Brand New Player Help!

[DBX]

What sort of adventures would I be having, that sort of thing.

the beauty of rifts is that you are able to game pretty much any type of adventure you desire

[SkyeFyre]

It uses it's own system. I find it rather different from D&D in that it is more free form, and less precise in its writing. Character advancement for some classes is much slower and levels don't mean as much as they do in D&D. I like the system, I actually prefer it over the D&D system but what I find you fall in love with isn't so much the system as it is the setting.

What I do not like is the inconsistencies of some rules between books and at times the rules can make little sense.

I recommend getting Rifts Ultimate Edition (Or even a copy of the original book if you can find it.) After that the Book of magic is a must have if you're going to be using any magic. Game Master Guide is an excellent resource on equipment, and then after that I would have to know what kind of game you want to run before suggesting a specific world book. The game can be played pretty straight out of the box though with just the main book. The original (non ultimate edition) moreso I find because it includes rules for creating random monsters which helps things a bit.

I find every one of the classes in the main book interesting and cool to play. My first was a Ley Line Walker which is basically your standard mage... but even this standard mage has its own interesting twists to make it well worth playing.

Rifts is a mashup of everything you could think of. Dragons and goblins with giant robots and lasers, it's got it all. You could literally have any kind of adventure you could want. Wilderness with a touch of fantasy? No problem! City game with espionage? Absolutely! Giant robots beating the crap out of demons? This is your game!

[Jorel]

There is a good section in the back of Rifts: Ultimate Edition that suggests which books to get and what type of game they are good for.

[Killer Cyborg]

Hey guys,

I've been playing role-playing games for a while now (predominantly DnD) and was browsing around the net for something a bit different to expand my horizons.
"Rifts" was a popular result to these searches, and as such, thought I would come here to ask experienced players on their opinions about this game.

Firstly, what sort of system does this game use? Is it similar to DnD? Better or worse?

The Palladium system was created by Kevin Siembeida after years of running AD&D, slowly adding more and more house rules until it became its own distinct set of rules.
Meanwhile, D&D has evolved since Kevin was running it, since he probably was running 1st edition.
3rd Edition AD&D actually swerved back a bit closer to Palladium in some ways, as it had a strong focus on character skills, and the entire basis of the D20 system was essentially the same as Palladium's combat system (D20+bonus vs. D20+Bonus). Although 3E D&D was far more elegant in some ways.
Long story short, Palladium and D&D are much more similar systems than either one is to something like Gurps or White Wolf.

Is Palladium better?
In some ways. In others, not so much.
One of the common complaints about Palladium is that the system is "clunky" and/or "antiquated."
Since the Palladium system was created, RPG systems have evolved towards simpler systems with unified and streamlined rules. D20, for example, is easy to pick up because virtually any time you do anything in the game, you know to just pick up a D20, roll it, add bonuses, and there you go. Palladium, on the other hand, uses a D20 for combat rolls, but uses percentile dice for skill checks.
In D20, all the rules are based on the same basic engine, and they're designed with other rules in mind.
In Palladium, individual rules seem to pop in here or there, scattered through various books, seemingly without much thought about how the rules interact with the system overall. Sometimes the rules actually conflict with other rules in the same book. Sometimes the rules are worded very vaguely.
But compared to D&D 4th Edition, I'd say that Palladium is a significantly superior system if you're into actual role-playing instead of primarily focusing on unrealistic combat simulation. The much larger lists of skills, powers, and equipment allow for a far larger variety in character creation.
One of the key differences that attracted me to Rifts over D&D is that D&D combat uses passive defense, where it's always assumed that the defender is defending to the best of his/her/its ability, and whether or not an attack lands depends entirely on how the attacker rolls the die. In the Palladium system, there is an active defense, where the defender can attempt to react to incoming attacks with certain moves: parry, dodge, roll with impact, simultaneous attack, etc.
This makes combat take longer, but for me it gets rid of that feeling I get in D&D that there are just two guys standing still taking turns stabbing each other until one of them drops.

