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I've been buying some Rifts and other Palladium books after many years away, and I've noticed several references to 'Fadetowns'. Just what are they? I get the idea that they're towns that rift in and out of various worlds at random. Or is it something else?

It is that; a community that fades in and out of reality, like a Rifts version of 'Brigadoon'. They might transit between several different universes, or they simply go into a gray limbo when they're not in phase with Rifts Earth.

pretty much. they show up in worldbook 16 "federation of magic" (start on pg 46). short version, they're towns in locations which are on or near ley lines and every so often literally fade out of existence on earth. how, and when varies.. there is a random roll chart GM's can use to determine things. some just suddenly find themsleves an amount of time forward in time, some literally visit another universe for awhile, some turn invisible and intangible for the time, etc. sometimes they don;t even return to the exact same place. basically its an area of land that does weird dimensional stuff, which people settled on.

They're great adventure hooks for preserving pre-Rifts communities(heck, the Republic of Japan arguably started out as one that permanently landed after a time jump), or trapping the PCs in essentially a locked room with crazies/angry villagers.

taalismn wrote:They're great adventure hooks for preserving pre-Rifts communities(heck, the Republic of Japan arguably started out as one that permanently landed after a time jump), or trapping the PCs in essentially a locked room with crazies/angry villagers.

The Republic of Japan and its breakaway City-State of Ichto (sp?) I do not think qualify as a "Fadetown". While I agree the jumped ahead in time, so did the founders of the Tundra Rangers, the Continent of Atlantis, along with the TA/Amazon City in South America (and there might be more I just can't think of any off hand).

What separates them from actual "Fadetowns" is that Fadetowns have demonstrated to pop-in and pop-out multiple times. If any of the above are "Fade Towns", then they haven't actually popped-out for a second time yet (not saying they couldn't). Plus, the RoJ and Atlantis are huge, covering a much larger area than any Fadetown in North America (where the phenomena seem to be localized).

Thanks everyone for the responses. Fadetowns sound like a great way to bring new characters into a campaign, among other things. I'll have to see about getting the Federation of Magic book.

ShadowLogan wrote:

taalismn wrote:They're great adventure hooks for preserving pre-Rifts communities(heck, the Republic of Japan arguably started out as one that permanently landed after a time jump), or trapping the PCs in essentially a locked room with crazies/angry villagers.

The Republic of Japan and its breakaway City-State of Ichto (sp?) I do not think qualify as a "Fadetown". While I agree the jumped ahead in time, so did the founders of the Tundra Rangers, the Continent of Atlantis, along with the TA/Amazon City in South America (and there might be more I just can't think of any off hand).

What separates them from actual "Fadetowns" is that Fadetowns have demonstrated to pop-in and pop-out multiple times. If any of the above are "Fade Towns", then they haven't actually popped-out for a second time yet (not saying they couldn't). Plus, the RoJ and Atlantis are huge, covering a much larger area than any Fadetown in North America (where the phenomena seem to be localized).

yep. one time trips do not make them fadetowns. that's just regular D-shifting.

fade towns do it on the regular, multiple times a month. which is part of what makes them worth settling.. most of the time when "faded" they town isn't accessible by the usual sources of danger (like roaming CS Platoons) and thus they're safer to live in than most. especially since the 'fades' aren't generally drastic.. they're just small hops forward, shifts along a ley line, literal ghosting, turning invisible, etc.

taalismn wrote:They're great adventure hooks for preserving pre-Rifts communities(heck, the Republic of Japan arguably started out as one that permanently landed after a time jump), or trapping the PCs in essentially a locked room with crazies/angry villagers.

To me this is the best use of a Fadetown.

Second best is it town fades to another dimension, the PCs have to go do something, fadetown goes away, PCs stuck in new dimension.

Candy wrote:Definitely one of the interesting variables (along with that canon Rifter 'Nexus Born' stuff) introduced into Rifts to spice up your generic farming town.

What 'Nexus Born' stuff from the Rifter?

ardashir wrote:

Candy wrote:Definitely one of the interesting variables (along with that canon Rifter 'Nexus Born' stuff) introduced into Rifts to spice up your generic farming town.

What 'Nexus Born' stuff from the Rifter?

Rifter 73, really good stuff,

thanks

glitterboy2098 wrote:

ShadowLogan wrote:

taalismn wrote:They're great adventure hooks for preserving pre-Rifts communities(heck, the Republic of Japan arguably started out as one that permanently landed after a time jump), or trapping the PCs in essentially a locked room with crazies/angry villagers.

The Republic of Japan and its breakaway City-State of Ichto (sp?) I do not think qualify as a "Fadetown". While I agree the jumped ahead in time, so did the founders of the Tundra Rangers, the Continent of Atlantis, along with the TA/Amazon City in South America (and there might be more I just can't think of any off hand).

What separates them from actual "Fadetowns" is that Fadetowns have demonstrated to pop-in and pop-out multiple times. If any of the above are "Fade Towns", then they haven't actually popped-out for a second time yet (not saying they couldn't). Plus, the RoJ and Atlantis are huge, covering a much larger area than any Fadetown in North America (where the phenomena seem to be localized).

yep. one time trips do not make them fadetowns. that's just regular D-shifting.

fade towns do it on the regular, multiple times a month. which is part of what makes them worth settling.. most of the time when "faded" they town isn't accessible by the usual sources of danger (like roaming CS Platoons) and thus they're safer to live in than most. especially since the 'fades' aren't generally drastic.. they're just small hops forward, shifts along a ley line, literal ghosting, turning invisible, etc.

I'm not sure D-shifting is the proper term either as the term is also used in conjunction with FadeTown like phenomena where landscape gets changed but the people remain (this goes back to the RMB describing the states of KY/TN. Now its possible D-Shifting could have multiple meanings which would cover the natural phenomena mentioned in RMB and other artificial examples I cited.

One thing Fade Towns all have in common though is they are supposed to be on a Ley Line. Something I don't think we can say describe Atlantis (yes it has Ley Lines, but they all seem to small to make the entire continent a "Fade Town") and the Japanese Cities (some of them aren't even on Ley Line given the Ley Line map in the WB).

Warshield73 wrote:

ardashir wrote:

Candy wrote:Definitely one of the interesting variables (along with that canon Rifter 'Nexus Born' stuff) introduced into Rifts to spice up your generic farming town.

What 'Nexus Born' stuff from the Rifter?

Rifter 73, really good stuff,

Thanks!