what is the cosmology of the megaverse?

[EvaTheWarlock]

how is the megaverse structured? what are your thoughts?

[taalismn]

An infinite room of file cabinets. Each cabinet describes a solar system or dimension. Each drawer in the cabinet describes a specific world or timeline. Each drawer is infinite and contains an infinite number of folders. Each folder contains a description of a particular version of the world. The next folder in line contains a small change to the previous folder...and so on adnausuem.

[Rogerd]

Everybody lives in the Mirror Wall, which is like you see in DC comics, where there is one universe with a gazillion shards, kind of breaking a mirror.

On top of that there is Heaven and Hell, the Darklands, and a few other dimensions too boot. Then there are a few pathways to facilitate travel between the various dimensions. All of this is in one of the Nightbane books I believe.

EDIT: Indeed it is, Through the Glass Darkly, page 150, Appendix: Mirrorwall.

[slade2501]

One of the realities behind this question is that Rifts themselves aren't rigidly defined. They can't be. Doing so puts them in a box, adds limits to their utility in a narrative, takes away some of the DEUS in the Ex Machina.
Typically, Rifts are doorways that provide transport between locations in three axis.
1. Distance within the same level of reality (transport across the galaxy, to Mars, etc.)
2. Different levels of the same reality (other dimensions/planes such as Wormwood, Dyvall, etc.)
3. Different/ALTERNATE Realities (an earth with zombies, an earth with an apocalypse, an earth with mutant terrapins, an earth living in a james bond movie, an earth with giant transforming aircraft and an alien invasion, etc).

Some Rifts have REALLY bizarre or unique effects like TIME TRAVEL/Displacement, Permanent Alignment alteration, bestowing magical or psychic powers, (or almost any kind of power/ability really). These Rifts are usually narrative, unqualified by game rules for the most part (the big exception being the aforementioned rift in Atlantis that reverses alignments).

Palladium and or Rifts does a VERY poor job defining the lines between Dimensions and Realities, on purpose. It would limit cross genre play, stilt creativity, etc. Most Dimensions seem to be reachable by any or all alternate realities (so every reality would have access to the same, one and only Demon Hells, it might just not be a place reachable through local circumstances). Wormwood would always be Wormwood, not a different version in each reality. This would prevent two Zeus from meeting each other and fighting.

So steal the old idea of inner/outer planes for a picture model. the outer planes are always the same place, where the inner planes or Material planes would be the individual realities of the game setting. Rifts is unique in that it has the ability to telephone any other material plane or outer plane, and has few to no barriers about crossing its reality, unlike many other material planes that have NO P.P.E. or magic.

[taalismn]

It's that one butterfly flap difference between universes that will kill you(or at least seriously mess up your day).

[glitterboy2098]

wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff