Someone needs to buy the movie rights for the Palladium Megaverse and make some awesome movies.
@ericstoverink6579
4 жыл бұрын
A long time ago the movie rights for Rifts were picked up by a major studio, I don't remember which one. Jerry Bruckheimer was rumored to be the director at one point early on. It's basically been in production hell ever since, if it's still alive at all.
@Nightweaver1
4 жыл бұрын
There is so much epic storytelling to be had if they can find a director willing to do it justice.
@derpdude42
3 жыл бұрын
I'd rather play a video game instead of watching a movie
@Nightweaver1
3 жыл бұрын
@@derpdude42 There was actually 1 game made... for the N-Gage. Remember the N-Gage? No nobody does because it fucking bombed!
@DropBearJroc
3 жыл бұрын
@@derpdude42 why not both?
@SobiTheRobot
2 жыл бұрын
I first saw this system in a 2005 catalogue and I was so enthralled by the art and lore presented even in those little description blurbs. I was 10 years old. It is only now that I have gotten my first book, just like I always wanted.
@cloudmatt11
5 жыл бұрын
Rifts is like Linux, you can do anything you want, so long as you're willing to write it. Not new player friendly, at all. Must have an awesome GM willing to fill binders with content for an afternoons worth of story. I can't fault a thing he said about it, but if you want full story control the entire palladium line up is magic. I'm currently running a fallout themed campaign.
@jakesnyder1762
5 жыл бұрын
I enjoy your comparison of Rifts to Linux, spot on! But it has been one of my favorite RPGs of all time, I started playing it, in Jr. High, and at 40 I'm still playing it today, even introducing my sons to it. I love the open endedness (Word)? of it. One moment you're in a wasteland, the next it's all fantasy like, to now we're in space. It even allows for you to easily play as the bad guys if your group so wishes.
@TheVoidofNothing11
4 жыл бұрын
Played this all through my childhood. Still have the books.
@blackskulldud57
Жыл бұрын
I don't know I've never even played D&D and this was my first experience I start hanging out with one of my old friends and he went to his cousin's house every now and then to play this game with a bunch of friends over the weekend it was awesome I remember my character was fast had active camo and could change gravity and I ended up killing myself when some big guy was over me about to kill me I made him four times as heavy and it killed us both but my favorite memory it was something stupid just a quick PVP session against my friend who had in short a robot Samurai I thought I won when I stabbed him through the chest with a nano sword that could split in 2 and pinned him to the ground with it then he self destructed his nuclear core.. But the funniest thing my character was actually immune to the nuclear blast so I'm just sitting there in a huge crater butt ass naked. 😂😅 man I got to find some people to play this with again there is literally nothing else like it like restriction wise you can basically do anything you want.
@Nightweaver1
4 жыл бұрын
I found Rifts back in 1995 when I was browsing the RPG section of a Waldenbooks near my hometown. I instantly fell in love with first the art, then the world and stories it was telling. I'm not quite sitting on the 66-count of books you are at this point, but I have I think 30 of them, and to be perfectly honest, I've never even played the game itself. I buy them to read up on the world and the stories and the creatures and the technology, and of course for the art. Kevin Long, Newton Ewell, Wayne Breaux, Jr., Vince Martin... those guys were and are THE best fantasy illustrators I have ever seen. Also way late but RIP Erick Wujcik, creator of TMNT and After the Bomb. TL;DR I realized way early on that the system itself was way too labor-intensive for me, so I just read and enjoy the books for the stories and art. The stuff still fires my imagination to this day.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
The Walden Books reference really took me back. I spent so much money and time in Walden books back in the day. That sounds like a perfectly awesome way to enjoy the books. :)
@danielerwin7319
2 жыл бұрын
I absolutely did the exact thing. Never played it but loved the books. Bought at least 30 or more of them. I found them at the hobby store from around the corner from my house way back in the 90’s as they where coming out.
@Tyrannosaurus_STFU_III
3 жыл бұрын
My first Rifts experience... Playing in the Robotech universe, I was piloting a Veritech. Flew through some weird storm. I came out the otherside of the storm on Rifts earth facing an adult dragon. Took about a second to process and did a full missle dump on it. The 3 minutes the GM took to explain what "dragon rain" looked like was beautiful.. The cool thing was it took me 4 months of gameplay, millions of credits and stealing 6 Sam suits from the coalition just to get my missles reloaded due to tech differences. It was a pain in the ass, but the Rifts system allowed the GM to spin up 4 months of adventuring just based off of my one second decision. Miss Rifts..
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
That's a very cool story, and the fact that you remember it in such detail is a real testament to how much fun you had.
@Tyrannosaurus_STFU_III
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain what's the chance you can run a online Rifts game similar to some of these D&D channels? I don't know all the variables involved in that but I would definetly watch if you pulled it off.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@Tyrannosaurus_STFU_III I wouldn't run Rifts. Maybe Savage Worlds Rifts though. I have posted some full games of other systems on my channel before, though they were recordings of in person games. People have usually watched them. So I may do some again. When you say "online games" I'm guessing your referring to the ones run in the various virtual tabletop programs. I haven't tried any of them yet, but I'm not opposed to trying them. It's definitely possible, just not with Rifts. ;)
@Tyrannosaurus_STFU_III
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain I was referring to skype I guess. I'm not up on that stuff. You host as GM.. Players remote connect, like a video conference call and are in little boxes on the screen.. But you're right, just watching a video of a gaming session is the same thing. I just need to Rift vicariously through someone.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@Tyrannosaurus_STFU_III fair enough. I've got some full games on the channel, some Forbidden Lands and Pathfinder, but no Rifts. Sorry. :/
@zerogrey3798
2 жыл бұрын
I started collecting these books back in Highschool (late 80s/early 90s) and had all of them up to I believe the Juicer Uprisings. I THINK that was the newest book out at the time. I had to sell them all to help pay some bills at the time and I got screwed over HARD considering the money investment vs what I got out of them. My late wife and all 3 of our kids used to play though. Every weekend for a good 2 years straight we'd all gather around the table on a Friday night and play till the sun came up Saturday morning. We played Rifts, Cyberpunk, and Mekton Z religiously. Even today probably 21 years since the last time I played with all my family (terrible car accident) my surviving daughter and I still play the occasional game of Mekton Z and Cyberpunk, but nothing serious like we used to.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm glad the you and your daughter can still bond over gaming.
