Let's Review: Rifts

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What is it?:

Rifts is one of the more interesting RPGs produced by Palladium Books. It's one of their best known settings and has been around since 1990. If you haven't played it, you've probably heard of it.

Rifts is also part of the Palladium “Megaverse” which connects all of their games. In fact, there are rules in various books to convert stuff from their original sources to Rifts, as well as some direct connections here and there. You may come across some notes, if you look through them...

"Subtle" isn't a word the Coalition States uses...

The setting:

It's the year 2389 (or 110 P. A. meaning Post Apocalypse) and the world has changed. Some hundred years earlier, the world was much better. Fantastical technology helped bring humanity into a “Golden Age.” Humans, being humans, the Golden Age wasn't to last. For some reason, nuclear war broke out and shit got real. As the bombs went off, there was a very rare magical alignment and magic was suddenly unleashed on the world. Violently unleashed. In addition to the rifts opening and all that entails, there were also terrible storms and earthquakes. Society, as we know it, fell apart completely in most places. Some places, by either luck or sheer determination, managed to hold on and survive the initial onslaught. For those areas that weren't so lucky, some semblance of order or society has returned. But, not necessarily a good society. In North America, the Coalition States have become the largest empire, controlling parts of what was once Canada and the central United States. In Europe, the New German Republic has managed to survive. South of the Rio Grande, what was once Mexico is now the “Vampire Kingdoms.” The list goes on and on. Over the past 25+ years, there have been at least one Rifts “worldbooks” for every continent, with the exception of Antarctica, but including Atlantis. No, I'm not joking. Atlantis reappeared with the coming of the rifts.

Out of the rifts came all manner of beings. Dragons, elves, demons, monsters, dwarves, orcs, ghouls, fairies, and all sorts of odd and interesting things. Some are good, some are bad, and some are in between. Not only are these beings creatures from our myths and legend, but also from typical fantasy settings, science fiction settings, as well as horror settings. You can have chimeras, bug eyed aliens, and Lovecraftian monsters all be the villains of your adventures. Or even just one adventure. Then again, some of those things could even be some of the heroes of the piece.

The awesome cover to Rifts Worldbook #8: Japan

The system:

While there is a Savage Worlds version of the game, we're going to talk about the original system, usually called the “Palladium System.” And, I'm going to be perfectly honest, that system is a train wreck. Overly complex, clunky, and easily lending itself to power gaming, the Palladium system is just... Out there, to modern sensibilities. It uses a D20 for combat rolls and D100 for skills, making it ahead of what would be done (much) later in D&D 3.5. And, while unbalanced and clunky, the system can be fun. It's also versatile enough to handle magic AND super technology AND psionics AND magic technology. Okay. It doesn't do any of them amazingly well, but it doesn't do a terrible job with them. And it does make an attempt.

The thing about the system is that it's an anachronism. As the system was developed back in the days of 2^nd edition AD&D, you can see how it was very much a product of it's time. These days, we have so many different ways of playing games, you can usually find something that works for you. But, in those days before the internet, when gaming cons were filled with foul smelling guys (okay, nothing but foul smelling guys), and the TV was screaming about how if you played D&D you were a Satanist or something, your choices were rather limited. You made due with what you had. And what you had wasn't much. For all those flaws, that era of gaming did lead to a lot creativity in games and with DM/GMs. Back then, if you had a problem, you solved it yourself. This was the era of “home brewing” games, usually as a way of fixing the numerous gaps a system had. As a brief aside, I think some groups have stopped doing this, and it makes me feel bad. I might even start doing a “GM's Corner” series here to address it.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling, and back to the point. The system uses skills a lot. There's dozens of them. You even use your “skill slots” (for lack of a better term) for your Weapon Proficiencies. And both improve as you level. Unfortunately, this can lead to a massive amount of book keeping, as you have keep track of what level you got the skill, what level the skill is, and then amend every skill on your character sheet. So, a little too complex, given that it's a percentile system.

When you build your character, you get eight stats. Intelligence Quotient, Mental Endurance, Mental Affinity, Physical Strength, Physical Prowess, Physical Endurance, Physical Beauty, and Speed. All of which are rolled randomly. In addition to that, you have Potential Psychic Energy (used for powering magic spells) and Inner Strength Points (used for powering Psionics). Humans get 3D6 in each stat, but other races can get different amounts of dice for different stats. Which can make character creation more complicated and makes it so some races are clearly better suited for some classes.

Speaking of classes, they have tons in Rifts. They're broken down into Men At Arms (martial classes, including cyborgs, giant robot pilots, and people improved by chemicals and implants), Adventurers and Scholars (including scientists, doctors, mechanics, and rogue type characters), Practitioners of Magic (of which there are several different types), and Psychic Characters (which has a few different types as well). In addition to these Occupational Character Classes (O.C.C.), there's also Racial Character Classes (R.C.C.). When you take an R.C.C., you're leveling up as part of your race, not your class. The one in the core book is the infamous Dragon Hatchling. That's right, you can play a dragon right out the gate. If you choose a R.C.C., you don't get an O.C.C. And there doesn't seem to be any rules for multiclassing. Oh, those old games...

"Magic, motherfuckers!"

The final quirk in this system is the Mega-Damage System. That's right. Mega-Damage. Most normal beings, like humans, get Hit Points and Structural Damage Capacity (SDC). But, since there's giant robots and laser weapons, they upped the ante and created MDC. 100 SDC damage equals one MDC. But, it doesn't quite work in reverse. If you get hit with one MDC, you get vaporized. Misted is the term the Coalition State soldiers used. Thankfully, there's plenty of MDC armor out there. And many of the monsters and demons out there are made up of MDC points, so you can use your rail gun on them and give them a fighting chance. On the flip side of that coin, they deal MDC damage, too. Get caught without your armor and you get Misted... So, life can be very short and very brutal for characters. And this is one of the problems people have with the system. Which I completely understand.

Is it worth it?:

Yes.

No.
Maybe?

Let's be honest: The original system is something of a mess. I haven't played it since they released the Ultimate Edition (I haven't played it since probably 2002 or so), which seems to have done a lot to straighten things out. But, this is still the original system that's been in use since 1990. That's almost 30 years without a major update. And if there were flaws in the original system, there's nothing really to be done about it without a major update. Which hasn't happened yet. And might not happen. Ever.

When you get down to it, I think there's a chance you can have fun with this game. It's crazy, usually in a good way. It still is an original and fascinating setting. As one of my friends put it “Buy the books for the world, not the system.” And I can see his point. The system has serious flaws. But, one of the things that Kevin Siembieda (the creator of the game) says a lot in the Ultimate Edition is this: It's YOUR game. Change what doesn't work for you. If you don't think the O.C.C. Fits your campaign, ban it.

While this makes it that much harder for the GM, it does make it clear that the GM is in control of the game. Something I feel is lacking in some modern systems. Of course, modern systems have a different sensibility in terms of the GM/PC relationship. Mind you, neither one is right and neither one is wrong. It's all about the game you all want to play as a group.

Like I said, the Coalition States aren't subtle...

In conclusion, Rifts was amazing when it came out. The setting, all the craziness of it, is worth the read. However, the original system has gone some serious problems. If you really like the idea of the setting, but don't want to deal with an old, clunky system, try the Savage Worlds version they have out and then convert stuff from the various setting books.

I still think that you should give the original system a chance, even if nothing more than a trip down the history of gaming and game design.