Rifts (role-playing game)

Rifts

Cover of Rifts Ultimate Edition: a Splugorth emerges from a rift behind a ley line walker.
Designer(s)	Kevin Siembieda
Publisher(s)	Palladium Books
Publication date	1990
Genre(s)	Science fiction, fantasy, horror, western
System(s)	Megaversal system

Rifts is a multi-genre role-playing game created by Kevin Siembieda in 1990 and published continuously by Palladium Books since then. Rifts takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, deriving elements from cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, mythology and many other genres.

Rifts serves as a cross-over environment for a variety of other Palladium games with different universes connected through "rifts" on earth that lead to different spaces, times, and realities. Through Palladium's universal combat and conversion system, characters and elements from different games can interact and combine in new ways, resulting in a completely unique role-playing setting that Palladium calls the "Rifts Megaverse".

Rifts describes itself as an "advanced" role-playing game and not an introduction for those new to the concept.

Palladium continues to publish books for the Rifts series, with about 80 books published between 1990 and 2011. Rifts Ultimate Edition was released in August 2005 and designed to update the game with Palladium's incremental changes to its system, changes in the game world, and additional information and character types. The web site is quick to point out that this is not a second edition but an improvement and expansion of the original role playing game.^[1]

Setting

The setting of Rifts forms a unique backdrop for story-telling and role-playing. The foundations for the Rifts world were originally developed in the Palladium game Beyond the Supernatural (first released in 1987), which uses Lovecraftian storytelling techniques for a role-playing experience based on horror fiction.

This setting is very versatile; almost anything can happen in a Rifts game, and Rifts stories can be anything from dark and haunting to odd and whimsical. The rifts allow characters to travel through time and space to new worlds or to parallel universes. Alien magic far beyond the fairy tales of Earth's past exists alongside futuristic hyper-advanced technology capable of giving the user something of a chance against these supernatural forces. It is not uncommon for a game of Rifts to involve a wizard battling a fleet of flying robots, nor unthinkable for an elf or dwarf to receive a bionic arm. Another unique factor, known as "Techno Wizardry" is a bridge-point between modern technology and ancient magic, allowing magically powered weapons, armor and vehicles.

Some of the important concepts upon which the Rifts setting is based:

1. Supernatural events today are rare, generally discounted by science, and difficult or impossible to prove.
2. The Rifts world is Earth, but hundreds of years into the future.
3. Magic energy exists, and is called potential psychic energy (PPE). PPE can be found in certain places, objects, and animals, but one of its greatest sources is human beings. While this has a variety of applications, upon a human's death, the energy is doubled, and then released into the surrounding environment.
4. Ley lines, lines of magic energy, criss-cross the earth forming supernatural geographic areas such as the Bermuda Triangle. In the Rifts game, points where ley lines intersect, called a nexus, are places of powerful magic, such as the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge. If a ley line nexus grows very strong, the very fabric of space and time can be torn thus creating a rift, a hole in space-time leading to another place, time or a new or parallel dimension. Ley Lines are normally invisible, but in the magic-saturated world of Rifts Earth, they become visible at night as massive bands of blue-white energy half a mile wide, and stretching for many miles. If the PPE nearby is extremely strong the Ley Lines could be seen during the day too.