@edwardbaker5373
3 жыл бұрын
I own every one of the palladium books rifts world books and magic books and creature books. The ultimate edition. All of them. Haven't been able to get a party together to have a campaign in 5 years. Love the world, the rules are a little different. We do adjust them to our needs. Many years of playing this game and having wonderful experiences
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
Indeed, I was the same way. After not playing with the system for some years, and after running a long campaign with the Savage Worlds version of Rifts, I finally decided to get rid of my old Palladium books. I'll not buy another Palladium book at this point, unless they revamp their system.
@DropBearJroc
4 жыл бұрын
My favourite part of Rifts always was character creation. Yes, it was long winded, but that's what I loved about it. Picking an R.C.C., then an O.C.C. But you're right, nostalgia. I love it.
@dimesonhiseyes9134
5 жыл бұрын
I really really love some aspects of rifts. First the armor system. I love how the armor actually has HP like real life armor has. Instead of in nearly all other games armor just makes you slightly harder to hit. I really love the merging or fantasy and cyberpunk. Many aspects really have started showing its age and are kinda cumbersome at times compared with other more modern systems. The power creep and over powering of the characters was always a bit of a problem as well.
@samanthaaviles6245
5 жыл бұрын
Splugorth are many tentacled malevolent intelligences with massive physical strength, magical ability, psychic ability and hi technology. Massive and so horrible their mere visage causes even the strongest heroes to wet themselves. Oh and they usually command commando like armies of super mutants, blind warrior women all fanatically dedicated to them. Can be on par with God’s. I’ve played rifts, heroes unlimited d and d, Rifts is super hardcore and very detailed.
@DropBearJroc
4 жыл бұрын
Simplified, they're a Lovecraftian monster.
@-Untitled-
4 жыл бұрын
I got into Rifts through TMNT RPG. Used a Hero's unlimited variant.
@charleslennonbaker
4 жыл бұрын
For Twen-Tea For me it was ROBOTECH, the I gravitated to Rifts.
@ianhively1
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, my first RPG was TMNT too. Played a ton of Rifts in my early teenage years, which basically always devolved into hiding in Coalition base bathrooms and shooting them on the dick.
@omniscientearl
3 жыл бұрын
I miss Wuj.
@stevenwthomas8181
3 жыл бұрын
@@charleslennonbaker I ended up co gm ing a Rifts game that started off when a SDF misjumped anf burned out its fold generator, killing the bulk of its crew because it was in peacetime mode heading to another planet.
@PaulArena75
3 жыл бұрын
Same!
@sullyb23511
4 жыл бұрын
Man, look at all those world books! 😮 I love the setting, but the mechanics can be daunting. I remember sitting outside my highschool's NJROTC building afterschool reading the first core rule book and dreaming of worlds beyond my comprehension. Great setting.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
I sold them all since filming this. I just hadn’t opened any of them in far too long. I still love the multiverse setting too. Though if I play in the Rifts setting now, I use Rifts Savage Worlds.
@Nightweaver1
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Fair enough. That IS a lot of bibliographic material to keep on hand, nearly 10,000 pages worth if I'm doing my math right. I mean people can say what they want but Siembieda made and is still making a mint off his company and this series in particular, and that's in the age of immersive MMOs and open world games.
@kaiatherton
3 жыл бұрын
pretty sure I came to Palladium via Teenage mutant ninja turtles. then moved onto Fantasy role-play, Hero's unlimited, beyond the supernatural, Rifts and nightbane. I really appreciated that fact that the system was the same throughout, that the lore it self flowed from one game to the next. I never found the system to be an issue really. yes power levels of characters was not always the same but that just meant planning ahead to customize the game so all where of similar levels..
@brocksamson237
5 жыл бұрын
Greatest setting ever. I used to GM it all the time. One of my players was a run away Coalition soldier. The original Finn. Everyone just called him Dead Boy. I wish the setting would be used in a PC rpg or mmorpg. Content galore.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I agree, I would definitely play a video game in the Rifts multiverse.
@Backfromthedeadguy
4 жыл бұрын
Weirdly enough I thought I would love the Savage Worlds version (ran multiple games of it) but it just did not feel like Rifts to me. Despite its flaws there's still a certain magic that newer systems haven't captured (at least for me).
@markcampbell4080
3 жыл бұрын
I agree, the magic system is so different and doesn't feel like Rifts at all.
@philhatfield2282
3 жыл бұрын
I just got to try out the Savage World Rifts this evening, and I think it does a very good job at capturing Rifts. At least it doesn't, yet, have the insane power creep of Palladium's Rifts.
