Rifts RPG review

Previously I reviewed another Palladium books product, Heroes Unlimited. Anyone who has been introduced to this company will eventually come across their flagship line Rifts.

Palladium is working to create a Megaversal line of products. Meaning any product line is compatible with any other one. You can have a superhero in a fantasy setting or a knight in shining armour in a post apocalyptic setting. Rifts is that post apocalyptic setting. The story for Rifts is that sometime in our Earths future there will be a cataclysmic war. With the deaths of so many it unleashed the “Coming of the Rifts.” Mystic lines of power were fed by the energy released and these erupted in power causing gateways (or Rifts) to other dimensions to open. These Rifts pulled in monsters, people and technology to Earth. Civilization was destroyed and humanity had to fight its way back to civilization and survival.

Flash forward a couple hundred years and you have the setting of Rifts. Kingdoms were formed, vast expanses of the Earth are uncontrolled madness, and Rifts continue to open depositing all manner of beings on Earth. I like the concept of Rifts. The game is so very open allowing magic, psychics, and future tech all to coexist in one game. Game Masters and players can go anywhere and do anything in such a way that you can campaign forever. This is really a fantastic setting.

However there are a few things I find… difficult with Rifts. First and foremost is the M.D.C. /S.D.C. split. These are separate ratings for damage capacity. Anything from our time or earlier would be ranked in Structural Damage Capacity (S.D.C.) so a gun or a knife would do this damage. Anything future tech or ultra-powered magic would be Mega Damage (or M.D.C.) In theory this plays out like a spear can’t damage a tank while a tank can damage the spear thrower. The conversion is one Mega Damage point does 100 S.D.C. point of damage. So in practice every player loads up on M.D.C. weapons and armour and scoffs anything S.D.C. For me it actually limits the game and leads to power-gaming.

Another issue is that the game can become unbalanced. Some of the books open up the players to having Demigods or Cosmoknights. Putting these types of characters next to a thief or a pilot throws off the challenge level for either side.

The last issue I have is the writing could be better. There is a focus in palladium of creating more races and categories of players our there. While this can be fun to have more variety I would like to see more writing devoted to creating adventures and campaign ideas. Most groups I’ve encountered have between 4 and 10 people, these groups will never go through all the races and classes as it stands. The writing also covers the constant retreads of the same ideas. Each core book has the same information on weapons and equipment. A single player book could cover this easily freeing up space in core books for story and game play ideas.

One thing that Rifts does have going for it is the price point. Any good game group can work around their issues with the system and come out with a fun time. This game is great for anyone wanting an affordable RPG experience that really does exceed the price point. Like any RPG there is a steep learning curve but once you understand the system you can really have a fun time. Of course if you want to lessen the learning curve I would suggest attempting another Palladium setting that does not use the M.D.C. system then upgrading to Rifts later.

So sum up Rifts is an affordable RPG, while it does have some clunky game mechanics it is still a solid game experience. This is a good game for teens and young adults to pick up tp really experience the clatter of dice and a night of nerdity. Lets all stick it to Emporer Prosek!

Check back next week when I review my weekend at Gamealot.