the RIFTS post

Okay, I'll admit it, when I was starting high-school I was still playing lots of Palladium game systems: TMNT, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas and Superspies. When RIFTS came out in 1990 - mashing together everything I loved - it blew my mind a bit.

On the surface everything about this idea is gold: let's take mecha, the grittiest parts of fantasy including dragons, H.P. Lovecraft's work (him again?), everything from cyberpunk fiction and throw in some social commentary (the Coalition States) for good measure to see what we get. Pure brilliance right?

Unfortunately the game system felt pretty broken and was horribly unbalanced for a group of teens who were just starting to realize how min/max worked. Many character generation sessions were spent pouring over the various O.C.C. and R.C.C. options and skills to try and squeeze out the best Physical Prowess scores possible (Gynmastics AND Acrobatics anybody?). The rules on missiles and ranged combat were pretty messy and since we hadn't really mastered the art of making consistent house rules or modifying game systems it never really felt very coherent and some play sessions would devolve into discussions about how to resolve combats with mixed ranged and melee where some combatants had 6+ attacks... and one guy has auto-dodge.

Still, when RIFTS Ultimate Edition was released my nostalgia beat out my common sense and I bought it. My plan was just to re-read the updated edition and take a great walk down memory lane. Secretly in the back of my head I hoped that I would find the combat section rewritten and a streamlined, clarified, set of rules that would replace the original. There were minor tweaks yes, but a badly needed overhaul was not to be found. 

At the same time, my more experienced gamer know-how saw that the system, though incomplete, could be cleaned up with some house rules. Also, as a gamer who has been through some insanely 'balanced' systems (like 4e D&D) I actually found the wide power range to be a refreshing deviation from the sameness of everything in meticulously designed games like 4e. 

Suddenly I felt like running a RIFTS game again. I located a copy of the Atlantis source book (one of my favourites from back in the day) and then Vampire Kingdoms. Some story ideas started to float around in my head and the next thing I knew I was in planning mode. It was actually the game I was most excited to kick off in the summer of 2013, but my move to San Francisco changed all of that.

Perhaps I should bring that hardcover bad boy back to The City with me when I return from Canada on my next visit. I think I'll grab a few things actually:

• RIFTS Ultimate (and one or two splat books)
• A few core 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons books (PHB)
• Some neat 3ish OGL stuff: Etherscope likely
• Rogue Trader by Fantasy Flight Games (would love to play this)
• my old WEG Star Wars d6 rulebook
• maybe a GURPS book or two, or Ars Magica