Earth

Rifts begins with two future-historical premises: first, that there will be a golden age of humanity with tremendous advances in science, technology, military, and society. Humanity as a whole will get along as a majority of earths nations decide to stop a world war and begin to share ideas and technology freely. Much of the solar system will be conquered, humanity's wars will end, and harmony will reign. Second, this golden age will be followed by an apocalyptic nuclear war that starts with a border incursion by NEMA (North American Economic Military Alliance, comprising Canada, The U.S., and Mexico) forces in South America during the year 2098. The special circumstances of Earth's mystic position in the Universe at that time (namely, a multi-planetary alignment combined with the naturally higher levels of mystic energy present during the Winter Solstice at exactly midnight) changes what would "normally" be the deaths of a few million living beings into a psychic energy flood that triggers the eruption of ley lines and triggering natural disasters across the world and also causes the return of Atlantis which raised the water levels causing even more death. The additional deaths in turn releases even more mystic energy in a vicious cycle. Ultimately, the PPE of billions of human beings dying nearly simultaneously, multiplied by the mystic alignments mentioned earlier, energized the ley line networks criscrossing the globe and caused many rifts to open, both on Earth and throughout the Megaverse -while simultaneously ripping untold millions of alien beings from their own homeworld and alerting the Great Powers of the megaverse of a new planet to conquer. Many creatures, both mythical beasts and alien beings, come through the Rifts -some of them now permanently opened and incapable of being shut down again -to wreak havoc. This period is covered in Palladium's Rifts: Chaos Earth spin-off series (Which was originally slated to be an alternate reality rather than Rifts' history where the Golden Age survived because the first nuke hit 1 minute after midnight). The old world is gone, a new dark age has dawned and humanity's shrinking population is reduced, due to catastrophe and domestic failure, immeasurably.

Rifts game play takes place roughly 300 years after this event, described as 103 P.A., or "Post-Apocalypse", a calendar established at the formation of the Coalition States. This is equivalent to the year 2389, according to the New German Republic. Although different story lines may begin before or after, such as with the invasion of Chi-Town by the Federation of Magic (before) or as the Four Horsemen appear in Africa (after), most of the series "World Books" are described with a kind of snapshot of 103-109 P.A. At the latest World Books, the current date is around 110 P.A.(2396).

By this time most of the disasters have quieted down Earth is still bathed in the released PPE. The planet's mystical energy has added untold numbers of alien beings from other dimensions, who continue to arrive through the Rifts both accidentally and deliberately. These creatures include humanoid Dimensional Beings (called D-Bees). Some are familiar fantasy races, such as elves and dwarfs, others have never before been seen (created specifically for the game setting). Also now sharing the planet are monstrous creatures and mystical demons with hides as strong as tank armor. The most powerful (and a common theme in the Palladium Megaverse) are the "Alien Intelligences," Lovecraftian, living mountains of flesh, lidless eyes and wriggling tentacles with great supernatural powers. In some rare cases, even the ancient gods of mythology have returned to reclaim their former lands.

To cope with these natural, supernatural, and alien menaces, the human race has tried to change in a variety of ways, many of them borrowed from the technological developments of the lost golden age. Augmentation of the human body has become common with three basic categories: the "Juicers" do it chemically, the "Borgs" do it mechanically, and the "Crazies" make use of performance-enhancing brain implants. All such augmentations boost strength, speed, endurance and dexterity to superhuman levels. However, they all come at great cost. Chemicals cause the body to wear out faster, decreasing life span to a few short years. Mechanical Borg augmentation causes a loss of humanity, causing those with multiple limb and organ replacements to become more machine than human, also making use of magic impossible. Brain implants cause mental instability ranging from mild phobias to crippling neurosis or psychosis. Those people who choose to be augmented in these ways accept these risks in order to become powerful. Some are required to receive these augmentations either for self defense, or for work, or even against their will by another individual. The minimalistic, needy and weak are often forced or coerced into these roles to serve their rulers. Another popular theme used by humans to combat the dangers of Rifts Earth are powered armor suits, and giant robot vehicles.

Some turn to other means to become "more" than human. Magic abounds on Rifts Earth, and many people turn to the magical arts. Others form pacts with alien intelligences or deities in exchange for great magical knowledge, almost always becoming pawns of the beings they dared turn to for power. Still others discover that they have great psionic potential, and dedicate their lives to discovering the abilities of their own minds.

The Ley Lines, formerly invisible, now dominate the landscape, appearing as massive lines of bluish energy half a mile wide, some twice that tall, stretching thousands of miles, crisscrossing the globe. The largest can even be seen from space.