@onabiv
3 жыл бұрын
Sorry for the second reply. But the best thing for me when it came to riffs, and what brought so many casuals to my games, was the fact that you could make literally anything as a character. Whenever we sat down at the table I asked them "what do you want to play?" No matter what they said, I could find a character for them. Strict rules adherence was never a big deal for me, and should never be a big deal when it comes to pen and paper RPGs, in my opinion. So the rules problems of the system never really bothered me. No matter what system it was, I was going to tweak it to my ends anyway.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
The variety was always one of my favorite things about Rifts too. So many options for races and classes.
@andropple1013
5 жыл бұрын
The beauty of Rifts is that it is run by Palladium who is now has the oldest RPG system and game series that has been unmodified since it's real start in 1991. Yes Palladium Fantasy and others were before it, but Palladium became known as a game powerhouse in the 90's when rifts came into being. People can say what they will, but it has survived when no one thought they would. They have lasted longer than Dungeons and Dragons without a rewrite or any revision. They have condensed most of the information in RUE but that is nothing of a rewrite. They will survive and hopefully continue to make super amazing content.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I wish no ill will on them. Though they have already survived quite a long time, their fan base has dwindled over that time. Once, I could find their books in every store that carried RPGs that I knew, now most don't carry them. I don't see them thriving again without a new edition that overhauls the rules. A revitalization is needed to bring in new blood. Licensing out the IP to have a Savage Worlds edition made was a step in the right direction. Regardless, play what you love.
@andropple1013
5 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Well honestly the game system along with any other rpg, has dwindled from the stock shelves of nearly every card game in the world. Most if not all are only carrying the big ticket item which is and always will be, DnD. I don't think a revised edition rules would change much mostly because they don't have the high money power to market the way DnD has and will continue to do. But, they will live on until at least this generation is dead and gone. I'd say within 40 years you might, and I say MIGHT see the end of Rifts and its story lines. But you never know.
@azathothwakesup
4 жыл бұрын
This review is for people EXACTLY like me! OMG! Big TTRPG fan, heard of rifts never played though! but every time i search up a new RPG and like the channel i always SUB
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
Welcome to the channel! I'm glad you liked the video. We've got plenty of RPG vids and even more board game stuff. Have a look around. Thanks for subscribing, I hope you enjoy many more of our vids. :)
@PeterKruchowski
3 жыл бұрын
You can do arithmetic for average stats based on the mathematical average roll, for 3d6 is 9. That's what I do.
@cygil1
2 жыл бұрын
It's actually 10.6 in palladium. It's slightly skewed higher than a normal 3d6 due to the bonus roll if you roll a 16 or better.
@lunamaria1048
8 ай бұрын
Over 2 decades, I still only play this system, but the complexity is what I love. My reusing NPCs is my friend's favorite part of my games! Like a familiar cast of characters that occasional reappear, in new roles, new purpose, even new look, but they know the name and have favorites they get excited about lol. Everyone I bring over from other systems gets hooked and doesn't look back.😂 Everything you pointed out as a negative are the things I love about this system lol.
@CRAFT7445
3 жыл бұрын
My goto character is a Lizard Mage Diabolist/Temporal Mage. His right hand is an Atlantean Temporal Warrior. We divided actions by 15secs; 1 action could take place anywhere from 1 to 15; 3 actions, 1 action per 5 seconds; 10 actions, 1 action per 1.5 seconds. the GM counted seconds and everyone would take their actions according to time not number of actions. When a sniper is waiting for a target to pop his head up, he loses actions while focusing on where he thinks his opponent will pop up. As soon as the target shows, if the sniper has actions left he can fire prior to the action of the opponent.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
What’s his left hand?
@CRAFT7445
3 жыл бұрын
The Board Game Kaptain Warm and available on a lonely night.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@CRAFT7445 LOL!
@ThunderingJove
Жыл бұрын
“Binders full of NPC.” I love it.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
I did, I really did have a huge binder full.
@astonmikedelgado
4 жыл бұрын
Was psyched to see someone go deep on this system as I heard interesting 🧐 things about the system. Thanks for the great content
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting, I'm always glad to hear that a video of mine was helpful or entertaining. :)
@jameshalleluyah8133
3 жыл бұрын
Those two giant stacks of Rifts books should be all the defense you need against the accusation of being a hater of Rifts.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I thought that they would be, but I still got some angry comment. Still, not as many as I thought I would. ;)
@danielgriff2659
2 жыл бұрын
I played it in 1991 because our GM was really excited about it. Barely remember it. He was a VERY "homebrew" type of DM (he thought all the material was "suggestions") and we didnt play it as written. Basically, if your DM CAN run this game, he or she can run 5E better.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
Indeed, most newer systems are just more user friendly.
@Matt-lp1xp
5 жыл бұрын
So many nostalgic memories of Rifts. My friend had about a 70% full collection of the books and when he had some financial troubles I bought them all from him and filled in the rest of the gaps. It's a complicated system that takes a bit to get going, but I am still a massive fan and I love the world building and the artwork.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
The world building is something that I still love as well, and why I would never part with my collection. :)
@NotUnymous
3 ай бұрын
Just played a round of Rift with randoms and It was the most chaotic fun ever 😂 suicide-bomb-running 18 years old Sailormoons, bloodthristy 3 years old Killermachines, braindead Robots and more. Pure chaos. Pure fun. Very grandios world.
