Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
An Appreciation of Savage Rifts
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Azuresun" data-source="post: 8038104" data-attributes="member: 7022312"><p>Rifts always had "big good" factions (New Navy, Psyscape, Lazlo, most Cyber-Knights even after the split, etc), so that's not terribly new.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Overall, I think it's far, far better than the original in capturing the gonzo action-movie feel of the setting. I was able to open my campaign with the PC's fighting fifteen Coalition soldiers and ten Skelebots and thanks to the rules for extras, it was over in less than an hour. Likewise, Savage Worlds systems such as chases, mass combat or Dramatic Tasks really do a good job of setting up those big dramatic scenes, such as a a chase with the PC's in a techno-wizard monster truck dodging Coalition sky cycles through the ruins of Tolkeen. It's the sowrt of awesomeness that Palladium Rifts was about on paper, but which never really delivered on due to fiddly rules.</p><p></p><p>The swinginess of combat most affected the big things, and I think that's where SW starts to break down. I wouldn't advise using PC's or enemies with Toughness + Armour values of over 30, since that's where the numbers start to break down and it turns a bit all-or-nothing where two big scary things slap ineffectually at each other until very suddenly, the damage dice all open-end and someone suddenly explodes. oRifts had a major problem with numbers inflation leading to dull and grindy combat, this has the opposite problem.</p><p></p><p>Characters feel a lot more distinct now. Ley line walkers can draw on leylines as a free action, dramatically increasing their power when they can arrange to fight on one. Juicers have "burn" that may decrease at the start of each session, and which they can risk losing to boost a critical dice roll--but when it hits zero, they will unavoidably die before the end of the session. Techno-wizards have a much more solid system behind converting and enhancing weapons and vehicles, and so on.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The "Tomorrow Legion" was founded by a clan of dwarves on the ruins of a castle in the wilderness between Federation of Magic and Coalition territory. After the Tolkeen war ended, it took in a lot of refugees, and under the guidance of Lord Coake and others, it evolved into a relatively small regional power that stands against both of the big boys and any other threats to the world. The default assumption is that the PC's are agents of the Legion, investigating weird stuff and protecting communities that are under the Legion's umbrella.</p><p></p><p>I like it. It offers an easy-to-understand starting point for PC's, puts a bit of light back into the setting and because it's local, it's easy to ignore if you'd rather run a game with a more old-school premise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Azuresun, post: 8038104, member: 7022312"] Rifts always had "big good" factions (New Navy, Psyscape, Lazlo, most Cyber-Knights even after the split, etc), so that's not terribly new. Overall, I think it's far, far better than the original in capturing the gonzo action-movie feel of the setting. I was able to open my campaign with the PC's fighting fifteen Coalition soldiers and ten Skelebots and thanks to the rules for extras, it was over in less than an hour. Likewise, Savage Worlds systems such as chases, mass combat or Dramatic Tasks really do a good job of setting up those big dramatic scenes, such as a a chase with the PC's in a techno-wizard monster truck dodging Coalition sky cycles through the ruins of Tolkeen. It's the sowrt of awesomeness that Palladium Rifts was about on paper, but which never really delivered on due to fiddly rules. The swinginess of combat most affected the big things, and I think that's where SW starts to break down. I wouldn't advise using PC's or enemies with Toughness + Armour values of over 30, since that's where the numbers start to break down and it turns a bit all-or-nothing where two big scary things slap ineffectually at each other until very suddenly, the damage dice all open-end and someone suddenly explodes. oRifts had a major problem with numbers inflation leading to dull and grindy combat, this has the opposite problem. Characters feel a lot more distinct now. Ley line walkers can draw on leylines as a free action, dramatically increasing their power when they can arrange to fight on one. Juicers have "burn" that may decrease at the start of each session, and which they can risk losing to boost a critical dice roll--but when it hits zero, they will unavoidably die before the end of the session. Techno-wizards have a much more solid system behind converting and enhancing weapons and vehicles, and so on. The "Tomorrow Legion" was founded by a clan of dwarves on the ruins of a castle in the wilderness between Federation of Magic and Coalition territory. After the Tolkeen war ended, it took in a lot of refugees, and under the guidance of Lord Coake and others, it evolved into a relatively small regional power that stands against both of the big boys and any other threats to the world. The default assumption is that the PC's are agents of the Legion, investigating weird stuff and protecting communities that are under the Legion's umbrella. I like it. It offers an easy-to-understand starting point for PC's, puts a bit of light back into the setting and because it's local, it's easy to ignore if you'd rather run a game with a more old-school premise. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
An Appreciation of Savage Rifts
Top