North America

The strongest power in North America is the Coalition States (CS). The governing body of the Coalition States is based in the arcology city of Chi-Town and lays claim to northern Illinois (the southern part being controlled by the "Federation of Magic") and all of Iowa. Other member states consist of "Lone Star", formed from the Texas Panhandle, who specialize in mutating animals into talking servants considered by many players as cannon fodder but is one of their primary weapons against the supernatural as without them they would have to rely solely on human psychics; Missouri; and Iron Heart which consists of the eastern half of Ontario, Canada. The Coalition States are most often described as a technologically advanced fascist human supremacists with a totalitarian government, restrictive internal media, restrictive education (such as enforced illiteracy), and a massive military. The Coalition is ruled by Emperor Karl Prosek, and is genocidally opposed to all aliens, D-bees (Dimensional Beings, to include humans from other times and even unlucky CS troops that have traveled through a Rift and survived to return... only to be "contained" by his former comrades), human mutations, and Magic. His ultimate goal is to control the Earth by humans and for humans, and do so by attacking anything and everyone that is foreign to Earth as it was before the cataclysm. Nevertheless, Prosek allows some of the less threatening non-humans live alongside lesser-privileged humans in the burbs surrounding Chi-Town. Most of these poor souls think that they may eventually gain citizenship so they can live within the protective walls of the arcology.

The second greatest power is "Free Quebec". At one time it was a Coalition State, but constant disagreement with Chi-Town over issues like Glitter Boy production, education level of the populace led, use of mutant animals, secession and eventually a short civil war. A cease-fire was signed (mainly due to the CS's bigger problem with Tolkeen), but distrust has remained.

Mexico is ruled by a group of vampire kingdoms, who treat humans as little more than cattle to feed upon. North of the Rio Grande, west of Texas and roaming most of the American Southwest are large nomadic bands/tribes of bandits who collectively form the "Pecos Empire" which incorporates the cities of El Paso, Los Alamos (formerly Austin) and "Houstown", its unofficial capital. Though the nation is not part of a cohesive power structure or political organization, "Emperor Sabre Laser" is attempting to unite the city-states under his banner. Much of the western United States has more or less willingly reverted to a mix of modern and past technology, and the days of the Wild West, where outlaws ride hovercycles into battle, cowboys are as likely to raise dinosaurs as they are cattle, cyborgs prospect for gold and other minerals, and wild buffalo, sent to another dimension to prevent their extinction, have returned to the plains in the millions. American Natives have taken up two banners there are the Traditionalist which were also taken by the spirit people and returned to Earth with the Bison, they refuse to use most items of technology, preferring the old ways. Then there is the modern camp which have designed many technological marvels of their own. The pockets of civilization include the "Colorado Baronies", Hope, Testament, Wilmington, and Charity, a collective of small and a few large towns, founded by the survivors of the Denver area. In Arizona, the "Clarkdale Confederacy" (Clarkdale, Jerome, and Cottonwood), has managed to survive even as Flagstaff, Prescott and Phoenix have collapsed around them; there is also the town founded and run by mercenaries known as "Arzno".

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police managed to survive the great cataclysm, though Canada itself did not. The Mounties have become an independent law enforcement force called the Tundra Rangers, patrolling the northern wilderness.

The Midwest, both upper and central, is home to most of North America's population. The Manistique Imperium and Northern Gun in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, both Coalition allies, are among the biggest weapons manufacturing areas on the continent. "New Lazlo" is one of the largest cities in Michigan's southern portion. Chillicothe in Missouri is a large supplier of Coalition food processing and growing. However, Missouri's southern half, home to the city-states of "Whykin" (Poplar Bluff) and "Kingsdale" (West Plains) are in constant opposition to the CS and claim independence. North Dakota is home to the Wilk's firearms corporation, though not much else. Arkansas is home to the independent CS ally "El Dorado". Southern Illinois and the Ohio Valley is home to the "Federation of Magic". Also in the Ohio Valley is "Psyscape": a city-state founded by Psychics.

