Session Zero/Character Creation

Your last stunt would give you a +2 bonus to defend against attacks.

Does my character's stunts look ok?

Yup, lookin' good.

Corrected

Thanks.

Massive info dump coming. All of the following is excerpted from Savage Worlds Rifts The Tomorrow Legion Player's Guide.

Some say centuries. Some say millennia. Most say it simply doesn’t matter how long ago the Rifts came, only that glowing blue ley lines and the rips in reality where they cross in the world shattered what was and created what is. Scattered, chaotic, untethered to a single paradigm of civilization, humanity thrives in the aftermath of a global cataclysm lost to time.
Whatever happened, and whenever it took place, the results are clear in the still devastated lands adventurous travelers dare to cross when going from one bastion of society to another. The eclectic mix of frontier towns, feudal-style fortresses, and towering, sprawling cities—those of technological wonder as well as magical might and mystery—speaks of a kind of patchwork approach to the rebuilding of civilization.
That’s only the start of it, though, for humans are far from the dominant sentient presence they may have once been. Doorways to countless realities, once only theorized in quantum physics texts, granted passage to a nearly endless variety of entities both monstrous and sublime. Not only people and creatures but, in many cases, portions of their realms came right along with them, creating an even more complex, disjointed landscape across the world.
While the struggle to merely survive is far from over, enough factions have risen from the no-longer smoldering ashes of the original apocalypse to begin the battle anew for control of land, of resources, and of the people who live in this terrifying new world. With machines of war and policies of oppression, the dictatorial empire that is the Coalition States claims nearly a third of the population of the continent’s humans under its control or influence. Reasonably credited for saving mankind from annihilation in the earliest days after all fell to chaos and death, the Coalition now marches inexorably toward a future that may well be worse than extinction.
Another third of the population of native humans has taken up the practice of magic and mysticism, returned to the world in the wake of the reality-altering Rifts. Various kingdoms, guilds, and other formations of united purpose and effort bring practitioners of many arts together with beings from worlds beyond who understand the manipulation of forces mere science cannot contain within theorems and formulae. While many such factions are either benign or at least neutral in their dealings with the world, the most powerful organization in what is still known as North America is the True Federation of Magic, led by a most diabolical and power-mad ruler of horrifying ambition and capacity.
The remaining third of humanity on the continent lives independent of these two mighty blocs, organizing in the countless ways people do when left to their own devices and needs. Communes, micronations, kingdoms, city-states, and other realms dot the landscape all across North America and far beyond. Some are courted by the two powerhouses while others count themselves fortunate to remain outside such notice. They have enough problems dealing with the endless threats presented by enemies from beyond and by criminal warlords of their own kind.

The Rifts
While they are the defining characteristic of the world as it is known, the Rifts are also a symptom of what actually brought on Armageddon. The details may forever be lost to time, but enough documentation and other evidence remains to clearly establish that a war of global scale and devastating atomic fury triggered such releases of energy as to nearly scour the planet clean of all life.
The Rifts are quite literally rips in the quantum fabric of space-time, leading to virtually anywhere and allowing almost anything to come through from those elsewheres to here. Rifts lie at the junctions of cosmic energy conduits called ley lines. Not every ley line nexus has an active Rift, but all such junctions are capable of spawning one under any number of circumstances. While not as frequent as scholars say once was the case, temporary Rifts still erupt often enough to make certain something only mathematicians dare talk about.
Ley lines have always crisscrossed the world, though most students of the arcane believe the lines were barely detectable by the merest fraction of humanity for much of history until the day the Rifts came. In current times, most ley lines can be seen by the naked eye at night, at least within a few thousand feet. The larger ones, many rising from the ground up to hundreds of feet in the air, can be viewed dozens of miles away, glowing blue-white in the dark and even visibly crackling with energy in broad daylight.
Ley lines are inherently magical in nature, representing the flow of eldritch and arcane energies across the world and far beyond. The Magic Zone—defining much of the eastern part of the North American continent, especially around the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains—has a much greater number of the larger lines, and a correspondingly larger number of active and semi-active Rifts. These truths are what keep Coalition State authorities up most nights.
There are many places, in and around Rifts, where expected topography and geography are found on one side of a ley line, while on the other lies a landscape utterly alien in nature, or a city from some fantasy realm or far-future world that stands where none should exist. Most of the latter were abandoned when whatever infrastructure that supported them collapsed from the sudden change, their surviving populations scattered to parts unknown around the strange new world they found themselves in. Some figured out how to make things work and carried on, creating wondrous new places for adventurers to discover.

