I've been running it for 2 weeks now (next game it tomorrow). I actually never played the original Rifts, but I played other Palladium games. I never thought Palladium was a hard or clunky system to run -- it's just a roll high d20 system with percentile for skills. I'd say it just runs differently.
Savage Worlds is a pretty easy to learn system, but the variables (especially in the Rifts setting) induce a lot of crunchy math. Our group keeps forgetting about "Oh, I get a +2 for this" or "Oh, this condition is happening so this or that is - something or + something". I don't know why Savage Worlds often gets the "story teller" label. There are a lot of attribute rolls, skill rolls, modifiers, damage dice, etc.
But all-in-all, it's the only game we're running now. Encompasses all we need. Good crunch, good fluid core mechanics, and the Rifts setting is the business.
Definitely will jump on the splatbook bandwagon, but really only for setting areas I care about. I'm not a completionist in any sense. I'd be very interested in seeing a Savage Wormwood book. I've read the Palladium Rifts version and it's interesting. But really that's the beauty of Savage Worlds -- it's VERY easy to take another game's setting and convert it over.
Austin Barnes
>There are a lot of attribute rolls, skill rolls, modifiers, damage dice, etc. I don't get it either. Savage Worlds is clearly medium-crunch, nothing "narrativist" and "lite" about it. Maybe because it has bennies and metagamey bits that are associated with FATE by modern players? I dunno.
Nathan Hughes
Hey, for large mecha in SWR, are you using hit locations and separate damage/armor tracks?
Is it a lot of work if you are?
Bentley Anderson
In Savage Worlds, why the heck is Charisma not a core attribute? Why is it a weird derived edge thingy?
Nathaniel Brown
>However, we also determined that a Savage version of this setting is better served by not having every single weapon do Mega Damage, and not all basic body armor is M.D.C. Goddamn, it's like they completely missed the point.
>We also examined the prevalence of Mega Damage weapons, and we ensured that such weapons tend to be heavy, bulky, and not normally first choices for regular firefight situations. Also, I guess that huge pile of MDC Pistols, Rifles and Melee Weapons just doesn't exist then? Did they even look at the RIFTS books?
Ayden Fisher
Rifts: Superthrust Through Explosive Farts Edition.
Hudson Brooks
The party hasn't fought large mecha yet. The encounters have been supernatural/horror in theme so far. I've seen the hit location thing done before though in a Savage Worlds super hero game I played in. It didn't seem to slow things down at all -- although most of the players were just using called shots on the cockpit and burning bennies to make sure the hits landed.
Juan Roberts
Because there are no physical stats in Savage Worlds that would make sense for Charisma to be derived from. It makes perfect sense that Edges and Hindrances alter the base Charisma score, as they often effect the looks, relationships and personality traits of the character.
Blake Ward
Trust me from GMing the game -- The FIRST thing the players go for is Mega Damage weapons. Just because the designer wrote that doesn't mean that's how the game will be played. The Mega Damage weapons typically have more dice to their damage, so by default players will pick those up first.
The only time I've seen a player NOT just use a Mega Damage weapon was with the Ley Line Walker player. It costs them more PPE (magic points) to cast a Mega Damage version of their spells - it doesn't add more damage, it just makes the damage convert to effect a Mega Damage creature.
Charles Gonzalez
You could say the same thing about Spirit. Edges/Hindrances affect all kinds of things, it still doesn't make sense to single out Charisma as being somehow special when Spirit isn't.
Cooper Reyes
How does this work, then? I've read the glorious mess that is the Rifts Ultimate book but nothing Savage Worlds related before this. Do you need to read a core SW book before you can read the stuff you linked to?
I love the idea of an easier version of the Rifts system and I'm hoping this is it.
Caleb Perez
Yeah, but it really doesn't inspire faith when the designer says shit like that.
So how does Mega Damage work, if MDC Armor is just Heavy Armor and MDC Weapons are whatever? Because if you can damage MDC Shit with non MDC, I'm out.
Also, your Ley Line Walker probably should have picked up an MDC Gun. Helps when they're out of PPE.