@mrnukeduster
3 жыл бұрын
Been playing since 1993, off and on. The content is just amazing, but the rules are overwhelming and I can't get my players to sign on to it. And a big part for the game master also is the lack of clear-cut definitions of how powerful something should be relative to other things so even if you make a list of where all the monsters and equipment is like they have done without a relativistic power comparison, such as a challenge rating, it makes adding content just that much more challenging to a campaign.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
Indeed! I couldn't agree more. :)
@VICT0RLAZL0
5 жыл бұрын
Yup - Savage Worlds Rifts is great. And they just got their first set of World Books.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I did see that. I’ll probably pick them up when they’re out for retail.
@delsolman24
2 жыл бұрын
Loved this game in its day and still love the books. By the way how many expansions is there books wise?
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
I’ve completely lost count. When I filmed this video I had most of them, though they have made more since then. I’ve sold my Rifts collection off at this point to make room for other RPGs I’m collecting.
@DropBearJroc
4 жыл бұрын
There is a D-Bee table on the core rule book. It's up the front amongst the insanity tables and such.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
There's no rules explanation in the Rifts Ultimate edition for playing any D-Bees, or having them as enemies either. You need to buy other books to get their rules.
@DropBearJroc
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain you do. But, the table in the front of the book is incredibly useful for character, and NPC creation.
@TurboWulfe
Жыл бұрын
Like you I have MANY books and Rifters. I honestly don't want to spend the money I spent on Rifts on a similar system but do see the advantages of a simpler system for newbies. It's an amazing game, when my Wolverine sniper (government experiment) went in a mission (I know it's not that original, lol) got transplanted to a magic world where my bolt action Rifles were pinging off armor and monsters and almost got pasted if not for a group of ne'er de wells that helped equip me. Good times. 👍. Take care and stay safe 😎 🤘 🍻
@twowander2470
Жыл бұрын
I'm a huge fan of Rifts and have been playing for 20+years... I literally own every book, haha. That being said my list of "home rules" is pages long to compensate for the klunkiness of the system. It's super hard to develop a character just using the books, so hard that I've had to make my own character development guide that I give to my players. Great review. Spot on.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
Thanks very much. 😁
@vandals4873
3 жыл бұрын
The flavor in that game is ridiculously cool
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I agree.
@Blastarr1
Жыл бұрын
I have many of the books and have not opened too much lately well in years almost a decade. I have wanted to get back into playing but finding others is hard. What got me into Rifts was well when Palladium had Robotech. I loved the Robotech universe and it got me into RPG. I was sad when they lost or passed on renewing the license. I like then they updated Robotech they scaled it to Rifts. I was just talking to a stranger today about the system and he sounded interested in it. Thank you for your honest review.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
You're welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting.
@Blastarr1
Жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain I agree about not having generic NPCs.
@allenm6950
4 жыл бұрын
I used to get the black and white magazines that showcased each book I never had an opportunity to buy any as a kid. I just randomly decided to see if there was a lore video today. I would love to hear a walkthrough like Harmon quest.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
We have filmed some entire RPG games, though not RIFTS. We're also planning on doing more in the future. I'll link to one of our games below, if you're interested. kzitem.info/news/bejne/koKZzXhrpp2pi6A&t=
@pappajudas9267
2 жыл бұрын
I've always been interested in rifts. I remember seeing ads for it in comic books all the time. I've done a couple sessions zeros rolled up a few characters but never actually got to play.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
It's always tough to get a group going. The first big hurdle is always just forming a group with schedules that allow for a game to be played once a month or so.
@TheVoidofNothing11
4 жыл бұрын
Shout out to Host poster in the background. Still have the novels they put out. Also shout to MDC!
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
The Host is such a great film.
@stonedscared8461
4 жыл бұрын
I feel like the basics from the books that are strict, are for people who play it by the book rather than a open storyline with a creative dm.
@dougcarey2233
3 жыл бұрын
I don't see many hurt feelings in the comments. Good to know Rifts fans can listen to some criticism of their favorite RPG. Also, I think the end of Avengers: Endgame was the closest thing we'll ever see to a Rifts movie.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
There were some. Truthfully, not as many as I expected. Avengers Endgame is definitely a good cinematic representation for the feel of Rifts. Another good one that I like is District 9. The power armor suit felt right out of Rifts, the slums reminded me of the Chi-Town burbs, and the way the alien weapons popped people really felt like Mega Damage to me.
@ooftaZone
5 жыл бұрын
Long time Game Master of Rifts. Understand the points being made. Having a Sandbox GM style (everything done on the fly, no GM Shield) never experienced these as issues. Currently running a on going campaign of nine players. My players are put to work. So if they are out of combat (their character's out on a beer run) or have few actions. They play and roll as the NPC encounters. Purposely make combat fast. So actions are timed, and players get skipped if not ready. Only combat complaint ever get is one regular player who piss-n-moans about NPCs having auto dodge. Agree wholeheartingly that Rifts is not for the inexperienced GM/Player. That's the appeal. Still the game is only inflexible if the users are.
@garyfindlay8052
5 жыл бұрын
Long time rifts GM too but I'm a prep GM (with a shield). I 100% agree. I had the problem of inflexibility. Then it clicked and had to start explaining to new players that Rifts is hard, and challenging when played right. That their character will in all likelyhood die unless they are WISER than most. The reward isn't mad loot (you get mad loot to start with), its merely surviving to level 5. Rifts is not a saturday morning cartoon, Rifts is existential horror with more in common with lovecraft than thundercats. The only reason juicers, glitterboys and MOM implants exists is not because its a 'cool power fantasy' but because its the only way the players have the slimmest chance of surviving and it contrasts the cosmic horror. Sure you have a big gun, and yeah you weight trained all your life, but as the scared little girl once said "It won't do any good".