Another key difference is that D&D is designed, especially after 3rd edition, to revolve heavily around maps and minis. Palladium can use maps and minis, but the system doesn't rely on it nearly as much, and requires more thought and effort to translate in-game action into maps and minis simulation.
Also, a lot of the combat in Rifts takes place at much longer range than in D&D. For the most part, in D&D any roll-out map will work well to simulate battle using 5'x5' squares, or 10'x10' squares. In Palladium, it's common for an effective weapon range to be in thousands of feet, and sometimes in a number of miles. This often makes combat more interesting, but it also makes it harder to translate effectively into a map.

Yet another key difference is Mega-Damage. In Rifts, the weapons are incredibly powerful compared to D&D, and most combat in the game usually takes place using Mega-Damage weapons and armor.
1 point of MD = 100 HP, and the weaker laser pistols inflict 1d4-1d6 MD.
For a normal character, the only way to survive getting hit by a Mega-Damage attack is to wear Mega-Damage armor, and this affects game play significantly.
In D&D, the standard pattern is "get into combat, get stabbed a bunch, heal up afterward." In Rifts, there aren't many healing spells or powers, and they're not that useful because if an unarmored human is hit directly with a MD attack, he's dead. Like REALLY dead. So healing up afterward is, for most characters, not really an issue.
Instead, you have to worry about armor repair, which is more tricky. With the right materials, some armor repair can be accomplished by the PCs themselves, but for the most part they're going to have to find a city with the resources to repair armor and they're going to have to spend quite a bit of money getting their armor fixed.
Which means that there's a lot bigger incentive in Rifts to not get hit during combat, which means that player tactics and strategy is much more important.
There are pros and cons to this, but overall I think it's one of the best aspects of the game; you have to think to survive.

Also, what do you like/dislike about the game (please be honest) I want to know what I'm getting into before buying all sorts of books.

Likes:
-The single best thing about the game is that you can play any kind of character you want to. Because Rifts is compatible with other Palladium games, and the setting includes interdimensional travel as one of the features, pretty much any person or thing you can think of, from any genre or setting, can be used.
-Your character could be a knight, or a dragon, or a wizard, or a psychic, or a ninja, or a super-hero, or a ghost hunter, or a high-tech soldier with a laser rifle, or a power armor pilot, or a mutant animal, or a vampire, or a werewolf, or (again) virtually anything you can think of.
Which is awesome.
-Likewise, you can run Rifts as any genre you like: Horror, action, fantasy, espionage, war, comedy, drama, whatever.
-I like the passive defense, and I like that the mega-damage system makes you think before you act (most of the time).
-I like that the spells aren't level dependent, and they're not based on the wizard memorizing them then forgetting them again after he casts. Likewise, there aren't "One Time Per Day" spells; as long as you have the mystic energy to cast spell, you can keep casting. (Though certain spells cost so much that you're not likely to cast them more than once per day, if that often).
-I like the post-apocalyptic setting, where humanity is trying to survive on a hostile world full of demons and monsters.
-You can run a game on any power level. You could have a party of Godlings and Ancient Dragons, or a party of Vagabonds and City Rats who don't even have any Mega-Damage powers or gear.

Dislikes:
-The rule system started off pretty strong, only needing a few tweaks, but almost every time Palladium has tweaked the rules, they've gone in the wrong direction (IMO).
-The rules are often scattered in odd places in different books, and can be tricky to track down.
-Over time, power creep has affected the setting quite a bit, and not in a good way. A GM has to be careful about what elements and items are or are not allowed into his/her game if balance is desired.
-Because there are rules that don't make sense, and because a lot of the rules and descriptions are vaguely worded, no two gaming groups play the same game when they play Rifts. Each group is usually happy with what they're doing, but it makes talking about the game rather difficult at times. Online, people will often ask questions like, "Can a juicer beat a Glitter Boy in combat?" and a lot of arguing ensues because the answer is entirely dependent on how a large number of rules are interpreted, as well as what house-rules are being used.
-There's not a lot of direct support from the company when it comes to rules questions.
(though most answers you want can be found here on the website if you look or ask the right people).