Lucas Sanchez
If everything is mega damage all the time what is even the point of having it? If you want them to perfectly recreate the original rifts, just go play that.
Lincoln Howard
If everything isn't Mega Damage All the Time, how is it Rifts? If you don't want to play Rifts, go play something else.
Fuck, everything being MDC is tied into the setting. From the coming of the Ley Lines, to the other-dimensional races and the founding of lost technology.
Carter Hernandez
>Do you need to read a core SW book before you can read the stuff you linked to? Yes, you need the SW core rules (usually called the Deluxe or Explorer's Edition handbooks).
Gavin Barnes
There are no dump attributes in Savage Worlds. Spirit is EXTREMELY important. It's how you unshake from wounds, it's how you resist fear, how you test intimidation and persuasion, and it's the core attribute for Miracle-bases magic (healers, mystics, etc).
Brody Parker
You cannot damage MDC without an MDC-based weapon/magic. Just bounces off.
The way they did it is instead of having the MDC to SDC conversion rate like Palladium (1 MDC = 100 SDC or whatever), they made it where MDC can hit non-MDC and MDC creatures, while normal (SDC) attacks can only effect normal (SDC) creatures. Typically MDC weapons/magic do FAR more damage than regular ones, but they don't do bonus damage vs. regular (SDC) targets as they would in Palladium. They just hit harder across the board.
Aaron Carter
Yeah, it's stupid. If everything is always mega damage, just make mega damage normal and there is no need to have it be a separate thing.
It's also why I don't understand Yugioh. All the attack and defense numbers are in the thousands when you can just lob one or two zeroes off of everything and it would be exactly the same.
Jackson Morales
So what happen if that MDC spell would hit an SDC creature? How does Savage Rifts handle MDC in general?
Colton Diaz
Aesthetic appeal. People think large numbers are more awesome. Compare
>You do 3 points of damage. >You do 300 points of damage, FUCK YEAH!!!
And charisma could be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT too if they designed the core attributes to include it. It's just an arbitrary design choice that makes no real sense.
Kevin Gomez
See
Joshua Anderson
Best old Rifts supplement?
Blake Scott
It plays perfect well. Have you played Savage Worlds? Maybe it just looks odd to you on paper. A lot of stuff didn't play well in my head until I ran the system. It all feels fluid once you start running it. The chases are really the only thing I had to house rule. I actually use the previous edition chase rules - they make more sense to me than the nonsense in the current version.
Tyler Rodriguez
>just make mega damage normal It is for Rifts. Due to all the MDC Dimensional Threats and Magic and what not, everything had to be stepped up to MDC. It's why there are MDC Pistols and Knives and easy to come by body armor, so a non-MDC being can fight with all the MDC nonsense that pops out of a rift and currently co-inhabits the world.
The thing is, you can also pop in and out of different Palladium Settings. SDC exists for all the human level mundane shit. A normal 9mm Pistol is SDC, a generic sword is SDC. If my Palladium Fantasy character ends up on Rifts Earth, he's pretty much fucked unless he finds help quickly because Palladium Fantasy is an SDC world and outside a few specific exceptions, nothing there becomes MDC when arriving in Rifts.
Nathan Rodriguez
While you cant kill an MDC Creature with an SDC weapon, you can make them shaken, and keep them that way until MDC backup arrives.
John Martinez
Really depends on what kind of setting you like as there's probably a RIFTS setting book for it. Here's a survey someone posted in a previous thread that showed some player's favorites.
Bentley Morales
I'm Partial to the Mercenaries stuff and Free Quebec.
Thomas Morales
Post-Murrica, Fuck yeah.
Camden Brooks
Yeah, Mercenaries and Merc Ops is cool. I read those both last week. I want to run a MARS in Savage Rifts, which is basically what Mercs in Palladium Rifts was -- lower powered PCs (by Rifts standers). Mercenaries, Adventurers, Rogues and Scholars.
Daniel Martinez
I usually used the Merc Power Armor Pilot, just because it was IMO the best Power Armor Pilot class. I'd usually try and grab a V-SAMAS if the GM would allow it and be air support.