"Tolkeen" was a major city in the former Minneapolis region in early Rifts books; the city welcomed users of magic. Recently, a military campaign made by the Coalition States (which is the primary event of 109 PA) resulted in the magic-user kingdom being wiped off the map (this is covered in the highly debated six-volume series of source/storybooks "Coalition Wars: Siege on Tolkeen").

In the Northeast, the city-state of "Lazlo", named after the great 20th century supernatural researcher and writer Victor Lazlo (from another Palladium RPG, "Beyond The Supernatural"), was built upon the ruins of the Canadian city of Toronto. This major center of civilization is well known as a melting pot of humans, D-Bees and other, stranger beings, and is the home of Techno-Wizardry. "Mad Haven" is what the ruins of Manhattan Island is now known as although tectonic forces during the cataclysm have moved it into the coast creating a peninsula, and is seen by most denizens of Rifts Earth as a refuge of demons and madness.

South America

The return of Atlantis has caused the Amazon River basin to flood most of the western part of South America, giving it the nickname "The Land of a Thousand Islands". In Colombia, a nation of humans and Dwarves fight against a kingdom of Vampires. The gods of the Inca have returned to their ancient holdings in the Andes, and fight a battle against alien invaders known as the "Arkons". Coming together as one, the "Empire of the Sun" has created a wide range of technology and magic, including "Nazca Line Magic", exclusive to the Empire. The Empire incorporates the cities of Cuzco, Nazca, Arequipa and Lima. Much of the rest of the continent is a wide collection of states ranging from democracies, corrupt oligarchies, and communist guerrillas known as Shining Path, to Mutants, Amazons, Aliens, Transdimensional Mercenaries, pre-historic creatures and dozens of others.

In what was once Argentina, the "Silver River Republics" of Cordoba (the "South American Chi-Town"), Santiago (one of the most tolerant Human nations on Rifts Earth), Achilles (a nation founded by Mutants) and New Babylon (a nation where Humans and a race of Aliens live side by side) have thrived and created nations whose strength rivals that of the CS.

In what was once Bolivia freed Human and D-Bees slave soldiers, of the race called "Dakir", have formed the "Megaversial Legion": a mercenary company with one of the highest levels of technology on Rifts Earth (possibly even the Megaverse). Their Inertia Beam weapons are truly one of a kind, allowing them to keep the edge over all opponents they face.

Europe

• England has become a vast wilderness again, broken up by the occasional giant Millennium Tree or feudal kingdom, complete with a New Camelot and a new King Arthur, partially being manipulated by the ethereal extension of an alien intelligence (disguised as the wizard Merlin). Also the magic of Druids and Faeries has become commonplace.
• In Germany, the New German Republic, with assistance from the Triax corporation, battles against an empire of Gargoyles that has apparently conquered much of Europe.
• France has already been overrun by Gargoyle hordes and other monsters and cults. New Camelot, the NGR, and the Gargoyle Empire are all making moves into the territory as well.
• Russia is presently ruled by a collection of Warlords, who rule through the use of vast armies and Cyborg troops. The only major civilized nation is the "Sovietski", all that truly remain of the pre-Rifts Russian Empire and a trade partner of the NGR, who like them, are in constant battle with the Gargoyle and Brodkil Empires.

Asia

Much of China has been overrun by demons. The remnants of the People's Republic of China live in the pre-Rifts subterranean city Geofront, possessing pre-rifts technology equal or exceeding any other human nation on Rifts Earth, fighting to free their nation from the grip of the Yama Kings.

Japan has become a mixture of tradition and technology. The Samurai and warrior monks of the New Empire battle Oni demons and high-tech raiders from the Otomo Shogunate. Despite their ardent anti-technology sentiments, one of the New Empire's closest allies is the Republic of Japan, an alliance centered on three pre-Rifts cities (Hiroshima, Iwakuni, and Kure) accidentally rifted off the planet at the exact moment of the Great Cataclysm, and sent hundreds of years into their future. The rest of the archipelago (which now has the pre-Rifts main island of Honshū divided into two islands from the risen sea levels) is dominated by smaller breakaway governments; a significant portion of the northern half of Japan is dominated by Oni and other denizens from Rifts called the Zone.

