RIFTS movie confirmed

[RogueWriter]

I think we have a failure to communicate.

You say that RIFTS is balanced, and then you say that there is no way to effectively compare power levels in other than a broad way. Do you not understand the inherent contradiction?

If the system were balanced, it would be possible to say "make a 1st level character" and you would have some amount of expectation that they would all be of comparable power.

In RIFTS, yes you can say "Make a MDC character", but that still leaves things all over the map. The GM has to know every class which is to be available well, and make judgements on them. He als has to sheperd people into particular regeimes of power levels. Also keep in mind that the comparison to 17th level vs. 1st level doesn't really cover it. The 1st level character could simply be given more levels (or a race with ECL) to catch up. There is no way a street rat, even of high level, is ever going to be consequential in a major dustup compared to, say, a Mega-juicer.

Then we have the issue of what do you mean by MDC character. Is it RCCs which have inherent MDC? Would you include such a thing as a Glitterboy? They are pretty bad dudes, but the pilot inside is still pretty squishy.

Don't get me wrong, I like RIFTS. It is a fun setting. However implying that there is anything like balance in it simply isn't true. Palladium doesn't specialize in balance. Heroes Unlimited is another example of this. This does not mean that you can't have fun in the system, or you can run a game which has balanced characters. It just means that the balance has to be externally applied, and does not come from within the system.

buzzard

Buzz, you're missing my point. Rifts does have balance, assuming that your GM knows what he's doing. Otherwise, he can very easy have an unplayable mish-mash for a PC party. The balance comes from intelligent campaign design, not the rule system. The rules just tell you what's possible, not how to put it together. Don't want Cosmo-Knights? (And I don't blame you, who really does want a member of a Green Lantern Corps type organization made up of Silver Surfers in a PC party?) Don't allow them in the campaign. Easy.

I think your "make a 1st level character," is very much ground in a D&D/d20 paradigm. That may come from the simple fact that on the surface, the two systems seem somewhat similar in character creation. Both have classes, both use experience levels. But, don't expect the character class balance that is prevalent in D&D 3e. It was never intended to be there, IMO.

Did you read my 17th level party example? Or just skim it? Because your point doesn't make sense to me. The GM tells the players to make 17th level characters. One of them makes a 1st level, and wants to play it that way (I hoped that was understood). You're the GM, and you know that character isn't going to survive, something has to give. That's the dichotomy I'm talking about. That's the place where the GM has to enforce the campaign design. Same goes for Rifts, it's simply more important, due to the vast differences in available power levels for characters.

Now, about what makes a MDC creature... I did say that those were general guidelines. A glitterboy is a mecha pilot. You should note that I did make mecha a separate category. And, it should be. You have an interesting difference in being gods of the battlefield when suited up/in the cockpit, as compared to being (to quote Clark Kent) "bones and meat like everyone else," when not. Sometimes you can mix characters who are normally MDC with mecha characters, but it's a tad tricky.

One of the things that makes Rifts easy to balance in campaign design is that everything is in separate sourcebooks. While it's also a pain-in-the-*ss when trying to find stuff (thank you Palladium for putting out the compilation books), you can simply tone down a campaign by saying for example, "No Phase World characters." That eliminates 3 sourcebooks, and those pesky Cosmo-Knights.

I guess my real point is that Rifts can be a balanced game, if the GM is bright enough to put the required effort into designing a balanced campaign. Rifts is a system that demands you do that.

RW

 

[buzzard]

I guess my real point is that Rifts can be a balanced game, if the GM is bright enough to put the required effort into designing a balanced campaign. Rifts is a system that demands you do that.

RW

Now that I can agree with. RIFTS can be made balanced through effort by the GM. However Palladium didn't put much effort in on this themselves. It's really dropped in the GM's lap. Nothing wrong with that if it's a good GM and he has time. Being a lazy sap like myself, I like the design criteria that make balance easy that are inherent in things like D&D. I know from the basic building blocks of the system how powerful the party is likely to be, and what to throw at them. I like having my work done for me.

buzzard

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

This whole "Rifts is a twink party" vs. "Rifts can be balanced by a GM with a hammer, a soldering gun, several rolls of duct tape and a few weeks to kill" argument isn't that interesting when it's in General RPG Discussion. Y'know, where it belongs.

