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There's a lot to say, obviously, but this post is already in danger of TL;DRs so here's my summary (I'll put this at the bottom and the top):
• STORY TRUMPS BALANCE - the ability to crush is not the most important thing.
![Outer Outer](http://th07.deviantart.net/fs45/200H/f/2009/123/2/e/Theos_Gavil_Foil_Brasa_Guele_by_Nidaram.jpg)
• PICK A MAIN CHARACTER - don't let the power-trolls run the story.
• PICK A SIDE - Set up baddies and good-guys according to your characters' worldview.
• KEEP IT SMALL - choose ONE setting and stay in it (until a RIFT opens).
• STOP ROLLING - only roll dice in the most critical moments.
I was preparing for a scout camp in the summer of 1991 when I discovered Rifts. Before I left for camp, I ran the trash out to the dumpster and lo and behold, some one had thrown a brand new copy of the original Rifts into the trash. I pulled it out and stuffed it into my sleeping bag, and I was off. While the rest of the boys spent summer camp earning Merit Badges, I was reading up on D-Bees and Bursters.
I already owned TMNT and Other Strangeness and Heroes Unlimited, so I understood the system, convoluted as it is. I've played it ever since (I still have the old dumpster-born book) as well as several other systems. Here's a set of five rules to help make Rifts work:
• STORY TRUMPS BALANCE - I ran a game with a Glitter Boy, a Crazy, a Wilderness Scout, A Full-Conversion Borg and a Rogue Scholar (that's right, a scholar). Obviously the power levels were all over the place. My solution: The Rogue Scholar is the most hated (and dangerous) outlaw to the Coalition - worse even than a wizard or a psychic. Scholars know how to read (most of the population in Rifts are illiterate) and they know history. They go from town to town educating the population, and an educated population is the last thing the Coalition wanted. The scholar was also the best scavenger, and appraiser of goods. Every town they went to, he appraised goods at the market and sold off his findings (he gets better rates than other barterers). So he was 1) the most wanted and 2) the most valuable member of the group. Made combat interesting because everyone had to make sure to help keep the Scholar alive. It also de-emphasized combat. The game was more about educating the populace.
• CHOOSE A MAIN CHARACTER - this goes for any RPG, but for Rifts it's important (see above). By forging adventures around the main character and his/her group, you can craft stories that are more about plot and character than abilities and combat. You need to give each player their time in the sun - don't let anyone feel like they are less important, but it is okay to have the story rotate around one character. Players often LIKE knowing their role, and they fill it. Think Han Solo to Luke Skywalker or Doc Holladay to Wyatt Earp. Awesome co-stars are just as important.
• PICK A SIDE - Rifts does a great job of establishing a setting, and the author was consciously careful not to set up a 'Good-Guy/Bad-Guy' dynamic. You can run the Coalition as evil, and send them after the good guys ala Star Wars and the Empire. Or, you can have your characters play as Coalition Psi-Stalkers protecting humanity against the supernatural threats so abundant in the world. Whatever way you go, the setting might not have a clearly defined 'side,' but your characters likely would. Whatever their background will determine their affiliation. You set up the rules-of-engagement in your game and split the world into 'sides.' EXAMPLE: In my games, I almost always run Juicers as bad guys. They are fun-loving, thrill-seeking, pricks. They pick fights in the bars, swoop in and steal the loot the characters have just earned, set themselves up as rulers of little villages. Whenever a Juicer pops up in the game, the characters groan 'I HATE these guys!' and they know they have a fight on their hands. Rifts doesn't set Juicers in that light, but I do, to help establish a world that makes sense.
• KEEP IT SMALL - With so many sourcebooks, it is easy to start getting overwhelmed with all of the options. One of the major points in Rifts is that world-wide instant communication is not possible and travel is extremely limited. Choose a setting, and run the adventures in that setting. If you like the New West, run something there. If you have a group of mages, keep them in the Federation of Magic. Travel should be extremely difficult. For one thing, vehicles are beat-up, old, breaking down, etc. Secondly, any travel through the wilderness should be so dangerous as to turn people back. Use these tools to discourage the players from running off to Atlantis because they read how cool it is in a sourcebook. Keep the story set in a small geographic place. By the same token, those players shouldn't have access to the weapons and armor of Japan or Outer Space.
Then, just when they are getting comfortable with where they are, send them through a RIFT.
• STOP ROLLING! - The first four rules should help address balance in the game (one of the major admitted - and intentional! - issues with the game). This final rule is about the game system. Palladium games have too much rolling, especially combat. Every player needs D100 to roll skills, and a D20 for combat. I only roll damage when it is done to the characters - for damage they inflict upon minor NPCs, I simply describe the action (character hits with his vibro-blade - the bad-guys arms fall off). For boss battles, we pretty much roll everything, but the change of pace is okay - it feels more like a strategy game at that point, as players plan out their attacks and make each roll. If they haven't been bogged down in damage rolls with all the mini-battles throughout the game, it's more fun when they actually need to.
There's a lot more to say, obviously, but this post is already in danger of TL;DRs so here's my summary (I'll put this at the bottom and the top):
• STORY TRUMPS BALANCE - the ability to crush is not the most important thing.
• PICK A MAIN CHARACTER - don't let the power-trolls run the story.
• PICK A SIDE - Set up baddies and good-guys according to your characters' worldview.
• KEEP IT SMALL - choose ONE setting and stay in it (until a RIFT opens).
![Rifts Outer Space Palladium Rifts Outer Space Palladium](/uploads/1/2/4/9/124943836/942224413.jpg)
• STOP ROLLING - only roll dice in the most critical moments.
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