Korea - both North and South - has been completely overrun by demons with nothing remaining of the pre-Rifts nations.

Africa

Much of Africa has gone back to nature, making the land a wild, mysterious Dark Continent again, where only those foolhardy enough to ignore the cautionary tales would willingly go.

In Egypt, the ley lines coursing through the pyramids have brought Rama-Set, an evil oriental-type Dragon who has conquered the locals and established the Phoenix Empire (with him leading it as Pharaoh).

Meanwhile, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (the powerful supernatural beings legends named War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death) are traveling across the continent, seeking to reunite and combine their powers into an ultimate destroyer of a monster; but a group of powerful adventurers is hot on their tails, including the legendary rogue scholar Erin Tarn (marked for death by the Coalition States for her writings, which criticize the Coalition States), and the 20th century's most accomplished time-displaced expert on the paranormal, Victor Lazlo (whose writings were so popular among P.A. magic-users that they named a kingdom after him), and even the disguised (and unfortunately amnesiac) Egyptian Goddess Isis. (See Rifts: World Book 4: Africa)

Atlantis

Cover of Rifts first edition: a splugorthian slave barge

The lost continent of Atlantis appeared after the cataclysm that caused the rifts. According to some it rose from the sea, but more accurately it returned from an alternate dimension to which it had shifted to ages ago.

Now controlled by the Splugorth, a race of Supernatural Intelligences, Atlantis is a land ruled by magic and monsters. An inter-dimensional marketplace where any number of creatures, including humans, are bought and sold as slaves, and often serve as fodder in gladiatorial arenas. Enhanced by parasites or other magic, they are then pitted against one another or bizarre, monstrous creatures.

The Splugorth are evil, trans-dimensional conquerors that are reminiscent of supernatural entities described in the works of H. P. Lovecraft. They are huge, tentacled monstrosities with a giant eye atop their massive, amorphous bodies. The Splugorth rule through the use of subject races enslaved by Bio-Wizardry, a form of mysticism that involves the use of parasites and symbiotes to enhance one's abilities. The Splugorth are also masters of Rune Magic (such as the creation of the fabled rune weapons), an offshoot of Bio-Wizardry. They are an evil power that spans many dimensions and are the sworn enemies of the True Atlanteans who have been banished from Atlantis. The Splugorth minions are a particular threat on the coast lines of adjacent North and South America, conducting slave raids against human and D-Bee settlements to feed the insatiable hunger of the Atlantean slave markets, and in some cases, the hunger (often literal) of Atlantis' extradimensional visitors.

Australia

A vast inland sea has flooded the centre of the continent leaving notable landmarks like Uluru completely submerged. With the return of magic to the land, the Aborigines have enjoyed resurgence and many practice Dreamtime magic. The "civilized" world has devolved into often competing city-states, with Melbourne and Perth the most technologically advanced. In the "Northland" exist the races known as the Mokoloi and Shadow People.

The Oceans

Deep within the Marianas Trench, a massive, evil Alien Intelligence known as the Lord of the Deep (sometimes mistakenly believed by survivors of its rampages on Rifts Earth to be the Kraken or Leviathan) slowly grows ever larger in size and may someday try to devour every living thing on the planet. It is opposed by the Whale Singers, rebellious creations of the monster, and the descendants of the United States Navy, now called the "New Navy". Other forces above and below the waves include a floating city known as Tritonia, pirates including the ruthless aliens known as the "Horune", monsters, dolphins/orca/whales, and extradimensional invaders.

