The metaplot marches ever forward - demons invade! Devils cut deals! The coalition has no choice but to stop being a bundle of of dicks!
>What's going on in Asia while all hell is breaking loose?
>Isn't being hell on earth already China's shtick?
>Is Japan going to end its period of isolationism?
>Will Weeaboo aliens show up and change everything?
>Somehow that part seems familiar
PDFs here:
>https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1dsdr28ic5vk0/Palladium
Referees, what is your stance on themed parties?
>>46293397
They work awesome in TMNT. The Team Rules make for fun characters.
>>46293397
Do it. Anything to keep players at a similar level can avoid problems down the line.
>>46293397
I played in a Mutants Down Under game where we made characters using the Team Rules. We rolled mutant Koalas. We decided that we were an Airship based Commando Team from Tassieland called theDrop Bears
>>46295969Widdle cuddly bears of DEATH!?
>>46295969
Pic related.
WARNING - Violence and the Supernatural!
>>46302893
Well good, that's why I'm here!
Haven't had any luck joining or locating or putting together a group online or off for palladium or rifts, where should I be going and looking?
>>46304834
Gotta love a "rules light" conversion that arguably takes longer to explain and understand than the original which is famous for being a fucked up archaic piece of shit.
I want to run a RIFTS game but so far all I have for a campaign idea is the players are the Sheriff and Deputies of a 'Frontier Town'. Problem is, frontier for who?
Any suggestions anon?
>>46306593
Try one of the Colorado Baronies.
>>46306617
That should work. Thanks.
>>46291140
>The coalition has no choice but to stop being a bundle of of dicks!
Ha. While they might be the heroes of humanity, they are still 100% dicks. They just can refrain from being assholes about it in the field when it comes to shared enemies, for a little bit.
>>46305138
No love for retro where the players only need to know what's on their sheet?
>>46305000
Head to the Palladium forums they have a couple of online groups you can turn to.
Been thinking about starting up a game on www.rpol.net Might post on here if I actually follow through with that idea though.
>>46291140
Does anybody else think that Nightbane would be a fucking awesome video game?
>>46307466
Nightbane would be fucking awesome in any number mediums.
I just hope Kevin refrains from mucking with it any further. I don't think he quite "gets" it, not one of his settings and not built for his style. Fortunately, his mandated additions to the Survival Guide are mixed into the in-game guide section, where it can be easily written off as false assumptions.
>>46307466
Shin Megami Tensei games are as close as you'll get, probably. But I do agree, Nightbane is wicked cool although I've only flipped through the books.
>>46307466
I'd just like to see them port "Promise of Power" to any other system. If they couldget that on PC i'd be happy to pay for it.
Rifts video game possibilities:
>Shogo mobile armor division/mechassault power armor and giant robot game
>shifter demonic pokemon
>turn based tactical magic/tetechnology, mix of xcom and shining force
>>46310339
fund it
>And this is my character
>>46312663
NEMA dog best dog k-9 a shit
So how do you guys handle movement during combat?
Also, any other interesting houserules any of you use?
>>46313006
As written. Characters can move according to their speed over the course of each melee round. Moving while shooting/etc gives penalties to the attack as described in the combat section.
How else would you handle it?
>>46312855
Y'reckon any of them would survive 300+ years of Earth?
>>46313483
Yep. There's a book about it coming soon, Rifts Haunted Tech,
Between now and then? Sure, why not. If not surviving straight through the time period, I'm sure a ton of drones were lost investigating blue zones during the cataclysm. Plenty of opportunity for one or more of them to show up through a modern rift
>>46313483
Salvage abounds in particularly dangerous zones, like Mad Haven. And construction details are lurking in secret, Archie and Republicans likely have the original designs. Coalition does not seem to since that would be a design they'd likely love to have, robotic dog packs.
>>46312105
Which one?
>>46314023
Is there a book that has any real background on The Republicans anywhere?
>>46314089
https://youtu.be/BIPCn-aYMoM?t=47
Kind of wonder what Palladium Fantasy plays like in practice.
>>46314121
Sourcebook 1 Revised adds in details on that group. Not addressed much elsewhere, more a gold mine for groups interested in mining that setup for secret conflict intrigue.
>>46316143
I've heard it described as Conan but with mythic races and a bit more magic.
>>46316143
Fighter types are actually good, and magic users, while capable of amazing things, need protection while casting.
Life can be brutish and short of not careful.
>>46314089
For proper Rifts? All of them, in the same game.
>>46318693
Exactly
>>46318001
See, that sounds like an ideal fantasy game.
