Newbie with some questions (be gentle)

[PhellaOne]

I was wanting to run a post apocalyptic game for some friends. Imagine a world of Thundarr the Barbarian (shows you how old I am!) and Stephen King's Dark Tower stories rolled into one.
Does this translate well with Rifts?

Thanks for all your help and advice.

I made a reference to Thundarr the Barbarian a few years back (I'm one of the few people I know of who has all 13 episodes of that show! And ALL Stephen King novels up to 2006 ) to address that very question. In my opinion, yes, they are very compatible. In fact, I wouldn't doubt if Kevin (who is as old as we are; notice I said "we"?) got some ideas from Thundarr. With a little work, they should inspire some pretty cool adventure ideas.

[ShadowLogan]

2. Define what you consider crunchy in the rules. Going by your example IMO it would be reflected well as long as things stay in the same scale and you don't go into the out of scale areas where game stats tend to be skewed.

1. Rifts would be the right setting for something like that, at least going by the references I can catch.

[Killer Cyborg]

I was wanting to run a post apocalyptic game for some friends. Imagine a world of Thundarr the Barbarian (shows you how old I am!) and Stephen King's Dark Tower stories rolled into one. The group will be trying to travel the mythical Sorcerer's realm of Holly's Wood and ride a boat to the warriors paradise of the Land of Auz. I want to use zombies, rednecks, dinosaurs, mad crazy technology gone wrong, inter-dimensional beings that everyone hates, angels, devils, mutants, cowboys, GW Necrons and magic. My two questions are this:

1. Is Rifts the right setting for something like this?

2. I don't want something to crunchy in the rules, but something that will show a vast difference in ability. A grizzled, veteran gunslinger would be far more dangerous than a punk farmboy with a six shooter. Does this translate well with Rifts?

Thanks for all your help and advice.

1. Yes.
2. Possibly, if you build that gunslinger right.

[Nightmask]

I was wanting to run a post apocalyptic game for some friends. Imagine a world of Thundarr the Barbarian (shows you how old I am!) and Stephen King's Dark Tower stories rolled into one. The group will be trying to travel the mythical Sorcerer's realm of Holly's Wood and ride a boat to the warriors paradise of the Land of Auz. I want to use zombies, rednecks, dinosaurs, mad crazy technology gone wrong, inter-dimensional beings that everyone hates, angels, devils, mutants, cowboys, GW Necrons and magic. My two questions are this:

1. Is Rifts the right setting for something like this?

2. I don't want something to crunchy in the rules, but something that will show a vast difference in ability. A grizzled, veteran gunslinger would be far more dangerous than a punk farmboy with a six shooter.

Not necessarily, that grizzled, veteran Gunslinger is getting old and aging so actually could be less capable than that punk farmboy especially if he's got exceptional aptitude. I can remember a story with a similar theme where a young punk looking for a name for himself tracked down such a veteren in hiding, and the veteran basically ran a con job on him because he knew his terrain so well to convince the young punk he had more skill and ability than age had left him.

I wouldn't mind a Thundarr setting though, I've always loved that cartoon and quite glad it's still getting aired from time to time. Haven't seen that Dark Tower series but have watched all of Thundarr and it was a great setting to work in, trying to help restore civilization in the face of mutant threats and evil wizards.

[TechnoGothic]

I was wanting to run a post apocalyptic game for some friends. Imagine a world of Thundarr the Barbarian (shows you how old I am!) and Stephen King's Dark Tower stories rolled into one. The group will be trying to travel the mythical Sorcerer's realm of Holly's Wood and ride a boat to the warriors paradise of the Land of Auz. I want to use zombies, rednecks, dinosaurs, mad crazy technology gone wrong, inter-dimensional beings that everyone hates, angels, devils, mutants, cowboys, GW Necrons and magic. My two questions are this:

1. Is Rifts the right setting for something like this?

2. I don't want something to crunchy in the rules, but something that will show a vast difference in ability. A grizzled, veteran gunslinger would be far more dangerous than a punk farmboy with a six shooter. Does this translate well with Rifts?

Thanks for all your help and advice.

zombies, = YES
rednecks, = YES
dinosaurs, = YES, see Dino-Swamp, New West for Dinos.
mad crazy technology gone wrong, = YES, Techno-Wizardry, and more...
inter-dimensional beings that everyone hates, = OH YES, See DBees of North America, and any World World for more...
angels, = Spirits of Light, in PANTHEONS of the MEGAVERSE, includes Gods, Demi-gods and more...
devils, = OH Yeah, See Dark Conversions, and nearly any book for more...
mutants, = See Skraypers, Madhaven, New West, Heroes Unlimited, etc...
cowboys, = NEW WEST, Indians are in SPIRIT WEST.
and magic. = Rifts Main Book, Book of Magic, Mystic Russia, Federation of Magic, and nearly every world book for magics, mages, etc...

