are seriously considering the use of psychic sensitives in all psychiatric positions. In the coalition, many many people are arrested on suspicion of insanity, a great excuse for random brutality. However, the coalition doesn't throw away free slave labor, so attention is payed to psychiatric treatment. There are also many cases of bizarre psychology in the coalition. One malady is known as Massive Uncontrolled Nastiness, Craziness, and Homicidal Insanity also known as MUNCHI (the afflicted are known as Munchkins). This disease is caused by the "small world" problem described above- -individuals are faced with an existential dillema in the face of Rifts Earth. They feel so insignificant in the face of all the bizarre and inhuman possibilities "out there" the only way they can deal with it is to attempt to be the best, most powerful, most physically dangerous individual on the planet. This competitive aspect differentiates it from plain homicidal mania or megalomania. The munchkin cannot stand the thought that anyone is more powerful than them.
Ask any psychiatrist about what sort of person is the hardest to understand andthe answer is almost always voluntary full-conversion Borgs. Think about it, these are usually mercenaries, very physical people, aggressive, abrasive, yet they have voluntarily decided to NEVER HAVE SEX EVER AGAIN in exchange for, essentially, the money they can make by being a super-powerful steel soldier. Some are actually homicidal maniacs or Munchkins, but many voluntary Borgs are neither. Unlike, say, a priest, they can't change their mind. Involuntary borgs tend to be rather depressed, or grimly resolved about their state, but voluntary ones are almost always extremely unusual individuals (think about it when you roleplay).
Psychic sensitives do not fit into any set pattern of behavior. They tend to be slightly haughty, however, and have high suicide rates. They act like slightly more extreme versions of psychiatrists (once again, this is a generalization).
Dog Pack members and other minority animal individuals occupy a space in the social fabric very much like the minorities of today. There is a struggle with questions like "What is the history of me and my people?" this is not really a psychological but a sociological observation. The sweep of history is the sweep of HUMAN history. It is definitely a real issue that Dog Pack intellectuals have been writing about recently.
ALRIGHT, where was I....Oh yeah, Dog pack...So the Dog Pack and other minority (MINORITY- that is Lizard men in Lagarto and Cat-people in Omagua don't feel this way, although in Omagua there is the question of history since all the mutant cats were created as human slaves) really get the shaft..
One thing to remember is that, as a whole, adventurers (i.e. the type of people who are your PCs) are very different psychologically from your average Riftsperson. In order to actually leave the area you live in and go gallavanting about facing perils from the demonic, psionic, magic and otherwise psychotic sphere you've got to be pretty greedy, obsessed, righteous, unlucky, insane, or something. Now, this doesn't mean that the wondrous spectrum of personalities in your playing group is inaccurate. The best way to explain it is like this: I'm an art student in New York City, OK, I got classes full of other artists and I live with two artists. To me, these people have a wide range of personality traits, they are liberal and conservative, smart and stupid, bold and shy, nutty and sober etc etc, but when I go to a family reunion or something and compare my friends with normal people, I realize that there are certain traits we artists have proclivities towards. It's the same way with adventurers. This explains the age-old question, how can an elf, a dwarf, a dragon, a demon and a mutant squid all get along without much racial tension in a player group? Adventurers are mostly rather worldly folk, or at least curious, they deal with the strange on a regular basis. A PC may be a Dog Boy, but to all the other Dog Boys, he's one of those wacky mercenary types who hangs out with changelings and stuff. The cowardly thief in your party is probably a lot braver than 75% of the people on Rifts Earth. Your average Rifts individual JUST WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE.
Juicers tend to be rather narcissistic (or "into themselves") (witness those hideous haircuts) anyone who is willing to die after living the high life for a few years probably doesn't give a shit about his friends or family too much. If any of you have known any chronic heroin addicts you know what I mean.
What the Hell do other races think like? I would say, surprisingly like people, and surprisingly different. That is, they have different goals, and a different sense of scale in regard to ideas, but go about pursuing them in similar ways.
For example, Dragons are supposed to be greedy, right? But why? Humans are greedy because material possessions like food and houses and U-rounds allow us to survive. After that, all else is luxury. A dragon doesn't need any of this to survive, even in their home dimension they are "solitary creatures" and thus don't need to fear each other or the elements (any of you who got stuck out in the wilderness with a dragon knows the dragon just goes out and grabs 3 or 4 deer for lunch and says "Tent? What the hell do I need a tent for?") A dragon's greediness is all about luxury. The ramifications are stunning.
The Zembahk(the mystic worms from Atlantis) on the other hand are motivated by absolutely nothing remotely human. But they still understand human emotions and relationships. It is difficult for them to empathize with petty feelings, but they still have a lot to fear (especially the Splugorths) so what comes of a psychology whose survival instinct does not concern itself with food or shelter, but with defending oneself from slimy biowizards. Imagine what you'd be like if you didn't need to go to school or get a job or anything in order to buy the means of your sustenance, you just had to avoid, say, roaming tigers. AND YOU COULDN"T USE WEAPONS! The whole society would be based on personal development, now you know why Zembahk have such incredible psychic and magic abilities.
These are just examples of what you've gotta consider with other races.
Ex-slaves in general (Blind Warrior Women, Dog Pack, etc.) tend to a)be very grateful and loyal to their fellow adventurers and b)avoid enslavers like the plague unless they are planning on starting a revolution. Dog Boys want to get as far from Chi-Town as possible!
Ever wonder why the older enemies are the more evil they are? Like why old vampires are so bad and ancient intelligences are even worse? It's like this, if you're immortal and you still choose to screw around with humans and other mortals, you must be really twisted. Most immortal creatures think those who plan complex games to toy with adventurers need to get a life. This makes the ancient wicked evil types even more bitter.
Isolation...most adventurers are isolated from a society or culture or anything, many are teams of exiles from their own races. You can get pretty bitter about that, unless you really enjoy your work.
Look at your characters skills-what do they imply? If your character can't cook, who has he/she been living with to provide all these damn meals? Does the character have a family? What do they think of all this? "You're living with a blind WHAT woman on what kind of boat?"
Crazies are, of course, nuts, but they do have that part of them that realizes that they are just gonna get more and more nuts. There's something in that that will push them to either be very depressed or wholeheartedly insane.
What races find what other races attractive? How much exposure does your party's gargoyle have to attractive gargoyles of the opposite sex? What happens then? Remember, just because certain races can't interbreed doesn't mean they can't have a certain amount of intimacy. Also, player groups tend to be very closely knit cliques of people, weird things happen...
By Zachary Smith.