>>46318693
Fund the shit out of it. If nothing else maybe a mod for X-Com would work.
>no demons like power armor demons
>>46322907
Megaverse in Flames
>>46313071
Seems to be a handful of houserules on how to do it, mostly tied to alternate initiative systems though.
So do you divide their speed by their Actions per melee and let them move that amount as part of each action or do you let them move as little or as much as they want per action as long as it doesn't exceed their Speed per round?
>>46316143
I ran a short adventure for my group and they ended up really liking it. They have played Rifts in the past so the system wasn't foreign to them, but I think they appreciated how much smoother the megaversal system is without MDC rules. I think melee combat with SDC armor, AR values, hit-points ect all actually coming into play made the fights really intense and fun. I would certainly play it again.
>>46313597
>>46314023
Oh ho! NEMA Dog PC is a maybe.
If I wanted to keep Tolkeen in operation, probably through creating a stalemate between it and the CS, are there any reasonable ways to do that apart from hitting the CS with another serious threat or having a Rift dump in a Tolkeen-friendly faction that can force the CS to back off?
>>46305000
Nexus Nine used to be a good place for Palladium online games.
>>46324482
>I think melee combat with SDC armor, AR values, hit-points ect all actually coming into play made the fights really intense and fun.
Yes, the original Palladium system for TMNT, Ninjas & Superspies, Beyond the Supernatural, etc. was much better than the massive bloat of Rifts.
>>46324451
As written, you're supposed to divide their maximum speed per turn by their attacks per melee, but that does wind up with the slightly odd outcome of characters with lots of attacks per melee moving at very small amounts per action.
>>46327905
Still the same system, just that MDC capable dimensions have an additional layer to work with.
Major gameplay difference is that MD favors defense over offense in combat. Socially, that pushes the development of fortified city-states and kingdoms. In most cases the only thing seperating a PC from vast majority is having some MD gear or capabilty of their own.
Modern SDC settings tend to be about what you might expect, superpowers aside, offense tends to outmatch defense and guns are dead killy. The addition of character SDC added a little padding, but still hazardous.
Fantasy and martial arts SDC settings tend to offer a bit protection, but a few good called shots or lucky rolls can still end most mortals fast. Though some race options, if allowed, are sturdier than others.
>>46327127
1. Federation of Magic starts raiding the CS from the south western side, while their troops are occupied, forcing them to fall back.
2. Quebec refuses to join in against Tolkeen and continues their hostile stance, forcing the CS to maintain larger reserves at Iron Heart and Chi-Town to avoid a weak flank.
3. Internal insurrections in the CS weaken their military forces.
4. Invent your own hurdles here.
>>46327127
Given the personalities involved, the best result tends to involve getting enough people and materials out to rebuild elsewhere.
There were some options for making the king see the error of things, characters could shoot for that if they can't pull it off on their own and need more weight behind the project.
Tolkeen as been in a bad spot for a long time, being surrounded by powers that actively disliked and blockaded they for years before they had enough forces ready to push on them. Free Quebec breaking spoiled the Coalition planning just enough to give both a chance to fight for a time.
>>46329014
>>46329014
>2
Free Quebec never joined that fight, they favored isolationism, one of the many reasons they broke from the CS.
Could have Prosek go bull headed and refuse the opportunity for a truce with Free Quebec and continue a two front war while risking demoralization of the forces facing Quebec and unrest.
>>46329224
>Free Quebec never joined that fight,
They took action at destroying the Tolkeen force that was sent to join on that front against the CS, though they didn't really participate in the final siege on Tolkeen itself.
Either way, if that front didn't resolve itself, you could come up with a scenario where Tolkeen holds out a lot longer.
>>46328931
Riftonomics: Something worth considering, or total hand-waving?
The Coalition seems like it SHOULD be depending a lot more on D-bee slave labour camps, but their policies as written appear to be more genocidal and relying on human labour.
Food and raw materials are repeatedly cited as necessary for constructing anything: Iron Heart and Northern Gun both depend on nickel/iron deposits for example.
Is that something campaigns should take into consideration?
>>46328738
See I do know how its SUPPOSED to be run, I was asking how people actually run it, if they go by the rules or not.
I mean after all, we all know Rifts is "literally unplayable without houserules" so I am curious to see what thing people actually do change, clarify for themselves, or houserule entirely.
>>46332711
A way of doing it with less math is just "SPD = Meters per action", the only problem then is that if you have a lot of actions you can go many times your base speed, and you get things like normal humans only going an average of 80 meters a minute.
