Rifts vs D&D

[VGmaster9]

I think Rifts will really need conversions for other RPG systems, such as D20, GURPS, Hero, etc.

 

[VGmaster9]

Also, to those who played it, what different genres have you used for your campaigns? Any for pulp? Steampunk? WWII? Martial arts action? Paranormal horror (WoD)?

 

[PoorHobo]

When you break open any game that much they all break, why are people in this thread only doing it to Rifts? when a 1 legged half dead commoner with a club can manage to hit my demi-god fighter in dragon armor and shield 1 time out of 20 and still do damage when I'm taking a full defense action, why no outcry there?

Rifts is balanced by equipment, same way DnD is(though admitedly not to the same extent). Just because your vagabond doesn't start with anything MD doesn't mean they are forever unable to aquire MD equipment. And just because your SAMAS pilot starts with it doesn't mean they'll always have the cash or resources to keep it repaired (it is an apocalypse setting afterall). If a GM is only giving out awesome eqipment to the SAMAS pilots and glitterboys I wouldn't call that a system fault, same as if a DnD adventuring party only found awesome swords, shields and armor, and the wizard was still in a top hat and a twig at level 20.

As for the wooden dagger comment, why are magic items okay in DnD but not Rifts? If DnD rogue pulled out a magic dagger and attacked a stone golem I doubt the same outcry would be heard, but if a Rifts rogue type character pulls out a magic knife and does something similar now its bad and time to change game systems?

I like DnD more than Rifts, but in a comparative thread I don't understand why Rifts gets the microscopic lens of inconsistencies but those same problems get a pass in DnD

ENcounter balance is hard and will take a few attempts and while I do find that disagreeable a lot of systems don't have wealth by level and CR charts and our group has managed to do okay by those as well (shadowrun and burning wheel being anecdotal evidence)

 

[PoorHobo]

Also, to those who played it, what different genres have you used for your campaigns? Any for pulp? Steampunk? WWII? Martial arts action? Paranormal horror (WoD)?

Pure sci-fi. Spaceships, FTL travel. Glaxy is being invaded by robotic alien-things. We've ripped out the setting and are only using the system.

 

[pawsplay]

If I only referenced his fluf and did not reproduce it I don't think I would have to worry....

Heck I am already converting a cyber knight to a 4e defender class in my mind (mix battlemind and Paladen)

Halt, evildoer!!!

 

[pawsplay]

Also, to those who played it, what different genres have you used for your campaigns? Any for pulp? Steampunk? WWII? Martial arts action? Paranormal horror (WoD)?

Despite what others have said, I always thought the Coalition States were a pretty plausible representation of a Nazi state, with an illterate population being corraled by a constantly militarized government. I like the idea of Rifts as an apocalyptic future game, a place where true civilization can only be dreamed of, like some sort of Camelot... and where answers are never easy. Good and evil is rearly clear-cut. Although the C.S. are clearly evil, not everyone who belongs to them is evil... and they are actually right about a lot of things, like the real threat to survival of the human species if alien DBs are allowed to run around and kill/eat/enslave/exterminate humans. I like the idea that even on the brink of extinction, humanity has gotten hold of the keys to the universe, and may yet save themselves, or doom themselves. I run it as pretty straight post-apocalypse/dystopian future, crossed with dark fantasy and a gonzo Amber-like "tour the universes" angle.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Are you reading my mind?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

When you break open any game that much they all break, why are people in this thread only doing it to Rifts? when a 1 legged half dead commoner with a club can manage to hit my demi-god fighter in dragon armor and shield 1 time out of 20 and still do damage when I'm taking a full defense action, why no outcry there?

Because he "hits" you for 1d4-1 damage that, against your 100+, 200+ hit points, is meaningless.

 

[pawsplay]

Are you reading my mind?

Is there... is there anyone in the audience... who was thinking of playing, ok, something with armor, an image is coming to me... could it be a Glitter Boy? No! It's a SAMAS walker. Yes, come on up, you there, who wants to play a rogue C.S. pilot. That's exactly right, isn't it?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

OMG! That's the guy next to me!





(I played a Ley-line walker.)