Speaking of which, which books would you recommend to get started?

That depends on what you're into, really.
Personally, I recommend getting:
-Rifts Ultimate Edition
-the original Rifts book (if you can find a cheap copy)
-Creatures of Chaos (this is a Chaos Earth supplement, but the creatures in it are excellent for normal Rifts gaming, and they have good monster generation tables)
-Sourcebook 1

That's all I'd recommend to start.
Get those, try them out, hang out here on the message boards, and then see where you're at.
One of the things about a game that lets you do anything is that sometimes there are simply too many choices for there to be any one clear path.

Are there any cool characters/base classes you would recommend starting with?

All the main book classes are cool, and they're all good for starting with.
Whether or not any of them are good for a particular adventure depends on what that adventure entails.
A Glitter Boy pilot is a fantastic fighter as long as he's in his power armor, but if it's a city adventure or a dungeon crawl he may well have to leave his power armor behind, for example.
Mages are great, but if the adventure is taking place in Coalition territory, they're also going to be hunted fugitives.

I'd keep things as simple as possible to start, while still making sure it was interesting enough to hook the players.

What sort of adventures would I be having, that sort of thing.

Whatever kind you like.
One good skeleton for a basic adventure is:
"Players discover the location of some pre-Rifts ruins, they travel there, search the ruins, encounter one or more monsters or enemies along the way and at the location, then they get some treasure"

On the other hand, another good way to do it for new players might well be to have them roll up a team of Coalition soldiers, only give them the Coalition point of view when talking about the game world, and send them on a mission to go after some Evil Monsters that may or may not actually be evil and that may or may not actually be monsters.
Seems like a good way to keep things simple, to introduce them to the setting, and to allow them to get a feel for the combat rules and effects in a situation where they get free armor repairs and ammunition after the adventure is over.

That's all I've got for now.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Dustin Fireblade]

Hey guys,

I've been playing role-playing games for a while now (predominantly DnD) and was browsing around the net for something a bit different to expand my horizons.
"Rifts" was a popular result to these searches, and as such, thought I would come here to ask experienced players on their opinions about this game.

Firstly, what sort of system does this game use? Is it similar to DnD? Better or worse?
Also, what do you like/dislike about the game (please be honest) I want to know what I'm getting into before buying all sorts of books.
Speaking of which, which books would you recommend to get started?
Are there any cool characters/base classes you would recommend starting with?
What sort of adventures would I be having, that sort of thing.

Please just let me know any opinions/recommendations on this interesting looking game.

Sorry for so many questions, just want the whole picture.
Much thanks in advance
Terry

You can pretty much do whatever you want to with the setting. There are tons of options that allow you to find the character you want.

As far as the system goes, it has some strange things that pop up from time to time, but I've played the game just fine as is under a number of GM's. For myself, I don't particulary like the ranged combat section, but again it's just something that my group has wanted to go in a different direction.

One of the major flaws - Rules are not all in one book. Be prepared to "wing it" on those occasions. (It's not often, but just so you know)

As far as what books to get - Get Rifts Ultimate Edition, 2nd printing (or later, not sure what they are up to now), the Rifts Adventure Guide, Monsters and Animals and the Rifts Conversion Book. This should give you plenty of idea's to use and monsters to slay. If you want a detailed town to start off in, I'd select MercTown.

[Dustin Fireblade]

I recently got the rifts book myself.The only thing that puzzles me is if there is a education table anywhere wihtin,because a few things I read suggest it,but I'm not finding it.The only other complaint is no index.

What exactly are you looking for? Each OCC shows their starting skills - aka your education. There's no determining what your education level is otherwise. (I believe that's a feature of the Heroes Unlimited game, but not Rifts - could be wrong as I don't play HU)

[Vinny]

The only other complaint is no index.

Working on it.

[lather]

Wow, I can see I came to the right place for information, thanks for all the info.

I've got a couple of friends who I can introduce this too, so I'll hunt down some books and try to get a session underway.
I'm aiming at having around 3 other players, one of whom has heard about Rifts, the others DnD only.
How many players to you guys have in your sessions?