The other issue is that movement and distance are tracked in a very simulationist kind of way so it usually just winds up being very abstract in practice - "run for cover, run away, hide, etc..."
>>46331533
>Riftonomics
God, no, don't even go there. The economics of Rifts make no sense whatsoever. Even basic population numbers are wildly off. You'll give yourself a brain aneurysm trying to make it make sense.
>>46331533
>appear to be more genocidal and relying on human labour
Interestingly, they are not publicly in favor of actual genocide, while people that would gladly carry that out hold positions of power and legally they have no rights, they haven't sold the populace on racial extermination. Slavery is in, but the owner is responsible for any trouble their pets are responisible for, and desperate humans are easy to come by in the burbs (who also have no rights).
>>46332711
For the most part I run things RAW.
Though how much people can move only really becomes a factor in a close chase. Generally exact measurements are not a factor, the game is not intended for miniatures or measured grids. Hell the margin for error is wide enough that yards or meters can be used as you see fit.
>>46331533
Yes, but only if it is important to the campaign.
>>46333469
Examples on the population numbers being wildly off?
>>46339581
I know some people think they should be higher, or they take the established populations of certain places as being the only people around and run with that.
Which there should be some unaccounted population here and there but all in all the population is supposed to be fairly low.
Which swings around to people that think populations are too high, particularly in the high concentration areas of fortress cities and walled kingdoms. Because you cannot please everyone.
>>46331533
They have a near infinite supply of labor bots and use criminals as slave labor.
>>46324482
Hey look our pet savage worlds autist is back but he's in disguise, shilling for his retarded house rules again.
Good to see you, I thought maybe you had given up!
>>46340951
You heard it here first folks, S.D.C., A.R. and H.P. are house rules in Palladium Fantasy.
>>46341334
Aww, don't be coy. We all know that your obsessive mission is to complain about how "clunky" rifts is in every single palladium thread. It just wouldn't be the same without you!
Now I see that you've taken to making up stories that didn't happen to support a point only you care about while pretending to discuss it with yourself and I have to say that I'm impressed!
Good show, well done and please keep up the great work. You make an excellent mascot for our threads.
>>46341800
>Autism intensifies
>>46341334
>>46341933
Don't engage him, don't even make eye contact.
>>46341933
I know, it's kinda pathetic he keeps pretending to talk to himself. Funny though!
>>46341800
>>46341989
Stop picking on that poor guy. Can't you go one thread without making fun of him? Not everyone had equal social experience.
>>46340832
The population figures seem reasonable for what they're claiming - first a major cataclysm, but then a long period of rebuilding, and living in Judge-Dredd-like mega-cities.
The general idea should be places big enough to get lost in, giant hives of population and power. There are a lot of random farmsteads out of the cities but the people in those are living in mostly dangerous squalor.
>>46341800
>>46291140
So what's the appeal of RIFTS besides all the cheesecake?
>>46344057
It's the biggest, longest running rpg of all time.
>>46344057
Old school design, lot of material.
>>46344057
It's like roleplaying a heavy metal album cover come to life. You can do just about anything.
>>46344139
D&D is bigger and has been around longer.
>>46344280
No dnd product even comes close in size or age of production.
>>46341800
Nothing. It's clunky and didn't even have a bennies system which results in a complete lack of player control of when a character will or will not die.
If you play this clunky piece of garbage you are part of the problem with RPGs.
>>46344709
I replied to the wrong post. Don't read anything into it.
>>46344057
This is your party, rather than the BBEG:
>>46344280
No D&D ruleset has been seen active publication and support for as long. No RPG period, actually.
>>46344828
Good point.
>>46344835
Indeed, though the party could be low-powered city rats, or a group of mercs with only their wits and gear to get them through facing stuff like that.
>>46344897
>Indeed, though the party could be low-powered city rats, or a group of mercs with only their wits and gear to get them through facing stuff like that.
Exactly. You can be anything from an illiterate hobo to a literal god. And given the right preparation and stacks of fusion blocks, the hobo can probably threaten the god.
>>46344938
I realize that's hyperbole but I would honestly like to see any of the big bads lose to a random dude with way too many explosives. I doubt it's possible without the GM fumbling the play of the big bad.
>>46344835
Pretty good party. 6/10
>>46344709
Fuck you kid, seriously
>>46344709
When is savage worlds going to leave?
>>46346583
Yeah mascot or not that guy is a piece of shit.
>>46327127
Tolkeen pulls out some flavor of wonder weapon/hat trick at the zero hour and is able to force a stalemate with the CS. This could be anything from a "brain scorcher from STALKER" type psychic weapon (an idea my group came up with) to hijack a CS Navy ballistic missile sub and glass as much of the CS as possible (also an idea my group thought up).