I think last campaign I got to play that in, my V-SAM got wrecked and I ended up with a Silver Eagle from an old NEMA stockpile we lucked across. It was awesome.
Oliver Davis
This works a lot better with the old shaken rules. With those, you needed a raise to do anything other than a free action. Those shaken rules in general were pretty harsh. I use them as a setting rule when I want combat to be serious.
Thomas Smith
Not playing it persay, but I am pulling from the RIFTs book for a scifi game.
Also, I don't know if you Veeky Forums lads know much about savage worlds, but let me give you some useful shit.
godwars2.org/SavageWorlds/ Zadmar's site is full of real good shit, free splatbooks that are (internally at least) balanced enough that I use plenty of them at my table. His blog is full of gems too, from good rules on edge-based immortality to a martial fighting system I use in a lot of games.
pegforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=16991 Here's a list of a shit ton of free adventures. There's a few good ones in here. I would like to STRONGLY recommend Castle Farkinwad, as it's a good variable dungeon that can be generated on the fly and re-fluffed fairly easily. Just an all around good tool.
jdgwf.github.io/savage-worlds-web-tools/index.html Here are some good vehicle building rules based off of the science fiction companion, builders that are really only 100% useful if you have the books. But you can eke out some non-combat vehicles with it easily enough.
Elijah Nguyen
Incoming bots.
Logan Myers
Here's the science fiction book in question needed for the vehicle builder. Has decent zero gravity, and world generation rules too. Plenty of uses for RIFTS.
William Turner
Here's another piece by zadmar, hundreds (if not thousands) of monsters converted from Savage Worlds for pathfinder. Having used some of these rules myself, they are notoriously lacking and/or vague in some functions. Look up the monster in the pathfinder rules to get a good idea of stuff you might want to add to the statblocks.
Sebastian Flores
In-depth Savage Worlds setting about a dark souls-esque world going through an age of darkness. I frequently borrow the idea of "Heroic Paths" for more heroic/lighthearted games.
Jace Morales
I wonder if that's where they got the idea of "Heroic Journey" in Savage Rifts. I have no clue - I've only read two other Savage Worlds settings. Low Life and 50 Fathoms.
Jaxon Myers
Perhaps it is. It wouldn't be the first time people have pulled from fan content and sold it. Not that I can think of Savage Worlds examples, just in general.
Savage Halo. I mainly pull some edges, hindrances, and such here for modern/scifi games.
Carter Adams
Canada and Merc Ops are underrated, as is Triax 1. Otherwise, pretty spot-on.
Parker Lee
Cool, thanks, bro.
Ayden Sanders
...
Oliver Barnes
Anyone happen to have the PDF for Heroes of Humanity?
Grayson Lopez
...
Landon Wood
are there bio-borgs yet? are there plans for them? sometimes a plain ol' juicer just wont do...
Tyler Ward
...
Michael Gutierrez
Coalition States: Heroes of Humanity is fucking awesome. Can't wait for the aresnal book.
Wyatt Lewis
Good old savage worlds. Doesn't do anything right, actively goes out of it's way to do everything wrong.
Eli Garcia
Good ol' bandwagon hopper. Doesn't know the system, but can't stop from regurgitating bullshit.
Jason Anderson
Oh, did the shitvag worlds defense force finally arrive?
Josiah Thompson
How does Savage Rifts handle the creation/playing of robot characters?
Dominic Flores
Hey it's the robot pedophile guy
Isaiah Sanchez
...
Justin Parker
Just buy it during character creation. Its in the core book.
Connor Reed
Man, I miss those John Zeleznik covers. They made the game seem much cooler than it actually was.
Rifts Canada is such a weird grab-bag of all kinds of stuff, from Shamanism to cold-weather rules to Bionic Centaurs (living in the Rockies, no less) to fucking Demon Beavers.
>Demon Beavers
BLAME CANADA!!!