As for me, recovering former Rifts junkie, I'll be seeing this IF it's got Glitter Boys, SAMASes, 60' blast radius nuclear missiles, and Atlantean Undead Slayers. Definitely Undead Slayers. Oh mama.

 

[Thanee]

That's one of those movies, that's killed with a low budget. They just need to put a lot of effort into sfx, costumes and whatever makes a movie look cool, otherwise it will just be like the D&D movie.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ferret]

Cool Lokking forward to movie now

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

That's one of those movies, that's killed with a low budget. They just need to put a lot of effort into sfx, costumes and whatever makes a movie look cool, otherwise it will just be like the D&D movie.

Bye
Thanee

Good point. Anyone know what the budget's going to be? I was quite surprised with how good Hellboy looked for $60 mil, so maybe they don't have to break the bank.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Now that I can agree with. RIFTS can be made balanced through effort by the GM. However Palladium didn't put much effort in on this themselves. It's really dropped in the GM's lap. Nothing wrong with that if it's a good GM and he has time. Being a lazy sap like myself, I like the design criteria that make balance easy that are inherent in things like D&D. I know from the basic building blocks of the system how powerful the party is likely to be, and what to throw at them. I like having my work done for me.

buzzard

Honestly, I think the objective of Rifts is to offer the maximum number of possible options for the game. When I ran the game I restricted my players to creating characters using ONLY the core book because all of those OCCs were fairly balanced. All of the other classes make good NPCs and the new PAs and Robots are something the characters can try to aquire later in the game. Sure, Glitter Boys got the most awesome PA in existence but they weren't cybered in the least (at least from the beginning) and were soft and squishy when they got out of their armor. Headhunters began with a nice assortment of cybergear and began with a PA or Robot Vehicle (my favorite class). Funny thing is, as awesome as the Glitterboy is most of my players went with Juicers because of their Auto-Dodge. Having the biggest gun isn't always the way to go I guess.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Rifts is for playing fun...love it. DnD is my favorite but we do a lot of one offs set in Rifts.

And the movie better have Glitterboys and Boom guns, and the aforemention Blind Slave Barge Women.

But sadly, What are the odds of them including the human Coalition and Skelebots as the bad guys? Here's hoping Chi-Town stays the bad guys.

I too am hoping for the slave barge women.

Actually it would be an interesting story if the main characters started out Coalition and began to see past the propaganda they had been fed all their lives and then decided to fight back.

 

[SkidAce]

Actually it would be an interesting story if the main characters started out Coalition and began to see past the propaganda they had been fed all their lives and then decided to fight back.

Even better! That would be the direction they should choose.

 

[Black Orpheus]

Rifts Movie

Just FYI...

Rifts has a $100 million-plus budget. That's plenty. Disney and Bruckheimer are planning to make it a franchise if it works out well.

Rumor has it they are trying to get Ridley Scott as director...but that's just a rumor.
Also, at one point there was a brief synopsis of the plot on some sites, but it was quickly removed.
"A disillusioned soldier tries to save a boy with psychic powers from an evil emperor."

My guess is that it will be coalition heavy, with the Coalition as bad guys, but not cartoon bad guys. I'll lay good money that they use the old-style deadboy armor as well...it is just more cinematic-looking than the new stuff.
They won't dodge the magic ball, if the soldier is a former soldier then that means he went against one of the cardinal CS rules, which is never to associate with D-bees or mages. That means there has to be some in the film. Knowing hollywood, I put my money on both: A hot mage chick and a scary (yet good at heart and teddybearish) D-bee. My guess is that any juicers you see will be evil (drugs are bad, mkay?) and that they will rely on Rifts unique alien races (D-bees) such as grackletooth and quick-flex.

Also, you just can't have a film called Rifts without a Rift or Rifts playing a crucial plot point...non-RPG audiences just wouldn't get it. Rifts means monsters at some point in the film.
Personally, I want to see a Glitterboy vs. Spiderskull walker battle. Just seems like it would look really cool on film.

Also, Rifts has secured a place at E-3 this year for some special announcement. Since E-3 is all about videogames, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to add two and two together.