>>46343841
The hell? When did the burbs become a Shadowrun style sprawl?
>>46346100
We had someone play a Storyteller out of the Warlords of Russia book in one of our campaigns. Mother fucker was hell on wheels against supernatural baddies and their ilk. Not because he was a combat power house, but because he knew a story about how this one plucky adventurer outwitted the same thing, or rembered hearing that it has a weakness/fondness to X, or something like that. The dude was a walking encyclopedia of how to dick over folk lore creatures.
That guy was worth 2 glitter boy in a fight. Fucking post apocalyptic bards man.
So what kind of online game would people be interested in playing on www.rpol.net?
I'm starting to get the Rifts bug again and would be willing to run a game if people are interested. I'm currently open to suggestions on what kind of game I can run there.
>>46346100
Entirely possible in the setting and system. Tech is the great equalizer.
>>46348563
I believe that is still inside the outer walls. Chi-town has multiple layers. Two sections (one smaller than the other, plus the central citadel, are exposed to the sky and resemble a more conventional cram-pack city. That is sitting on top of more city below. Fresh air and sky for the literal upper crust of Chi-town society.
>>46348737
Basically, the tops of buildings and that dome you see peeking out the top in this picture-
>>46348825
-is the same area seen in this one.
>>46348563
"The Burbs" has always consisted of a mix of shitty shanty towns and more developed areas.
Plenty of people have been living just outside the walls for generations, and they've been building shit for a very long time. That's almost a century of development in the camps outside.
>>46348825
And I mean the very top edge on the higher wall.
>>46349007
There are a couple half decent areas, but the Coalition razes the burbs regularly as well as "mysterious fires". They don't want conditions to be good there.
>>46349159
Any self-respecting tyrannical government is going to need lieutenants among the people they're terrorizing and oppressing. That's what the nicer areas of the burbs are for - keep a few privileged members among the desperate rabble and you can have them police each other a lot more cheaply.
>>46348843
>>46348825
>>46343841
Has anyone run a campaign inside the Chi-town fortress? It seems like it would make for something vaguely shadowrun-like, only less corporate and more overtly fascist.
>>46351986
The lower levels being like a heavily policed Kowloon, with the upper levels ranging from high tech rat race, to manufacturing empires competing internally, to the high intrigue of the High Command.
High stakes and high risk, but source material agrees there is a market for runners.
>>46351986
Always wanted to do a city rat game.
>>46357233
Same here. Low-powered Rifts is where it's at.
>>46358435
Burbs shadowrun style gang game would be very sweet.
>>46358630
Worth it just to see the players reactions when a bunch of low level city rats realize the guy they've been trying to rip off was actually a dragon the whole time.
Just thought I'd pop in here to say it, recruiting for my static group that mostly plays Palladium. Also, thread bump. Recruitment post is here
>>46359512
>>46358435
>>46358630
Mid to low always has fun potential.
My favorite groove to have those in is when it's like a Cowboy Bebop or Firefly thing, sure they keep the winnings, sell the gear, and live comfortably, but they'd rather get the repairs and supplies and keep roaming free.
>>46358630
Which book has the city rat spin off OCC's in it? I flipped through it once but can't remember which one it was for the life of me.
>>46362240
Bionics Sourcebook has a bunch. Hackrats are best rats.
>>46362240
Rifts: Japan has a japanese equivalent city rat but I don't think that's what you're referring to.
>>46362662
Might have been the bionic source book, I think roof rat was one of the OCC's listed?
>>46365147
Hack Rat
Maze Rat
Pack Rat
Gutter Rat
Roof Rat
>>46362726
Japan had a variant as well, with the corporate stuff in there could do regular shadowrun kinds of stuff.. plus crossing demon infested wilderness.
>>46368880
It's kind of a shame there isn't more detail on some of the cities, it would make for a good setting.
Still having fun with a modern setting game using BtS2 underpinning. Ended up running a game for what amounts to a heavy metal band scooby gang that keeps getting embroiled in supernatural happenings, along with standing feuds with neo-nazis and terrorists that have cropped up along the way.
Plus the numerous kidnapping attempts against one group member for one reason or another.
And they haven't even gotten to the North American tour yet.
>>46370540
Well, for the Republic it is fairly straightforward to phrase out what is could be like. With the core being transplanted whole from the pinnacle of the Golden Age and the New Cold War from out of a heavily corporate Japan, you can whole hog on high-tech urban highrise sprawl with corp espionage and sabotage as an entrenched part of the system (hell, the megacorps were raising their own private ninja clans).