@TheZorch
3 жыл бұрын
Rifts would benefit from having a character and NPC builder application. It could access a database containing information on all of the core rules set and all of the supplementary material allowing players and GMs to build characters, NPCs, and campaigns much faster. I would not want Rifts dumbed down like D&D has done over time, its complexity is what makes it so flexible and that shouldn't ever change.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I agree, it's too bad that Kevin is so tech adverse that he'd never do that. He refused to even make any social media accounts for Palladium until a fan made a Facebook page for him and gave it to him. As for better modern rules heavy systems, I'm quite partial to Pathfinder second edition. I still haven't tried the newest edition of D&D. Different systems are better for different kinds of games. I like my dungeon crawlers rules heavy and my horror games rules light for instance.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I agree, it's too bad that Kevin is so tech adverse that he'd never do that. He refused to even make any social media accounts for Palladium until a fan made a Facebook page for him and gave it to him. As for better modern rules heavy systems, I'm quite partial to Pathfinder second edition. I still haven't tried the newest edition of D&D. Different systems are better for different kinds of games. I like my dungeon crawlers rules heavy and my horror games rules light for instance.
@riggermortisfpv526
9 ай бұрын
Great video fellow 1990's Palladium gamer. My stack of TMNT and Robotech is tiny by comparison, well done !
@TheBoardGameKaptain
9 ай бұрын
I've actually sold off my Palladium collection at this point. It was a really hard decision, but I wasn't playing Rifts anymore and hadn't for a while and I was running out of room for newer games that I was playing. I still love the Rifts multiverse though and still have my Savage Worlds Rifts books.
@rukiller3
4 жыл бұрын
I liked when they started changing City Rat conversions into other classes. Some skills froze and others gained with training. Haven't played Savage Worlds but GURPS etc have similar npc issues.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
The skill system in Rifts, especially with how they all gained a bit every level, was actually one of my favorite bits. There was way too much power creep with new classes and weapons though. Savage worlds is a much simpler and more streamlined system.
@patricianorwood1075
2 ай бұрын
I love the Palladium/Rifts system, yes there are some cons to it for new comers, but for me the pros outweigh the cons. Thanks for sharing your views on the system.
@merryman4985
5 жыл бұрын
Wow, wish I had seen this when you released it. I love the fair coverage you gave the system. I've been running it for a decade, and it's been pretty hard to get new people into it because of the complexity before they actually sit down to feel it out. There are some personal gripes I have with the combat, but when you get a really good scene it feels so much better than most of my other systems. It's a real team effort to chunk a power armor down, and nobody gets to just use 4 actions to first round nuke it. Anyways, I loved the review, and I'll let my current pathfinder crew watch it to see if they'd finally take the plunge I've offered the past couple months.
@TenchiJeff
4 жыл бұрын
I remember the power creep In the 90s, every book things had more mdc and damage, it was crazy. It became common for power armor to have more mdc and damage than full size mechs over twice and a half as big. Did magic ever become visble to use? In all my years of playing, I don't think I ever saw anybody ever play a spell caster.
@onabiv
3 жыл бұрын
@@TenchiJeff Power creep hit magic as well. But your basic line walker was kind of... Underpowered. We always house ruled them some extra stuff, usually at TW weapon of some sort.
@JeremyThomas-xu6gc
Жыл бұрын
My 1st table top also. Its way cooler than dnd if u ask me cause there is room in combat to be more expressive in combat. For instance, the dodge, parry, and stike sustem leaves so much more for the player to describe how he is going to defend or strike the enemy in combat. I love it.
@GreenYellowDucky
2 жыл бұрын
I do agree to enjoy playing or GMing Rifts you need to have several House Rules. For example almost every group Ive ever been in PCs started off at 3rd lvl, this explains how someone like a GB Pilot got all the skills his OCC says he/she has. We also had a rule that you got 1 attack to start Hth skills gave you +2 attacks to start.. So new charactes with even HtH: Basic started off with 3 attacks. When they leveled up to 4th Level HtH would give them another. So in a short time they would have 4 attacks. We also did this because in the Palladium system dodging used an attack. We also did the combat a little diffrently. Instead of PC 1 doing his first attack then PC 2 doing her first attack than PC 3 doing...etc. You could do 1/2 your attacks on your turn. Than once everyone did thier first 1/2 we went back around for the second 1/2. We also allowed for PCs to hold attacks back for dodging. I also think they should have made campagin modules, with pre-made PCs and Goals like other games.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
Some very cool ideas here. I especially like the splitting of all attacks into 2 half rounds.
@GixtheDragon
3 жыл бұрын
So... the only thing that I noticed in the video where I feel I should say something (and seeing that you've got the Rifts Game Master Guide in that stack of books), take a look at pg 44 of the Rifts Game Master Guide. Those that have no Hand to Hand skill have 2 actions, which is different than the 1 action you said. That said, I do agree that the combat system is outdated. I've only recently gone back to running a few games with the system, after taking a 20 year break to run other game systems.
@jesternario
10 ай бұрын
I actually recently ran a Coalition game, where the players were tracking down an escaped infiltration robot. It went really well, using just the main book. I am interested in your thoughts on RIFTS Chaos Earth and RIFTS Savage Worlds.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
10 ай бұрын
Rifts Savage Worlds is the only way to play Rifts for me now.
@jesternario
10 ай бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain I still like the old style game, but I don't exactly use the full stats most creatures/NPCs, I only jot down what will be relevant, such as their main body MDC and any attacks and skills they are likely to use. By treating the MDC of armor like hit points, it makes the bookkeeping easier.
