A typical day has the men and boys up before dawn to milk the cows, then a brief breakfast before the men go outside to tend to the farm while the women cook a large lunch meal. After the noon meal, the men return to the fields, returning at sunset to a small evening meal before retiring for the night. On rare occasions, the entire community will gather at a home of a neighbor to build a house or barn. The "barn-raising" will take an entire summer day, from sunrise to sunset. Only on Sundays is this routine broken; instead of spending the day in the fields, the community will congregate at the local preacher's house for the Sunday service.
Most Amish families are close-knit, and rarely leave the family farmlands. Amish tend to be hard workers; the men do the farming, the women do all the housework. For the Amish, it's been that way for centuries. In dress, Amish tend to be very plain; black, brown, gray, and white shades are the most common, although other subdued colors are acceptable. There are no buttons in Amish society, only hooks; buttons are considered "fancy" by Amish standards. Clothes are usually handed down from parent to child, and from older sibling to younger.
Most Amish are pacifists, and will not raise a hand against another person. Amish tend to be wary of "outsiders", but will lend a hand to anyone in need. Due to this, anyone who respects their customs and dresses "plain" can stay with an Amish farm for a period of time.
With the coming of the Rifts, and the proliferation of monsters and demons from the Rifts, a number of Amish have developed various means of protection. Some have developed psionic abilities (at first, psionic Amish were thought to be possessed by demons, but many have since accepted these powers as being "divine gifts", see below for details), others have secretly built weapons.
Attribute Requirements: None, a high P.E. and M.E. are helpful, but not necessary.
O.C.C. Skills for Men:
O.C.C. Related Skills: Select six skills from the following list at level one, plus two additional skills at levels three and five, and one additional skill at levels eight, eleven, and thirteen. All new skills start at level one proficiency.
Secondary Skills: Select four skills from the above list at level one, without bonuses (except any possible I.Q. bonuses), plus an additional skill at levels five, ten, and fifteen.
Standard Equipment: Three sets of clothes, all of plain and/or subdued colors, a stout cudgel, 50 feet of hemp rope, a bedroll, 1D4 small sacks, a large sack, a backpack, and a wide-brimmed straw hat. Most Amish families will own at least one horse and buggy; the horse will probably be a work horse of good quality, and the buggy will be made of top quality wood, with wooden wheels, and can seat between two and six people, depending on the size. Any weapons will be converted farm tools: the character starts with 1D4 knives, and a pitchfork or sickle (both do 1D6 SDC damage). Bows and arrows must be made or purchased later.
Money: Most Amish don't carry any money. At most, an Amish farmer would have 1D4 x 100 credits in trade goods (mostly precious metals and decorations) on them at any given time.
Psionics: A surprising number (40%) of Amish have developed psionic powers. Roll percentile, a 01 through 40 indicates the presence of psionic abilities. Select four Psionic powers each from the Sensitive and Healing categories Amish Psionics are considered Major Psionics, base I.S.P. is the M.E. attribute plus 3D6 x 10.
Amish use the Vagabond Experience Table.