Take every cyberpunk concern of the past 30 years, condense it, then surround that ball of chrome with post-apocalyptia and demons.
>>46370730
In hindsight, straightforward isn't quite the right word, but it is fun. The Republic of Japan does a nice job of being ready-made for classic cyberpunk+Japan ideas, with the added wrinkle of being the only survivor of their "modern" way of life surrounded by a strange world.
Meanwhile the Empire has the feudal Japanese tales ready for deployment, again plus the wrinkle of tech being around.
>>46359891
Presuming that it's a human-only group, correct?
>>46370797
The Empire of Japan/Republic of Japan dichotomy seems like it would make for good tension, especially with the Oni threat lurking in the zone forcing them to play nice at least for the time being.
Having a "cold war" of ideas between the two would be interesting, with pro-technology/anti-technology factions raising trouble in both camps. Usually that would mean groups of "Empire of Japan" monks begging on street corners and doomsaying, or Republic smugglers bringing in illegal technology, especially for the Eta and lower castes in the Empire.
>>46372963
The books have some low grade conflict over that point, but I like that, unlike the CS and its neighbors, the two powers largely respect each other while chiding them for their errors. The main conflict comes from smaller groups that feel more strongly (like priests protesting in the Rebublic) or have no interest in respecting others (H-Brand).
>>46372691
The groups that have really hit that vibe have been majority human, but not all. Hell, one even had a young dragon hatchling that largely filled the curious kid role when not serving as a melee unit they didn't have to pay to repair.
That was Body Fixer, Operator, Wilderness Scout, Hatchling.
Other groups that have hit on that groove for me:
A City Rat and Elvis Presley (human-seeming robot) duo.
Techno-wizard, Juicer, Heavy Borg, Psi-X Alien, Saloon Girl, Psi-Goblin.
I think having a main vehicle for most of a team seems to help build toward that.
I have a couple Three Galaxies groups that get close to that style, but they have other missions beyond keeping flying that take center stage for them.
>>46374744
The Operator and the Hatchling were the bro-est.
Operator was also the heavy hitter of the group, and the driver, and the guy that kept everything together.
>>46374744
Best "firefly" campaign setting: Three Galaxies? Or Mutants in Orbit?
>>46377467
Three Galaxies. MiO is suitably less space opera, but 3G gives more factions, rebels, and major crime organizations to trade with and deal with. More places to visit too.
>>46377794
Though if I wanted to recreate Firefly, I'd likely use the Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide and the TMNT section of Mutants in Orbit for tech stats, and BtS2 for classes (excluding the overtly paranormal) and slug-throwers.
>>46377967
You could still include the psionics from BtS at a minimum. That would account for things like River Tam.
>>46378134
Right-o, plenty of less overt paranormal options to work with for psychic sensitives and unnaturally competent combat sprees.
>>46378488
Just don't give River Tam MOM implants.
>>46382723
NGR is really stepping up the recruitment posters.
>>46383160
Ja Mein Herr.
Turns out fusion blocks are hard science after all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_fusion_weapon
Hey Anons, have you ever heard of a way to potentially get rid of the magic in Rifts Earth? Playing a Chaos Earth Resource Management Campaign and the DM told me the original Rifts main book had a way in there to return the earth to pre rift levels of magic.
>>46387003
No means that I have seen that would work at this point.
However, it has been established that building a network of stone pyramids on nexus points worldwide can bring a rift-ravaged word under control.
>>46387003
The only thing I've seen would involve a planet's worth of magic users sacrificing themselves in a joint spell. One of the reptilian races had done that in thier history, giving up their lives and their race's ability to work with magic to banish the magic running wild on their world.
>>46387003
The "best case scenario" for rifts earth is to basically try and turn the planet into Phase World.
>>46391033
Outside of Center, not much is known of Phase World itself.
Best case I have is applying the same solution the Atlanteans applied to the world that would be named Alexandria. However that took decades and cooperation to build enough to regulate a world's energies.
>>46392568
Yeah, not a possibility given the coalitions tech level or attitude to magic.
Still conceivable in the long run though.
>>46395506
Aye. Maybe if we can teach Archie the ways of the pyramids we might see some interesting deployment strategies.
>>46398427
The downside is that after his experiments with dimensional travel that resulted in the Mechanoid invasion, he's pretty much sworn off any more experiments with rifts.
>>46399171
What happened to the Mechanoids, anyway? Did all of them that didn't escape Earth get blown to smitheroons?
Anyone looking for games?