Luis Edwards
I've got some simple tweaks for making a Palladium Rifts game easier:
>1. Skills are divided into two types: simple (eg, Radio operation) and complex (eg, Pharmacology). >2. Simple skills are your Level x 10%. >3. Complex skills are your Level x 5%. >4. Skills can go over 100%. Very difficult tasks are 1/2 your skill. Easy tasks are 2x your skill. >Default for trying most skills is a related attribute as a %. Eg, you want to try Pilot Jet - roll under your Physical Prowess attribute on percentile dice. Not entirely realistic but this game was never a realism simulator.
Aiden Martinez
Neat house rule. I like it.
Jaxson Jenkins
Thanks. Another way to phrase option 5 is to allow players to add their most appropriate attribute to their skill. Eg, PS adds to Wrestling, PE to Climbing, MA to Seduction, PP to Gymnastics, IQ to Chemistry, etc.
This makes attributes meaningful again.
If you're a genius with IQ 25, you get a whopping +25% to all intelligence-based skills! That really means something.
Also, add Perception, Charm and Persuasion skills.
Kevin Brown
Neat! And agreed, I'd have added those too.
Christopher Adams
Here's another one. Reduce the saving throws down to 4:
vs Magic vs Mind (psionic powers, fear, horror factor, pain & other psychological effects) vs Body (drugs, disease, poison, stun, coma, etc.) vs Reflex (explosions, missiles, touch attacks, etc.)
Christopher Myers
What worldbooks/sourcebooks would everyone like to see get converted to Savage Rifts? My favorites:
Canada Dinosaur Swamp Japan Lone Star Mechanoids New West Vampire Kingdoms
Ryan Wilson
All of those, and Coalition War Campaign.
Brody Edwards
The only problem I could see with this is that at level 1 you'd only have a 10% chance of success at common skils you're trained in and 5% in complex ones, which is way too low a success rate for something your character is supposed to be good at.
Jordan Cruz
All the ones that emphasis the wasteland and post-apoc wilderness are my favorites.
Dinosaur Swamp New West Canada Madhaven
Okay, and Atlantis too, fine.
Josiah Torres
True, but in my version of Rifts the PCs aren't as front-loaded. Levels 1-3 are basically peons and apprentices like in D&D.
William Evans
That's fair. Honestly I've always started my games out at level 5 or 6 so the players can feel competent right out of the gate, but still have plenty of room for advancement.
Luis Jackson
Do you guys use body hit locations for PCs, giant robots and vehicles? Either in SavRifts or classic.
William Foster
If you don't like Palladium or Savage World's version, there's always Breachworld. It was written for the mini d6 system by a long time Palladium Books contributor.
Chase Taylor
Oh yeah, I recall the kickstarter for it. How is it?
Does it bring anything new/unique to the table?
Michael James
So, first time possible Savage Rifts GM here, just got done reading everything from the kickstarter and loving how gonzo the setting is(might even go pdf hunting for the worlds book as North America seems to be the most tame part of the setting)
However everytime I think of starting something up with the game I look at the Glitter Boy and think "How the fuck am I supposed to even scratch this Iron Giant with anything? How do I handle this if one guy picks it?"
Thoughts? Advice?
Chase Ramirez
In the original game, numbers were a big deciding factor in any battle. A squad of coalition soldiers can destroy even a Glitter Boy in short order. In Palladium each combatant can have 4-6 actions, does multipliers of damage when firing weapon bursts, and everyone has mega-damage weapons doing 3d6, 4d6 or even 6d6 damage. Glitter Boys won't be able to stand more than a 2-3 rounds of that kind of firepower.
In the new Savage Rifts, I don't know, but I suspect many of the monsters - such as Fury Beetles and Xiticix - will dish out a lot of damage too.
Jaxson Myers
Polish that turd, Make Kevy proud!
Logan Ward
Classic Rifts character sheet for comparison. Kind of insane, innit?
Jackson Bennett
Anyone remember Rifts: Promise of Power?
Lincoln Hughes
Looks good to me for a general sheet intended to work for every one of hundreds of classes. Of course I'm not the type of illiterate "omg such a nerd" who has a problem reading rpgs, so...
