RIFTS Machinations of Doom

[scourger]

Wow. What a great book. I bought it yesterday and finished it today. It is probably the best gaming book I have purchased this year. I enjoyed every bit of it. The graphic novel portrays the heroes in pretty much they way we used to play RIFTS. Luckily, I gave my RIFTS book to a friend who is used to me taking books back; so I might be able to run it for my group. The sourcebook material is good (although it reminds me of the crazy RIFTS rules system...). I think the interplay between the graphic novel and the sourcebook material really adds to the enjoyment of reading it. Now that I've finished it all, I want to re-read the comic portion.

It makes me wonder what I've been missing from Palladium. The only other books I've owned from them are Heroes Unlimited and Madhaven. I liked the former but not the latter. Anyway, these 4 books represent 19 years my buying Palladium material. So, I wonder if Machinations of Doom is a flash in the pan. I enjoyed it any case.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I can't speak to the story, but I can speak to the game.

RIFTS is, without a doubt, one of the most creative settings in RPG history. And there is some clever, clever stuff in the Palladium FRPG and Heroes Unlimited, etc...

but Kevin's rules suck.

I mean, I loved playing the game- I have over a yard of shelf space dedicated to it (NOT including other Palladium products- but hated the amount of HRs we had to use...and the number of typos that have remained throughout its various editions.

If you feel the urge, buy RIFTS stuff second hand and use the setting...but use it with games with better rulesets.

 

[VictorC]

I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree, the setting is pretty good. However dealing with that rule set is preferable only to cancer of the entire body and even then it's close.

 

[Gundark]

I agree that the main book setting is good. Some of the world books weren't worth the paper they were printed on.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

The world books were quite the mixed bag... I've fallen a bit behind on my RIFTS purchases, maybe I'll get Machinations of Doom, and see how it is.

Later
silver

 

[scourger]

I re-read the comic. Still great. I do remember the problems with the rules, though. I described Palladium character generation as a painful birthing process. Maybe I'll convert it to another rules set: d20 or Savage Worlds. Or, I might just use it as is and deal with the rules as needed. I can't figure if it will be more work to convert or use Rifts rules.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

RIFTS is, without a doubt, one of the most creative settings in RPG history. And there is some clever, clever stuff in the Palladium FRPG and Heroes Unlimited, etc...

but Kevin's rules suck.

Q.F.T.
Love the setting, hate the rules.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Seems like a lot of people hate the system...

So which system would those same people suggest to use?

Personally I think the system is fine for a FRPG. I like the system of Armor taking damage and Shields not improving AC but improving the Parry bonus. Because the trend has been to take RPGs and port them into a system that is very miniature friendly it wouldn't take much to clean up the Palladium system. An improved movement scale/system would be a big first step. The fantasy classes (the men-at-arms in particular) run together and there isn't a whole lot to set them apart so giving them class specific abilities should be the second step.

Edit: I have to admit... I MUCH prefer the Palladium Alignment system to the D&D system.

 

[kaomera]

Seems like a lot of people hate the system...

So which system would those same people suggest to use?

Personally I think the system is fine for a FRPG.

Then use the Palladium system. If there's some other system you like better / know better / are more comfortable with, you could use that if you think it will make enough of a difference to warrant converting stuff.

 

[scourger]

So which system would those same people suggest to use?

If I decide to run it as a sort of mini-campaign, I am tempted to use Savage Worlds. I think I can do it with just a few rules tweaks. I will have to boil it down to essences in several ways, but the flavor will definitely come through. This method is my preference.

If I decide to run it as a one-shot, then I will most likely use the Rifts RAW. Unwieldy as it is, the characters are already statted up.

I would also consider using Omega World d20 as I did for my last Rifts game. Unfortunately, that game was killed by a lack of participation; so I can't reprise it for this adventure. It's too bad, too, because there were some colorful characters that the players were playing.