D-Bees
The very definition of alien is something that is strange: "adverse; hostile; opposed." The countless numbers and varieties of beings, sentient and otherwise, that poured through the Rifts from the very beginning triggered the most negative sense of the term among those humans who managed to survive the near-annihilation of their species.
Early encounters did not go well. Some groups responded in kind; the Coalition States were built on the premise of eradicating non-humans from Earth.
As these entities did not come from outer space (which, for reasons unknown to this day, remains completely off-limits to Earth), the word "alien" was thrown out for something more accurate—Dimensional Beings, more commonly called "D-Bees." From a position of ignorance, the term has a homogenous, all-encompassing quality, yet nothing could be further from the truth. The only unifying traits D-Bees share is that they are not from this Earth, and the vast majority of them are stuck here, whether they like it or not.
Almost anything might now live on Rifts Earth, and probably does: any story, any fiction, any idea, any imaginative speculation, populated with beings of fantasy, science fiction, or horror, is possible. Scholars speculate that ancient times’ fictional stories were nothing more than interpretations of realities, tapped by the subconscious minds of highly creative and enlightened people. Others go so far as to purport that the act of creation led to quantum splits in reality, crafting realities based on gestalt intent.
Regardless of such esoteric ideas, there are clans of dwarves, orcs, elves, and all manner of traditional and mythic fantasy races to be found everywhere on the planet, along with every form of classic horror monster, insectoid swarm, dinosaur, bioorganic terror, demon, angel, super-powered being, sentient android…there is no limit to who or what might be encountered while traveling the globe.
It bears noting that a great many humans encountered on Rifts Earth are not from Rifts Earth. Travelers through time and space, from alternate histories or the far future, arrive through Rifts all the time—often with no way to return to where they came from.

More to follow.

Magic
Scientists and theoreticians coined the term "Potential Psychic Energy" (usually shortened to PPE), in reference to the energy source they identify as fueling the reality altering capabilities of those who wield magic. The theory maintains that all living beings have some capacity to interact with this ambient energy, its ubiquitous global presence represented by the ley lines that web the planet.
They give it a name, yet they cannot give it any kind of satisfactory definition. Magic is elusive and confounding that way, with its refusal to follow even the most basic laws of physics. Those who can manipulate PPE in any significant manner (though still only a fraction of the total sentient population, there are enough of them to be a powerful force for either good or ill) represent a powerful boon to allies, and a considerable threat to enemies.
Pre-Rifts texts make little to no reference to magic, implying its lack of impact on daily life in that era. Today, such an idea is laughable, especially for those living in the Magic Zone, or other population centers where magic is the mainstay of daily life, and even the very infrastructure of the community. More than a means to project combat power, magic grants the potential for rapid construction, healthy and fast-growing crops, transportation, communication, and every other need or desire a society might have.
Those who wield the greatest levels of magic power often wield the greatest temporal power, as well, at least where magic holds the greatest sway with the people.

Technology
Although the Dark Ages following the Coming of the Rifts represented a time of barbarism and the loss of millennias’ worth of technological and scientific advances, a few factions secured and protected repositories of knowledge and development. As communities emerged and evolved into civilization once again, rediscovered databases and working models—combined with the incredibly advanced science and technology of D-Bees from highly-developed worlds—created a boom in applied science never before possible.
Sadly, the greatest advances came in the areas of warfare and security. Though hardly surprising, given the incredibly dangerous world of Rifts Earth, the arms race between those factions competing for dominance creates a significant drain on the resources and the talent pool that might be applied to other long-view needs, such as education, communication, and even trying to regain the stars as a destination once again.
Weapons are powerful and plentiful. Armor is tougher and more capable, and vehicles are designed to withstand the harshest conditions. For the rank-and-file soldier of any army, as well as the many adventurers who travel the strange and dangerous wilderness, these are great developments. Thanks to various efforts to create the perfect soldier, significant advances in medicine are also part of the scientific landscape: nanotech, cybernetics, and bionic prostheses ensure the continued viability of even the most damaged person.
One of the great losses bemoaned by scholars who specialize in technological history is of what was once called the Inter-Nets. Though computers and communications gear permit a fairly extensive network within many cities (highly controlled and censored within the Coalition States), gone is the capacity to share digital data over great distances. Even basic voice communication is fairly limited; the best radios, unless tapped into a hardpoint relay network (usually built between Coalition population centers or facilities), can only reach about 300 to 500 miles. Ley lines and other atmospheric issues destroy signals reaching farther.