Rifts also has Cyborgs, Chemical Augemention, Brain Implant Augementation, Psychics, Vampires, Samurais, Communists, Nazis, Knights (various kinds), Power Armor, Robot Vehicles, Mutant Animals.

AND SO MUCH MORE...

BtW, i'm sorry HERO System did not work out for you.
Palladium's Megaversal System is much better IMHO. The Settings have alot of flavor and room for you to customize to your needs if need be.

[Anthar]

Helloooo (said in my sexiest android man voice). So I just bought a massive core rule book and all I can say is: Wow (and maybe I'm a little intimidated). As you know I want to run a post apocalyptic game but I have no idea where to start, even with this massive beast in front of me. I'd like to start my players off simple to begin with, give them some basic SDC(?) weapons and maybe a group killer weapon (MD?) for that really big nasty boss type. Any suggestions on a short and simple scenario I could run? I'd like to throw in a few mutants, a few zombies and a mad crazy techno-wizard mad doctor, but not sure what is appropriate. Your suggestions and ideas would help me understand the rules better with examples. It's just how my mind works

Don't be intimidated, it is not that difficult to run. The core mechanics that really matter like combat, skill rolls and saving throws have examples written in the book. The rest is just story telling. It would be neat if your Techno-wizard created a device to animate the dead as zombies, maybe some type of device that he jams into the skull or a helmet of some type. There is a race called the Kildred from the Land of the Damned One book that might serve your purpose, they are essentially a powerful sorcerer race that has the equivalent of a Heroes Unlimited superpower that gives them one henchmen per level with average to low IQ, ME and MA.

[Subjugator]

It's fantastic for what you describe.

[TechnoGothic]

Well the Best Mutants in Rifts to use are Dogboys or Psi-Stalkers (both in the mainbook).

Try to stick to SDC based characters at first ... It helps keep the game from going too gonzo right out the gate.

List the OCCs You are most interested in seeing being used by Players ?

I have to say, the Cyber-Knights kickalotofass in a good way. Specially if you use the Master Psychic version listed. Search your Feelings, you know the answer. Beware the Evil-side

The Only characters that might too "powerful" right off will be Full Cyborgs (cause they are mdc), Dragons (again mdc beings), Power Armor/Robot Vehicle Pilots and Glitterboys and SAMAS pilots (the mdc armor and weapons built in deal). The rest are usually great, simple, and fun. Don't get me wrong here, Full Cyborgs, PA/RC, etc are fun, but when you start to need md weapons only the game gets boring fast.

Keep MDC Body Armor and MD weapons to a minimum if you can. If a Wilk's Laser Pistol (1d6 md) is as rare as advertised, when player finally run across someone with one should be scary, not a laugh or walk in the park.

My advice is have the group in a Town, City, area which bans "MD" weapons, Armors, etc. Think about it, Would you want everyone in a town wearing Military Body Armor, and carrying Rocket-launcher scaled damage weapons around ? HeckNo. Nothing you can do about Mages and Psychics who can summon md attacks/defenses though, but you should warn them if they use them, it may be punishable by death by the Law.

Another advice I can give you, is to check out HEROES UNLIMITED 2nd Edition Corebook. It is all SDC setting, has Magics, Mutants, Magic, Supers, Cyborgs, Aliens (space/dimensional), Hardware types, Hunters, Physical Training, Ancient Martial Art Masters, Super-Spies, and more. I USE HU2 Mainly these days with other SDC settings such as Palladium Fantasy, Nightbane, Dead Reign. Mostly because I do not have to deal with the mdc concept of pistols which destroys Tanks in a single blast. The SDC only settings are better "balanced" towards Players and GMs in general. It is less work, and hassle when i do not have to worry about Total party Kills just because i used something that was MD.
I also never liked the idea of requiring the players to use MD gear just hold on to their lives. SDC settings are dangerous like real life enough. Why bring in Ultra-military age items to kill my group, when normal sdc items work just as well, with more drama and suspense.

[Subjugator]

TG has fantastic advice there.

Your description reminds me a bit of Fallout 3.

One last item: The people here are a FANTASTIC resource. Be very, very wary of listening to Killer Cyborg though. He's very, very regularly fulla caca (because he disagrees with me), but frames and states his position so well that even though I know for a FACT he is ABSOLUTELY wrong (like I said, he must be wrong - he's disagreeing with me!) I'm sitting there nodding and agreeing with him.

It's very, very dishonest of him to use logic and convincing arguments that way, and I strongly recommend you stay away from him.



Seriously though; there's a great bunch of guys here, and the knowledge of the game that may be found herein is without peer. Luminaries such as Alex Marciniszyn (a great guy) can be seen in here from time to time as well.

Welcome to the madhouse. I'm sort of the Bull Goose Loony around here. *hat tip*

Come on in and sit down!