@bradhoover1644
4 жыл бұрын
I ran a Heros Unlimited/Ninjas and Superspies combo through the 90s. It's an easy system to streamline for faster combat, character creation and NPC creation. You don't have to be a stickler for book rules or a DM who sacrifices story for rules.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
As a GM who house rules often, I am a fan of tweaking the rules. That said, you should definitely not have to completely rewrite several large sections of rules. Back in the 90’s, the Rifts rules were fine for the time. But they have not aged well.
@jayscheer5529
21 күн бұрын
Great review! Love the stacks of books as any gamer would have. The artwork on the books is great! The rules are clanky. Specially with mega damage. After looking through some of the books always think, why are we not still playing this!! Then it all comes back..lol Still a fantastic world setting.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
21 күн бұрын
Couldn't agree more!
@valkyriesoldier1
3 жыл бұрын
Love this system, especially the psychics. I agree with what it lacks, i really wish the exp table would be updated a bit, the lack of stats is annoying as well. Skill restrictions i understand where they were going with it, but I wish we could have bigger selection of skills rather than wait a year or 2 for 1 or 2 more skills. The lore is amazing in my opinion, but and i like the diff between skills and the combat system. however they are very lackluster.
@marcraygun6290
Жыл бұрын
My friend was making a character for rifts , he was using dual monitor PC to do so, for me that says it all.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
LMAO 🤣
@petrz5474
2 жыл бұрын
Best rpg ever. Last played and GMed 5 years ago. There was a fix to the # of actions per round problem. Forgot the specifics. Something to do with dividing 15 seconds by # of actions.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
Interesting, I hadn’t heard that. Was it an optional rule published in a Rifter or something?
@petrz5474
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Probably though I was so overwhelmed by all the books and never finished reading it all to start reading the Rifters. One of the players made me aware of it. I adopted it early on and stuck with it.
@NuclearConvoy
3 жыл бұрын
I've always wanted to play rifts because I'd read all those palladium books ads in things like dragon magazine and some comic books about the setting and system and just be entranced. I appreciate this video because of how honest and critical you are. I am.likely still going to give the game a try, but understanding its flaws in advance will assist me in avoiding some pitfalls. Biggest downside seems to be the no average stats thing. Have you done any coverage of the extra books? Are there any that really stand out as the best ones?
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I haven’t reviewed any of the source books. Some time after filming this, I decided to get rid of my collection. For the books, I recommend the DBees of North America, after that it is really dependent on where you want to set the game.
@NuclearConvoy
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain are there any books that just have really unique settings that other game works really can't offer? It doesnt have to be kn another planet but that too is fine. Just a really crazy setting with crazy classes?
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@NuclearConvoy I was always a big fan of the Arzno book, though you really need the New West and Vampire Kingdoms books to use it completely. I was also a fan of the Dinosaur Swamp book and the Juicer uprising book.
@NuclearConvoy
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Dinosaur Swamp sounds fucking perfect! Also, are Juicers the dudes who amp themselves up on drugs/tech nonsense to do crazy pseudomagical stuff in combat?
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@NuclearConvoy the Juicers use chemicals, the tech users are Crazies. Dinosaur Swamp is located in the southeast of the former USA. It’s full of monsters, ghosts, and of course dinosaurs. I ran a few games there years ago, tons of fun.
@dwculp
4 жыл бұрын
Ive been with Rifts since the start and I will say what many others say - I LOVE the world and background info. The lore is second to none. However, I have never really liked the rule set, it is clunky, inconsistent, and unbalanced. I really like the Savage Worlds conversion that has been done.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
I fully agree. I actually did a review of the Savage Worlds version. I do still love the setting, but if I were to play or run it again, I'd definitely use the Savage Worlds version. I even finally sold off all my own Rifts books when I came to the realization that I would never need them again.
@markcampbell4080
3 жыл бұрын
I agree with all of points. There is so much to love as well. The alignment system is one of my favorites of any game system and doling out experience based on your actions and not just combat. I love the different magic systems and the world at large. But it's very dated, I like you saw a light at the end of the tunnel in Savage Worlds.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I definitely agree with you about the experience system. It's one of the bits that was way ahead of it's time and inspired other RPGs to give out experience for role playing rather than just murdering things. Thanks for watching and commenting. :)
@markcampbell4080
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain and not to mention Kevin Siembieda is his own editor. Why do we need three paragraphs on why it's not a good idea for a Glitter Boy to stand on a submarine under water? Lol!
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@markcampbell4080 Indeed, he also insists on personally editing and approving all writing from every other writer. It's why most of them choose to move on to other companies.