The Conflict
The world, for all the effort to build up citystates and functioning industries, remains a crucible of fire and blood in which the battle for survival is fought on a daily basis. Vast tracts of territory across the globe remain wild, untamed, and in many cases still devastated from the multiple disasters that befell the Earth. In North America alone there are realms dominated by dinosaurs, insectoid invaders, demons, and vampires, not to mention bandit warlords building personal kingdoms on the backs of those too weak to stop them.
The defining conflict of the North American continent, however, is represented by the Coalition States and the Federation of Magic. The former is a mostly homogenous, technologically dominant empire where humans are elevated above all, magic is reviled in all its forms, and non-humans are an infestation to be eradicated from the world. The latter is a scattered, internally conflicted, yet fairly vast network of beings of all races and natures, united in the purpose of withstanding (and perhaps eradicating) an implacable foe with fire, brimstone, and world-shattering eldritch forces.
The great tragedy is the utterly polarized view that ensnares each side. They believe they are battling for the soul of a world, one that can only be defined by one paradigm—their own. Throughout the rest of the continent, and across the planet, there exist countless examples of magic and machinery functioning in comfortable harmony, where sorcerous Mystics and Ley Line Walkers sit in the same cafes as ultra-tech Juicers and Glitter Boy pilots.

History
The Golden Age of Mankind spawned scientific and technological marvels capable of transforming the lives of every living person on Earth. The evolution of humankind across multiple disciplines and ideas sadly did not keep up with the species’ biological and cybernetic transhuman developments. According to some legends, this led to one or more terrible wars that cost the lives of billions and brought about the Coming of the Rifts and the Chaos Earth era.
The Coming of the Rifts caused a massive network of ley lines to swell with magic energy, tear open the fabric of reality and unleash an incursion of first millions, then billions of dimensional beings (D-Bees) from billions of dimensional beings (D-Bees) from The chaos of this time caused a seemingly endless cycle of death and destruction that literally fed on itself due to the impact it had on the ley lines and Rifts.
The few remaining civilizations fell during the era now known as the Dark Ages, marked by most scholars with the reemergence of the lost land of Atlantis and the horrors its inhabitants unleashed upon the world. Monsters and conquerors from realms of sorcery and super-science nearly brought an end to anything that resembled Earth’s societies and cultures. Only the dedicated efforts and terrible sacrifices of heroes—Glitter Boys, Cyber-Knights, and anyone willing to take up weapons or spells to fight—prevented total obliteration or enslavement.
Finally, out of the darkness came points of light as Earth’s inhabitants began rebuilding instead of simply surviving. This era—the current one, as most scholars reckon it—was heralded by a new calendar established by the Coalition States in North America. Chi-Town rose on the outskirts of what was once Chicago, and with it, calendar year 1 Post Apocalypse (PA). And other strongholds of humanity emerged around the globe, reaching out to those who survived and were building something like a civilization in the face of horror and chaos.
For North America, things did not go smoothly. The first hundred years were marked by power struggles between the Coalition and those who embraced magic and divergent sentient populations. The Federation of Magic and other magically oriented realms became bitter enemies with Chi-Town and its allies.
Just after the first century of this new calendar, devastating conflict erupted in the middle lands, where humanity struggled to rebuild on the American continent. Conspiracies and misunderstandings led to the Juicer Uprising in 104 and 105 PA, culminating in the siege and near destruction of the CS city of Newtown. Not long after, Coalition Emperor Karl Prosek announced his Campaign of Unity (also referred to as the Crusade for Humanity), whereby many communities were brought under the Coalition flag while ever-increasing military operations were undertaken to destroy enclaves of magic wielders and D-Bees. The CS military underwent a massive overhaul, revealing even greater technological developments (both rediscovered and newly created).
The defining moment of this new century so far was the Siege of Tolkeen, a war that spanned nearly five years and ended well over a million lives. Tolkeen, a once-noble and strong realm given to magic, ultimately fell to ruin not only from without, but from within. Its leaders sacrificed honor and ethics to unleash hellish nightmares in the name of victory. Among the many losses suffered with the fall of Tolkeen was the Order of Cyber-Knights, split by a schism over serving alongside Tolkeen or staying out of the war.
Now it is August, 109 PA. The ashes of Tolkeen still smolder, the Coalition struggles to rebuild its forces and expand its influence, and the Federation of Magic’s leaders plot and scheme for their own run at domination. Untold numbers of other factions do the same, both on the continent and around the globe. Still, millions struggle just to survive and build something out of the destruction and anarchy of the world.