/Sub

/Sub

[bradshaw]

Mix, 60% Rifts: Madhaven, 25% Dead Reign: Endless Dead and 15% Systems Failure. That will give you Thundarr meets the Gunslinger; promise.

[Subjugator]

Oh I don't doubt the folks on here are an invaluable resource, but to be painfully honest, ya'll are kind of intimidating! There's so many terms and abbreviations and acronyms, I'm a little hesitant to ask anything. I'm always afraid that the answer I'm looking for is hiding in plain sight (usually in the paragraph I just read!).

Seriously - don't be intimidated. They're a great bunch of guys. Wonderful people to know all (well, except for me...and maybe Rat Bastard, but the rest are great!).

/Sub

[Carl Gleba]

Oh I don't doubt the folks on here are an invaluable resource, but to be painfully honest, ya'll are kind of intimidating! There's so many terms and abbreviations and acronyms, I'm a little hesitant to ask anything. I'm always afraid that the answer I'm looking for is hiding in plain sight (usually in the paragraph I just read!).

That's what we're here for. We want you to enjoy the game. Many of us have been playing Rifts since it first came out. And I'm a big Thundarr fan So please ask away.

My 1st primary concern is deciding what items to give the characters since this will be Thundarr-Dark Tower Land. I don't want to gimp them, but I certainly don't want to give them wrapped in plastic military hardware. I was thinking of having them carry some items that marines would carry that are blessed by the spirit of the gun; submachine guns, maybe a few home grown grenades (boomers), certainly some primitive weapons like swords & such, and similar items.

Other than MDC weapons, is there anything else I should strictly prohibit from the beginning (other than the obvious; hover vehicles, aircraft, man portable missiles, etc)?

I appreciate everyone's help.

Ok, now as the GM you know what the players are going to be up against. Make it fair and give them what they need to win. Items can be limited by amount of ammo, energy available and so on. The goal is to have fun right? Each O.C.C. has basic starting equipment. Use that as your guide.

As a GM let me give you a little advice on dealing with M.D.C. Now if you run strictly by the rules well you probably won't like this. I don't like to kill of player characters. Its too much effort to make a new character and get them involved in a game. Here is what I did at a game we played at the Palladium Open House. Demons or some bad guys were chasing down the characters as they were speeding along in their hover RV. One player was firing out the rear and he took return fire. It was a nat 20 with practically max damage. By the rules he was done for, but we just started the game and it didn't seem fair for the guy to have to just up and leave. The player said, yep I'm dead. This is where the power of the GM comes in. I said no your not. You have plasma burns all up and down your body and an arm is blown off, but your just hanging in there. This worked out good because the group medic got to do his thing. After a few rolls the player was back on his feet with a jury rigged bionic arm. (The medic had MD in cybernetics). It added drama to the game, gave the medic something to do, and turned out to be a pretty cool game. So have fun and let us know what you need.

[Akashic Soldier]

It added drama to the game, gave the medic something to do, and turned out to be a pretty cool game. So have fun and let us know what you need.

I love it!

"Hey guys remember in the first game session when I had my characters arm blown off? Well, she can stop ***** about that sprained ankle."

Its moments like that're what I play to see. Its always FUN when something goes wrong (for players or NPC's) and they always make for good antidotes.

[Zer0 Kay]

I was wanting to run a post apocalyptic game for some friends. Imagine a world of Thundarr the Barbarian (shows you how old I am!) and Stephen King's Dark Tower stories rolled into one. The group will be trying to travel the mythical Sorcerer's realm of Holly's Wood and ride a boat to the warriors paradise of the Land of Auz. I want to use zombies, rednecks, dinosaurs, mad crazy technology gone wrong, inter-dimensional beings that everyone hates, angels, devils, mutants, cowboys, GW Necrons and magic. My two questions are this:

1. Is Rifts the right setting for something like this?

2. I don't want something to crunchy in the rules, but something that will show a vast difference in ability. A grizzled, veteran gunslinger would be far more dangerous than a punk farmboy with a six shooter. Does this translate well with Rifts?

Thanks for all your help and advice.

1. Yes... unless you want more comedy... then you need Macho Women With Guns (Izaac Azathoth, Druken Frat Boys, Bambo [First they killed his mother then they burned his home... now he's back for revenge] )
2. Other systems have more rewarding "level up" systems that produce a drastic difference even between a couple levels. Your players may develop a wow we've gone up in HP, skill %, skill # and percentage chance of hitting... but where are the perks... the abilities... the stuff that makes this feel like a video game and not a pen and paper RPG?! If your a veteran RPG (pen and paper not console/PC based RPG simulator) gamer then the system works fine, it's all about how one plays the part, most of my games are 80% Role-play, 10% Roll-play, and 10% power play (munchkin players + munchkin foes = ballanced game). If your coming from console or PC RPG simulators (Final Fantasy, Wizardry, Elder Scrolls) then you and/or your players may enjoy a D20 product more.

Have fun.