@weirdguy564
3 жыл бұрын
I only ever played the Palladium RPGs. I can't say they're better or worse because its the only system I know. The only other game I played was the BattleTech tabletop war game. That is another game that is fairly rules heavy (in fact Battletech has a running joke called "we have a rule for that"). That being said, I got used to Palladium rules, GM'ed it most of the time, and I was able to make my own shortcuts such as just making up NPC's without bothering to role them up as acurate player character stat sheet with correct tallied up stat numbers. I just said it is this guy, his stats are this, and go. Mosty of the time the bad guy stats were made by looking at the player characters, then setting the NPC stats below the players so they would win. The NPC's don't need a lot more than that as they exist mostly to be fought and beaten or killed.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
Sounds like you really like the Palladium system, and you have no problems using it. You may still enjoy learning some new systems and seeing what else is out there. There are a lot of great options out there these days. The next time you want to start a new campaign, think about trying a newer system. :)
@weirdguy564
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Yeah, but having spent all my time learning Palladium rules in my head I don't see the need to retrain. If I'm playing Rifts again, it will be the original Palladium books version. I'm reading the new books from Savage World as we speak because your videos on Savage Worlds got me interested in it, but the original rules do work when you get to know them. I'm not saying their perfect either. The rules do make character creation take a long time. For example I just spent a whole night working out the stats of a robot power armor/transforming motorcycle for a Heroes Unlimited super hero. Technically a transformer isn't even possible, but I modified an existing rule/budget item for larger robots to let me do it on a smaller scale robot power armor. Then picking out features and adding up the costs of everything just took me hours by itself. I also am not a fan of their vehicle rules at all, or how your seven stats for you character basically never get used for anything, ever. An IQ of 9 doesn't do anything different than an IQ of 14 for example. I've had to make up situations where people roll a 1D20 against their attributes, something that doesn't appear in the rules, ever, just to make attributes relavent. Or come up with odd rules like allowing people to dodge bullets if they have cover to dive/hide behind, and not allowing it if they're out in the open.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@weirdguy564 I hope you do give Savage Worlds a try, it's a natural step in trying other systems since you can play in the multiverse that you are so familiar with. It's a good idea to be familiar with a few different systems to know what systems you like for what sorts of games and situations. Many systems have things that they just don't do well while they excel at other things.
@ryanevong928
Жыл бұрын
I wish this would get turned into a giant MMO
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
I would definitely play a video game set in the Rifts Earth setting.
@aaronsomerville2124
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video! Really interesting. I disagree with virtually everything you said about RPGs in general. I started gaming in the 80s, but I prefer 70s games to 80s games, and 80s games to 90s games, etc. Every new 'generation' of RPGs gets further and further from what makes RPGs good. 5e D&D is so far from everything interesting and charming about Original D&D (1974) that's it's like drinking decaf vs espresso. I've never played Rifts but I'd love to try it some day.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
You’re welcome and thank you for the civil disagreement. It’s nice to be able to disagree with someone on the internet without it automatically having to be a fight. I really appreciate your comment.
@Jay121
2 жыл бұрын
It was a lot of fun when i got it in 1990.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
Back then, I would definitely have rated it much higher. ;)
@johnwalsh4857
Жыл бұрын
yah back in the mid to late 80s played RECON and ROBOTECH a lot. loved RECON esp. and that uses the same system. Never had a problem with it, depends on your game master. Yep a lot more labour intensive than RPGs these days but still can be done and well done.
@zanth1973
4 жыл бұрын
Great fair review. First got into palladium through tmnt and Robotech Rpgs. Played them for years before getting the rifts main book in 1990. Played all through to the 2000s. Ive gotta check out this savage worlds. Thanks
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome, thank you for watching and for commenting. :)
@carl779
5 жыл бұрын
Played Rifts way back in the early nineties while still at high school. I still have the main rules book and source book one I think. Is it the idea that you would use the original rifts source material to supplement whats in the savage world's edition? As surely the three savage worlds books can't have as much content as the original source books. At 40 though, I don't know where I'd find a group to play with, let alone as virtually a beginner....
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I did convert some stuff into savage worlds myself after seeing how they did their conversions. Though I mostly used stuff from the SW Rifts books. You’d be surprised about finding a group, I’m around the same age as you and I manage to find groups to game with. Check online and in any local game stores for a start.
@carl779
5 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Thanks for the info, the only reason I'm thinking about this stuff is I stumbled across your review (Which is great btw)and remembered I still have the books sitting in my attic somewhere. The RPG subreddit seems like a good place to start with quite a few newbies posting there asking the same questions.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
Carl Droege thank you, and I hope you find a game group. Let me know how it goes. :)
@chrisbrummet588
5 жыл бұрын
Discord chat in the main web site for the company.
@charleslennonbaker
4 жыл бұрын
Carl Droege that’s the chief reason we played it back then (1990s) and now. Me and my merry crew were/are Robotech fans. Because the Rifts core system is the same across the books (MegaVerse) we could easily adapt the mecha, some character classes, many of the weapons, and most of the D-bees from Rifts to the Robotech campaigns. I have a lot in my life I owe to Rifts. It inspired me to become a writer and a voice actor. Although I have tried other RPGs, I always come back to Rifts.
@Shatteredragon
4 жыл бұрын
My GM introduced us to a simple house rule to alter the issues with attacks. A melee round was 15 seconds, he broke each melee into 5 second segments, segment 1, 2, and 3. The players would then break down their actions/attacks per melee into 3, so 4 actions would become 1/2/1, or 7 would become 2/3/2. The initiative would stand per segment throughout that melee, surprisingly, it didn't affect the game balance, and kept PC's with low attacks involved in the combat.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
I used to do something similar.
@Sgt_Mushroom
5 жыл бұрын
I am currently running a campaign of Rifts, I agree that it is very intensive to GM. I also backed the Savage Rifts Kickstarter. I found it to be just as flawed as the Palladium version, just in a different way.
@onabiv
3 жыл бұрын
I've been trying to find an online game. It's damn near impossible these days.
@MastertheGamerpg
3 жыл бұрын
I subscribed because of this video. Palladium Books Heroes Unlimited was my very first Tabletop RPG.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for subscribing, I've subbed back. I plan to watch some of your long form vids later while working. Rifts was the first RPG I ever bought, though the first I ever played was D&D, unfortunately with a terrible DM.