Global Overview
The "Land of a Thousand Isles," what was once South America, suffered dramatically from the rising waters of the ocean upon the return of Atlantis to the region known as the Bermuda Triangle. Much of the land is lush, primordial rain forest, deep and treacherous swamp, or mountain wilderness. Pockets of civilization are scattered throughout, and as one of the places where Golden Age technology was first rediscovered, some of those pockets are well fortified and defended. Numerous draconic and D-Bee populations dominate much of the region, making it alien for human travelers.
England and the British Isles are given entirely over to magic, with a faction of Druids seemingly the main power there. While most of mainland Europe is consumed by wilderness and dominated by the Gargoyle Empire (gargoyles, brodkil, and other monsters), the lands of what was Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and parts of Poland and Scandanavia stand strong as the New German Republic (NGR), bolstered primarily by one of the world’s new and powerful mega-corporations, Triax Industries. With some of the most advanced technology and secure, prosperous people on Earth, the NGR is practically a paradise…for humans. Non-human travelers are barely tolerated, and are not welcome to stay long.
The lands of Eastern Europe and Russia are dotted with feudal kingdoms ruled by brutal warlords, served by cyborg legions they use to battle each other as well as the demonic forces they compete with for land and resources. Farther east, it is said that most of Asia is monster-ravaged wilderness, though China is believed to be firmly connected to the 13 Hell realms of the mythical Yama Kings. Covered in a white mist that indicates where firm reality leaves off for more ethereal lands, most avoid travel there altogether.
Japan is also cut off to most travel, but reports indicate the majority of the island has returned to its ancient feudal days. There are, however, stories of at least one grand city of technological wonder that remains as it was from the Golden Age.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Australia is said to be a true apocalyptic wasteland, with only a couple of cities walled off from the rest of the continent and battling to survive. Much of the islands of the Pacific were lost to the sea as Atlantis reappeared and raised ocean levels everywhere.
The northern part of the African continent is dominated by the expanding Phoenix Empire (centered on what was Egypt), ruled once again by mythic gods and a dragon lord named Rama-Set. The rest of the land is primarily a mix of near primordial jungle and desert wastes, with pockets of varying degrees of civilization ranging from primal to high-tech paradise.

North America
The majority of North America’s population resides in the central part of what was once the United States, mostly in the upper and central Midwest. Most humans live within one or more of the member states of the Coalition: Chi-Town (which includes most of Illinois and Iowa), Missouri, Fort El Dorado (the southern part of Arkansas), Lone Star (the Texas Panhandle), Iron Heart (large portions of Canada north of Lake Huron). In northern Michigan, two corporate states—Ishpeming (more commonly known as Northern Gun) and the Manistique Imperium—are firm CS allies and suppliers.
Free Quebec, once a member of the CS, stands as the second strongest political power on the continent. Though also steeped in human supremacy and antimagic, education is important to Quebec and it has many other differences with the Coalition States. Still, an uneasy alliance exists and they remain trading partners.
The ruins of Toronto are home to Lazlo, the largest magical city-state outside of the Magic Zone. The home of world-famous scholar and archaeologist, Erin Tarn, Lazlo is also where a large number of Tolkeen refugees wound up.
The Magic Zone is a large swath of land covering the middle lands (the Ohio Valley and beyond) east of the Mississippi River all the way to the Appalachians (called the Eastern Wall). The True Federation of Magic, under the despotic rule of Lord Alistair Dunscon, claims the entire region, though there are plenty of factions (Dweomer most notably) that are in no way answerable to him. What was once the south is mostly swamp and jungle, where dinosaurs once again roam.
The Vampire Kingdoms of Mexico are a nightmare region of blood and horror. Much of the southwest that isn’t under Lone Star is a loose confederation of various factions called the Pecos Empire, while the Colorado Baronies represent what little civilization exists north of there. There is precious little west of the region, as disasters man-made and natural utterly devastated the west coast.