Thanks in advance

3-4 including me, the Game Master.

Rifts is a good game although there other Palladium games I would have chosen first. Perhaps you'll give those a try, too.

Have fun.

[MikelAmroni]

Wow, I can see I came to the right place for information, thanks for all the info.

I've got a couple of friends who I can introduce this too, so I'll hunt down some books and try to get a session underway.
I'm aiming at having around 3 other players, one of whom has heard about Rifts, the others DnD only.
How many players to you guys have in your sessions?

Thanks in advance

I run an online game with 15 players, but everytime I've run it for people it's been 3-4 players, at most.

Biggest thing I can say is focus yourself early on one sort of adventure and only branch out once you are comfortable. For example, there are a collection of books (Adventure Sourcebooks 1-4) that detail the Burbs of Chi-town. Its the perfect enclosed setting that will teach the basics of Rifts to your players, as well as maintain that exotic feel that the setting engenders. Merctown also has a very good town to start folks off in. Vampire Kingdoms has another town (Cuidad Juarez), as well as one of the more quintessential palladium specific monster variations, the vampire. No sparkling, suave blood suckers here, only demons in flesh form who are immune to all but a specific set of tactics that are all but useless against anything else.

It's pretty clear from reading the initial books that Kevin S. intended for the action to take place in the Chi-Town Burbs and move on, but he took his sweet time defining those burbs. And you'll find that a lot. A lot of intent and suggestion, but very little that is clearly defined and written out. As a GM for Rifts its actually difficult to figure out the balance of what your PCs can take on, and what they can't. Once you do, you'll be able to do it without looking much up. You will never find ready made enemies for you to plug in. You will find suggestions aplenty on what to do with those enemies, however.

One other thing: Character creation in any version of D&D has not prepared you for character creation in Rifts. Create characters before game and THEN play/tweak/fine tune your concept (almost no one gets their first character exactly right). Also, something that goes with the infinite choice: There is no inherent game balance - at all. Its not present and was not a design goal. It is up to the GM to provide a balanced encounter the PCs can interact with.

That said it is one of the richest settings I have ever seen, played, read, or created. I love it, but then I can't get any of my current face to face, though I run and play several in play by post (message board) and have played it in chat rooms live.

[TechnoGothic]

Buy the ORGINAL RIFTS MAINBOOK First and Foremost. A this is the Orginal, it retains the Orginal Flavor and Mood/Themes for the Setting the Most.
Other Books are for flavor to add to your game. They are not needed, but great to read and to pick and choose stuff from to add spice.

Orginal RIFTS Mainbook (Must Have) To capture the Essence of the Game setting.

Best books to buy later on would be :
Rifts Vampire Kingdoms (I would buy Rifter #49 to use those vampires instead though).
Rifts New West
Rifts Juicer Uprising
Rifts Warlords of Russia
Rifts Mystic Russia
Rifts Federation of Magic
Rifts Dino-Swamp
Rifts/palladium Fantasy: Dragons and Gods
Rifts Pantheons of the Megaverse
Rifts Seige of Tolkeen 4 : Cyberknights

Other books useful but raise the Power Levels :
Rifts South America 1
Rifts South America 2
Rifts Atlantis
Rifts Triax & the NGR
Rifts Free Quebec
Rifts China 2
Rifts Japan
Rifts Coalition War Campaign
Rifts Coalition Navy
Rifts Seige of Tolkeen 1-3 & 5-6

Mind You only the Mainbook is needed. The others books just adds more to the setting if you wish to include it/them.

[Carl Gleba]

Hey guys,

I've been playing role-playing games for a while now (predominantly DnD) and was browsing around the net for something a bit different to expand my horizons.
"Rifts" was a popular result to these searches, and as such, thought I would come here to ask experienced players on their opinions about this game.