Other settings

Further supplements to the Rifts game have expanded the setting to include:

• Mutants in Orbit - Several Space Stations and Colonies existed in orbit at the time of the Great Cataclysm. The descendants of their inhabitants, including many Moreau-style mutant animals, still survive in space, fighting against each other, and trying to prevent any force from entering or leaving Earth. (For use with Rifts & After The Bomb.)
• The Three Galaxies - an alternative space opera setting of a series of galaxies centered on the planet and dimensional nexus of Phase World. Several explorers, cults, and interstellar and intergalactic states are presently involved in the search for the Cosmic Forge, a powerful artifact that is said to have created the universe.
• Skraypers - Superheroes lead a resistance movement against alien conquerors amongst the massive cities of their home planet. Like Mutants in Orbit, Skraypers is designed for both Rifts (where it is set in the Three Galaxies), and another Palladium game, in this case Heroes Unlimited.
• Wormwood - Knights and symbiote-bearing warriors fight against demons on a living planet.
• Chaos Earth - Earth as it was during and immediately after the devastation of the Apocalypse. (Was supposed to be an alternate Earth where the governments and civilizations of the Golden Age were able to stay intact all because the first nuke strike was one minute after midnight.)
• Manhunter Universe - an alternative dimension to Rifts:Earth, published as a sourcebook under license from Palladium Books by Myrmidon Press. In this dimension, humankind fights an intense battle against artificially intelligent robots bent on human extermination.

Additionally any other Palladium RPG can become the setting for a Rifts style campaign.

• ALL Palladium Books" - though the above sourcebooks are more specifically related to Rifts all of Palladium's games are considered to be within the same "megaverse" and so all of their other games can be used as source books. Though the canon incarnation of Chaos Earth is Rifts' past it is also commonly accepted that Beyond the Supernatural is the distant past (due to the presence of the same mystic energy AND use of Lazlo's name) which may or may not include Ninjas and Superpies, Heroes Unlimited, After the Bomb (or if you have the books Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), System Failure, Dead Reign and even Nightspawn/bane or Robotech or Macross II. But Palladium Fantasy RPG or Recon happen in entirely different dimensions so could be source books but not Rifts' past. While Splycers on the other hand is intentionally a big mystery and may or may not be Earth or another planet, may or may not be an alternate reality or a completely different dimension so as Kevin likes to point out so often, it is all up to the GM.
• Anything - if you like the system but you have an old favorite character... convert it. Conversions are encouraged but due to copyright issues Kevin doesn't want any conversions that have a basis copyrighted by someone else posted on the Palladium Forums.

Weapons and technology

Despite the near-total collapse of human civilization, most of the powerful technology managed to survive the centuries. There are many reasons given for the survival or rapid development of the high technology. In The New German Republic/Triax Industries the infrastructure survived. In the case of the Coalition States it is suggested that their benefactor is a rogue artificial intelligent computer named ARCHIE 3. In Japan the main technology base is a part of the country that was "rifted" from Earth's past. The technology, regardless of the unlikelyhood of the varied factions obtaining it, is in fact instrumental to the continued survival of mankind in a world where many creatures now can survive being struck by the main gun of a battle tank.

The most prolific weapons on Rifts Earth, in nearly all regions, are energy weapons. The most common are lasers, ion beams, plasma cannons, and particle beams. Also popular are rail guns, and miniaturized rockets inappropriately called Mini-Missiles, as they have no guidance system. Due to the proliferation of supernatural monsters such as vampires, silver-plated melee weapons and silver plated bullets have also risen in popularity. Also the Flamethrower, which is often confused with the more advanced plasma weapons available in the game, have once again becoming a useful weapon due to its effectiveness against certain types of supernatural demons who are vulnerable to the basic element of fire. Plasma DOES NOT launch a stream of fire as many believe but a super excited gasses which produces a lot of heat and must be contained in a magnetic bottle which is the limiting factor of their range. For more conventional opponents, vibro-blades are the weapon of choice for hand to hand combat.

It should be noted that Rifts is one of the few universes that recognizes that laser weapons do not produce visible flying projectiles of colored light, and do not have recoil in real life, and the beams travel at the speed of light. Consequently lasers are often more accurate than other types of energy weapons of a similar size and weight. However, in-universe, it also mentions that people tend to dislike the relatively quiet snapping sounds that powerful lasers generate. Thus, weapon manufacturers such as "Wilk's" and "Northern Gun" actually install devices into their weapons that provide appropriate sound effects when the trigger is pulled for an "intimidation effect."

