Tell me your experiences with RIFTS

[JEB]

The two main experiences I had with playing Rifts were as a young teen. I visibly disappointed my GM by wanting to be a Rogue Scholar on one occasion (I'm pretty sure he wanted me to pick something that was actually powerful), and the same GM transferred his D&D campaign over to it on another occasion (it didn't get far).

Beyond that, it's been a setting that I appreciate for its gonzo mashup aspects, and I own a number of the books for entertainment value... but I would always rather play Rifts under a different ruleset. (I was pretty excited for Savage Rifts and backed the Kickstarter, but the drama with Sean Patrick Fannon soured me on it and I wound up selling it off. )

 

[jdrakeh]

I really loved the lore. Buying the books was worth it just for that alone. I could never get down with the rules. They're objectively broken (e.g. to my knowledge, no Palladium game to date actually tells you how percentage skills work; they just kind of assume you'll figure it out on your own).

 

[aramis erak]

In my experience, I think Rifts can be fun. The Palladium system plays like an older game - that's just the level 'design tech' was at when it first came out.

No, the Palladium Engine was already well dated by the time Rifts came out

And, for the most part, the engine is still the same.
Robotech introduced MegaDamage. Mechanoids were SDC, not MDC, until the rifts version.

I've not run Rifts. I have read it. Plus the first two splatbooks.
I've run TMNT, Robotech, PdFRPG 1Rev, Heroes Unlimited; I've played in a pre-rifts Robotech/Mechanoids crossover. I've also read PdFRPG 2E, Mechanoids, Mechanoid Trilogy, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Robotech Shadow Chronicles...

Rifts has often been a discussion item in my home... It's so gonzo it would have Hunter S. Thompson reaching for the Narcan... The setting is brilliant... the game is as mediocre as all of its relatives, and is essentially Siembieda's D&D house rules from 1978...

 

[John Dallman]

... the game is as mediocre as all of its relatives, and is essentially Siembieda's D&D house rules from 1978...

I bought The Paladium Roleplaying Games cheap in the early eighties, and gave it away again without ever playing it. It was pretty poor: it seemed like someone trying to do The Arduin Grimoire over again without the creative energy. Paladium Books' behaviour in recent decades put me right off them, so I've never looked at Rifts.