Firstly, what sort of system does this game use? Is it similar to DnD? Better or worse?
Also, what do you like/dislike about the game (please be honest) I want to know what I'm getting into before buying all sorts of books.
Speaking of which, which books would you recommend to get started?
Are there any cool characters/base classes you would recommend starting with?
What sort of adventures would I be having, that sort of thing.

Please just let me know any opinions/recommendations on this interesting looking game.

Sorry for so many questions, just want the whole picture.
Much thanks in advance
Terry

Welcome to the boards ForgottenHero27

Everyone covered a lot of good points. I figure I'll point out some of the obvious difference in the systems which may or may not be selling points for Rifts.

For Rifts characters you find they are a lot more work to create than your D&D characters. Unlike D&D Rifts tends to be front heavy with powers and abilities, meaning you'll get most of your power abilities as a level one character. This is what helps differentiate the character classes from each other.

Rifts also has a lot more skills to select for your character and each skill has a base percentage so you're looking up a lot of percentages and adding bonuses for each class. When you level up each skill goes up based on its percent increase per level.

Combat abilities stack with certain skills. So if you have boxing and a hand to hand: expert, the bonuses from boxing will add to your defense skills like parry and dodge. Certain skills also add to attributes increasing them. Boxing will increase your P.S. attribute and give your more S.D.C. which is like Hit Points.

Since Rifts has nothing like feats when you level up your characters skills, combat abilities and hit points do increase. Some classes will offer additional skills to select when you level up.

Leveling up for D&D is the same across the board for each class. This is not so in Rifts. Each character class has their own table for experience.

Experience points are different. You have a nice formula for determining EXP based on encounter level. In Rifts there is an experience table and GM's need to make a choice on how much EXP to award. Emphasis is on thinking and planning and less on combat.

Rifts was not really designed with cross classing in mind. There are some rules out there for them, but cross classing it not the norm in Rifts.

The system used as KC pointed out was based on changes and house rules to 1st edition D&D. A quick summary of the system is this.

Combat uses D20. Attackers add their bonuses and a roll is made. Unlike D&D with a passive defense, Rifts has an active defense where you can choose to use an action to dodge, or you can try to parry if in melee, or roll with punch/fall to try and take half damage. High roll wins with defender always winning ties. Damage is rolled depending on the weapon used. Damage rolls are D4's, D6's and some D8's. Mostly its multiples of D6, like 3D6+3 or 1D6x10 and so on.

Skills use percentile dice, D10. Each skill has a percentage which is determined by adding any O.C.C. bonuses to the skills base percentage. As you go up in level so does your skill percentage. Game mechanics for skills is to roll percentile dice under your percentage. Roll under is a success and over is a failure. I tend to add bonuses or penalties for difficulty or circumstances, but that's me. Lets face it if your trying to prowl in a factory with a lot of loud machines chances are you're not going to be heard.

Magic is a lot different. Each magic class has a base number of points to cast spells. You don't have to memorize "x" spell, you have access to all your spells, but are limited by how much P.P.E. you have. Each spell uses a certain amount of P.P.E. which is subtracted from your base. P.P.E. does recover with rest and meditation.

I won't say that Rifts is better, it is just my game of choice. I've had good Rifts games and D&D games and bad for each. It all depends on the GM IMO. Game mechanics are different and I just happened to grow up on Palladium's rule system. I've found its good to expand ones horizons and try multiple systems, but Rifts/Palladium will always be my favorite and where I am most comfortable.

If you have a choice I would suggest sitting in on someone's Rifts Game and see how you like it. If you decide to take the plunge into Rifts I say start out with the Rifts Ultimate Edition. The back of the book has a guide to the Megaverse and will help guide you. Depending on what interests you the guide will tell you what books are best to pick up. On a financial note every year from October to December Palladium offers its "grab bag" special. For around $40 you'll get $80 to $100 worth of product. You make a list and Palladium tries to fill that list. It is very much worth it and more people get them every year. It's one of the best RPG deals you'll find out there.

Please let us know what other questions you might have. The forums in general is full of helpful people and a lot of us old timers love to offer our opinion on just about anything. Palladium's freelancers also tend to prowl the forums so you can often get answers from them directly as well.