Rail guns are highly advanced in Rifts, and are used in a way similar to machine guns in modern times. However, the weapon, ammunition belts/drums/clips, and energy packs to power the weapon make most rail guns very heavy, and are usually restricted to Powered Armor, 'Borgs, and vehicles. One of the most famous rail guns on Rifts Earth is the RG13 Rapid Acceleration Electro-Magnetic Rail Gun known as the"Boom Gun" used famously by the USA-G10 Glitter Boy power armor. It is a weapon so powerful that it creates an immensely deafening sonic booms whenever it is fired that shatters glass for hundreds of yards around.

Ion weapons are also popular, presumably because they do provide sound and recoil unlike lasers.

Heavy weapons are generally Plasma or Particle-beam weapons, which have great stopping power, but also generally have a short range.

Alongside hover vehicles and Powered Armor, a common vehicle used in battle in Rifts Earth is the Giant Robot. In addition to their role as war machines, Giant Robots are also intimidating, and turned out to be good in combating very large supernatural creatures (such as dragons, demons, and giants).

An increasingly popular use of technology is Techno-Wizardry, which is a fusion of magic and technology. The aims of Techno-Wizardry are to use magic not only to power technology, but to make it more effective than it was prior to magic infusion. Techno-Wizardry also encompasses the creation of more traditional magic weapons, so a Techno-Wizard can make both a flaming sword or a plasma cannon, often with many of the same components and spells.

The ultimate in magic are Rune Weapons, indestructible, extremely powerful weapons with the life-force of an intelligent being driving them. Rune weapons are capable of communicating with their wielders, animating and fighting by themselves, casting magic, and may harm potential users if they don't like their motives and personality (based on the RPG tradition of assigning an "alignment" to a character of good, selfish or evil), and can bind themselves psychically to those they do. Some of the strongest Rune Weapons, reminiscent of Michael Moorcock's fictional sword Stormbringer, are Soul Drinkers, capable of tearing the soul out of their victims, irrevocably killing them with only the slightest scratch.

System

Character Classes

While the game books rapidly expanded the number of character classes to a large number, the original game book contained four overall character groups with approximately 4 to 5 character classes per group.

1. Men of Arms are the combat specialists of the game. The include cyborgs, freelance warriors called Headhunters, the Coalition Army, the Glitterboy powered armor pilot (the Glitterboy named for its laser proof chrome alloy armor), the Cyber-Knight psychic warrior, the drug enhanced Juicer who will die in a few years as a side effect, and the Crazy who has microchips installed into their brains to force higher performance and psychic abilities at the expense of their sanity.

2. Scholars and Adventurers. These are the wilderness scout, the rogue scientist, the rogue scholar, the Cyber-doctor, the Operator (a mechanic second to none), City-Rat street punk and computer hacker, and even a vagabond who has minimal gear and skills.

3. Racial Character Classes. These are not trades or skills you learn, but a group of classes that were born with their powers. They include hatchling dragons, the Dog-Boy from the Coalition which is a mutated dog that walks upright, talks, and can psychically detect the supernatural, the Psi-Stalker which is more powerful than a Dog-Boy, but must also feed on mystic energy which a Dog-Boy does not, the Burster with psychic powers over fire, and the Mind Melter with large amounts of psychic power.