Castle Refuge
Legend tells of a group of scholars and builders who, during the Golden Age, built a castle among the hills and forests of northern Arkansas, near a magical city of entertainment called Branson. Fortress Ozark was its name, so the stories say, and though it was destroyed during the cataclysms along with everything else, its foundations were strong enough to leave solid ruins.
Upon these ruins wandered travelers from another world, come through a Rift and searching for a new home. They were dwarves, given to matters of building and craft. Employing techniques of master engineers and magic, they built a mighty castle fortress. Even as they completed their great marvel, a man came to them, leading a huge company of refugees from a disastrous war. He asked the dwarves if these poor people might take refuge, and his nobility of bearing and clear sacrifice for the greater good moved the dwarves to readily agree.
The leader of the dwarves, Dhara Hammerheart, chose to name the home of her people and these newcomers accordingly, and Castle Refuge was thus christened. Refusing the title of Queen, as her followers tried to name her, Dhara instead took the mantle of High Defender. She urged everyone to first see to their immediate needs, and to then take up the cause of organizing defenses, supplies, and day-to-day logistics. Soon, she began organizing those with natural leadership qualities—both among her dwarven folk and the mostly-human refugees—and bade them explore matters of "civilian leadership" while she served militarily.
The knightly man who brought the first group of people to Castle Refuge returned two more times with other groups. Each time, he was accompanied by others like him, and still others with skill at arms or magic, whom he assigned to join the fortress’ defenders and protectors. Eventually, his name got out among the people; he was none other than the founder of the Cyber-Knights, Lord Coake, and the refugees he brought south (via the Mississippi river and across treacherous swaths of land between the CS and the Federation) were all displaced from the destruction of Tolkeen. Lazlo could take no more, so he’d sought out a new place to bring hope to the hopeless.
After his third visit, Coake disappeared for a few weeks. Some believe he retreated to the deep mountains in the east, where he meditated and grieved over the schism of his Order during the Siege of Tolkeen. Meanwhile, Castle Refuge grew dramatically, with new walls built around homes and businesses as they sprouted in all directions around the original castle. A mayor was elected, councils formed, and a genuine community grew and prospered thanks to excellent and benevolent leadership and coordination. Tucked in between the main Coalition State region of Chi-Town and the still-developing Fort Eldorado, with the True Federation’s main forces some distance away, Castle Refuge managed to avoid all but some minor issues with local bandits and wandering monsters.
Recently, Lord Coake returned once more to Refuge, and Erin Tarn and a cadre of powerful and knowledgeable warriors, scholars, scientists, and masters of magic came with him. With Dhara Hammerstone and the leaders of Castle Refuge, they’ve enacted a new project, one of profound importance and great purpose. Much of the growing garrison of the fortress is undergoing a transformation, training and preparing to venture into the world to help those in need, discover mysteries and lost treasures, and bring hope to those without.
It is 109 PA, only a couple of months since the Fall of Tolkeen. Emperor Prosek is determined to drive all magic and non-humans out of his world, while Lord Dunscon seeks no less than total domination under his mad rule. From the strength and security of Refuge, an army of heroes and adventurers set out to defend against these threats and more, bringing a better world for all. This is the mission of the Tomorrow Legion.

All right, I think I've bored you enough. Let me know if you have further questions.

Amazing!

Ok for stunts I'm looking at these as basic Ideas not sure if they should be written differently for Core vrs Acelerated or what wording would be the best though.

Command Elementals
Freeze
Walk on Liquid
Create Elemental

I think I'll leave my one additional aspect free for now, except for stunts I-So is complete.

Approved.