Caleb Davis
Only because there's an advert for it in the Rifts Ultimate book.
The same answer applies for the question "Anyone remember the nGage?"
Jordan Phillips
>Anyone remember the nGage? Nobody remembers the n-gage. But they do remember sidetalkin'!
Kevin Martin
Just imagine a Rifts game for the PS4. Shit would be off the hook.
It'd be like Bloodborne + Uncharted + Hawken + Call of Duty Advanced + Fallout + Killzone + Dragon Age.
Juan Clark
Great stuff user
Anybody else have some house rules they'd like to add One of mine is folding related skills into one e.g. anything with the word pilot in front of it becomes the Pilot skill I find this helps reduce the skill bloat and give players a wider variety of options
Julian Stewart
Yeah, I reduced the original skill list from 300 (!) down to 135. Still a fucktonne of choice there, but it's more coherent and can be grouped into as few as 17 skills if you want a light game.
Let me see if I can find it...ah, here it is.
Jordan Baker
Great I've always thought Rifts would benefit from a lighter skill list
Parker Fisher
Oddly enough I was thinking about the ngage earlier but mostly because something like an unusual use of the word 'engage' brought it to mind.
Daniel Adams
I want to love Rifts so badly, but I just can't get over how there's no grounding. They say there are demons, gods, mechs, and all manners of everything else shitting on the world -- yet there are cities with millions of people in them? There is a credit system, industries, corporations, and trade? Forms of intranets and TV broadcasts exist. Flying machine armor, nano technology, and cybernetics -- yet the population hasn't returned to space?
It's just too many loopholes for me to wrap my head around any form of continuity.
Luke Anderson
Rule of Cool Don't think about the loopholes RIFTS is basically every Heavy Metal album cover turned into a setting Realism and logic doesn't exist just go with it and do cool shit
Dylan White
That's my favorite part of the Rifts setting. How much things are confusing and contradictory, it almost makes the world feel metaphysical and not entirely real, which fits with the premise of reality/space/time literally having holes torn in them and all previous timelines and alternate dimensions converging. >"The flow of time is convoluted in Lo-Rifts."
Samuel Morris
Good point. I've always thought that Rifts should make LESS sense considering how many worlds and alternate dimensions intersect with Earth.
There should be weird shit like Ice Forests and Everburning Lakes and Mercury People and underground suns and two broken moons, and more. I mean Rifts Earth got sliced into 578 pieces from the Coming of the Rifts, this place should be weirder than the Warp in Warhammer 40K.
Kayden Garcia
I always wondered if that game would be any good. A shame the ngage is so forgotten that even the emulators are shit and don't work 90% of the time.
Adam Cooper
...
Wyatt Martin
Woops, hit return too quickly.
Has anyone ever done a The Great Race style of Rifts game, where PCs and NPCs drive around North America searching for a great treasure, all the while getting eaten by monsters, attacked by coalition troops, popping through rifts into weird worlds (like Wormwood) and back again?
I've always wanted to run a gonzo game like that.
Alexander Rogers
There are Hunter Killer Sats in space, and before that a massive shrapnel layer, and past those two, unfriendly space stations.
Dylan Garcia
>Canceron
Don't got to Canceron, it's too humid.
Angel Lee
I was going by the Savage Rifts books. That's how space is described in there - no one can go there for some reason. I'm not familiar with the Palladium books or timeline.
Nicholas Young
The Savage Rifts book uses the "for some reason" excuse because the writers want to avoid giving hard information. Also because even in Rifts the lore on why the earth is cut off from the rest of space is wonky since one or two books retcon it into completely different things.
Blake Gomez
Fucking Space Wizards is what it is.
Isaac Ortiz
In Rifts, can d-bees mate with humans to produce offspring?
>dat sweet grackletooth-human hybrid
Gabriel Scott
I think it depends on the D-bee in question But for the most part the books don't address it
Ryder Watson
Siembiefa always was afraid of two things: religion and sex.
Evan Martinez
Nice thread we're having here. It'd be a shame if something tentacly were to happen to it.
>Siembieda was inspired by Legend of the Overfiend