4. Men of Magic. These are the Ley Line Walker with special abilities when on Ley Lines and normal magic spell casting, the Shifter who is taught their magic by an external supernatural creature and specialize in travel magic, the Mystic who is instinctive and self taught and half psychic, the Techno-Wizard who can install magical properties into technological devices

Damage and firepower

One important note about Rifts versus other game systems is scale: weaponry and combat in Rifts are far more destructive than in traditional gaming systems. For example, in Rifts and other Palladium games, a simple knife inflicts between 1 and 4 "points" of damage. This point system makes sense when considering a small animal killed has between 1 and 4 "hit points," which make it realistic that it could be killed by a single strike. Yet even a basic Rifts-era laser pistol will cause between 100 and 400 points of damage (more than enough to totally destroy a small car in one shot). This means someone shot by such a laser pistol would be literally cut in half without protective armor and trees, bystanders, or anything else in the line of fire would meet a similar fate. Thus, an average player character in Rifts Earth with standard-issue armor and weapons has the effective durability and firepower of a modern tank. Even minimal skirmishes may leave deep craters, level towns, and kill many bystanders.

To accommodate this scale, Mega Damage Capacity or MDC is an important game concept. Each point of mega-damage is equal to 100 points of "Structural Damage" or SDC, enough to destroy a small car. For example most personal body armor in the Rifts setting has on average 40 to 80 MDC, and armored vehicles start around 200 MDC and go up from there. Exceedingly powerful beings such as Dragons, gods and alien intelligences have mega-damage skin caused by the high levels of magic energy present in this game setting, and their MDC can soar into the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

As Rifts has no systematic method of designing weaponry, the game is criticized frequently for severe power escalation;^{[citation needed]} often magic, equipment, and character classes from new books are drastically more powerful than those from an earlier one(Sometimes even with the same character class), requiring players to buy the most recent supplement to keep up with the power curve (This is parodied in an 8-bit Theater episode fittingly titled "Glitter Boy"^[2]). Rifts Conversion Books are designed to help facilitate the transition of magic and psychic characters into this new landscape, for which many automatically gain increased benefits due to the magic-rich environment.^[3] But a pistol that fires projectiles in our time fires the same bullets with the same effects during Rifts times and is effectively useless in most combat situations. It does retain certain value as an antique, and from a survival standpoint can be desirable as a hunting weapon.

Skills

Rifts, like other Palladium games, nearly percentile dice to calculate skill success. Each character, based on training, intelligence, and experience level, has a base percentage chance of success. If a number equal to or below a player's percentage is rolled on percentile dice, then the use of the skill is considered to be a success. While modifiers are suggested in cases of unusual difficulty or proficiency, these are rare in the system, usually reserved for special skills. Some criticize this as being more cumbersome than the D&D D20 System while Palladium defends their method as allowing for a wider variety of skills.

However, Combat is determined through the use of 20 sided dice. In its most basic form the combat system is an opposed roll of two dice, with additions and subtractions for character skills and environmental factors. One character will generally be offensive, the other defensive, and the highest dice roll will determine if the defender is struck by the offensive character's attack.

Spinoffs

Several novels, a MUD,^[4] several mush^[5]/muxs^[6] and large amounts of fan fiction have been based on the world of Rifts. A licensed Rifts video game (Rifts: Promise of Power), was released in November 2005 for the Nokia N-Gage, as was Rifts Collectible Card Game, a short-lived collectible card game.

Siembieda has stated that he would like to see Rifts games developed for other consoles. However, he has stated that the niche nature of the role-playing game industry means it is hard to attract prospective developers to the property.

References

1. ^ "Rifts Ultimate Edition". Palladium Books Online. http://www.palladiumbooks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1001&Product_Code=800HC. Retrieved 2006-06-27. 
2. ^ "Episode 645: Glitter Boy". 8-bit Theater. 2006-01-07. http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/01/07/episode-645-glitter-boy/. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
3. ^ "Rifts Conversion Books". Palladium Books Online. http://www.palladiumbooks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=C800. Retrieved 2006-06-27. 
4. ^ "RiftsMUD". Archived from the original on 2005-12-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20051216052004/http://riftsmud.com/. 
5. ^ "Chronicles of Kingsdale". http://www.kingsdalemux.com/. 
6. ^ "RiftsMUX". http://www.riftsmux.com/. 

External links

• Palladium Books' online catalog of Rifts products
• Rifts Web Ring Hub