@laarbpad2107
Жыл бұрын
Thoughtful analysis. I’d argue combat turns seems to make sense, although don’t have knowledge of modern rpg mechanics. Why would like a librarian or scholar have as many “actions” as a trained soldier? That would unrealistically buff the non combat class and debut the combat class character. If you play as a squishy class, you have to avoid combat at all costs (bribe, bluff, blackmail, run, hide, surrender [if you are reasonably sure you won’t be killed on the spot or eaten], intimidate) or travel in the company of fighters/warriors/soldiers/monsters that can do the heavy lifting and equip yourself with armor, shields, or magical items that will protect. Otherwise just chose a combat class if you want to be the one swinging the axe. Pen and paper rpgs seem like the ideal format for non combat characters as you have so many options for imaginative ways to not have to slug it out. Just my two cents.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
The issue with combat isn't the number of attacks but rather how they're distributed. The front loading of attacks makes no sense and isn't at all fun for characters with too few.
@laarbpad2107
Жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain ah, got it. Don’t remember that being an issue, but it’s been a bit since I played. Also, maybe the GM had homebrewed a fix without me realizing.
@shadeiland
Жыл бұрын
I started playing in 1990. Out of a lot of game systems I really like the story’s, settings and world. The system was… clunky. Still love it though.
@ryderma1
5 жыл бұрын
Juicer! One of my all time favorite characters. That being said, you really couldn't play a regular Juicer and go up against a lot of the later added monsters and characters. The game setting was very much dependant on what type of characters we wanted to play. Fair review. I'd probably give it a bit higher, but I haven't played in years and I would just be basing mine off of my fond memories. You have me curious about savage worlds, I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the Good Vid.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting. Yeah, it was very telling about the power creep when they later came out with a book filled with more powerful juicer varieties. I do highly recommend checking out the Savage Worlds Rifts, we had a lot of fun with it. :)
@tkskagen
3 жыл бұрын
All "PALLADIUM BOOKS" (RPG) ate awesome!
@dranorcat44
3 жыл бұрын
i agree on the rules tweaking for combat. hard to get into depth for newbies and it turns some people off. saw that in one of my best friends as it was the only time he showed interest in tabletop. been tweaking Rifts 15 years since because fun/inclusion should always be rule 1.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
Well said, well said indeed.
@nrais76
Жыл бұрын
The skills are a little bit more flexible for many of the classes than your comments could be interpreted as painting them, BUT a valid point nonetheless. Have played Palladium games on and off since '92. Too labor-intensive for me to keep a campaign running for long. Thinking I might run Palladium Fantasy RPG IF I pick up the monster books, partly because the setting seems cool and different enough from D&D.
@nrais76
Жыл бұрын
I did have a relatively kong-running game of Robotech, though.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
@@nrais76 you should definitely look into running a newer system. There’s lots out there with very different fantasy worlds and settings that are far less labor intensive.
@ChristiantrospectiveGamer
4 жыл бұрын
I've actually considered trying to convert Rifts to D20. It was then I realized how vicious Rifts really is. There's no "We needed a cleric, so you're the healbot." You don't even get healing spells until you can cast 4th level spells. After that, I thought about just researching every game system and trying to find a blend that makes it work best. We'll see if that ever comes to fruition. Might have had a chance to do it during the pandemic, but have one of those super essential jobs...so no time. Oh well.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
Have you tried the Savage Worlds version of Rifts? I had actually been thinking of converting Rifts to Savage Worlds before I heard that they were going to do it officially. It's pretty good, and the only way I'll play in the multiverse at this point.
@ChristiantrospectiveGamer
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain I honestly haven't played an RPG in some time, and the last time I did, it was that god-awful watered-down version of D&D called 5E (let's dumb it down for EVERYONE) and before that, 4E (let's make it for all those MMO gamers out there.) I used to love playing Rifts, but we never had a quality GM, and because my friends and I knew (in high school, mind you) how to game the system with character creation, we made 4 man party who took down the 4 horsemen starting at lvl 1. Still, the lore of Rifts is the best part, and because it encompasses SO much, it makes for a world even more vibrant and expansive than 3E Faerun (the only other game to challenge Rifts in number of books put out after the original.)
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
@@ChristiantrospectiveGamer you probably wouldn't like Savage Worlds then, you would probably find it a bit too "rules light." I would recommend Pathfinder second edition if you're looking to roleplay again. It's much heavier on the rules. It evolved directly from D&D third edition. I've got some vids on it on my channel if you're interested. Rifts definitely still has great lore, the system on the other hand...
@ChristiantrospectiveGamer
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain The system isn't even that bad. The problems I ran into are as follows : 1.)that KS must have had money problems or something, because he just started rushing out books as fast as he could, and it feels (more often than not) that they were incomplete (there are RCCs without any language or literacy entries. You mean you're an alien being and you don't speak or read/write in your own native language?) 2.)Rifts books are expansive. This is awesome. But KS never details that you should only create characters out of a book if you're PLAYING EXCLUSIVELY FROM THAT BOOK. This is what I believe led to power creep and GM problems later on. "I want to be a True Atlantean!" - But we're not playing in Atlantis. "Where are we playing?" - United States. "Then I'll be a True Atlantean Glitter Boy." Now, there's nothing in the rules against doing this. Is this power creep? Yes and no. True Atlanteans are powerful and are supposed to be used as PCs. However, they aren't supposed to be used in any book OTHER THAN the Atlantis book. Each book KS wrote for Rifts was basically supposed to be a standalone world, but players and GMs alike allowed cross-pollination. The Splugorth couldn't care less about what's happening to the Vampire Kingdoms in Mexico. Japan doesn't concern itself with the druids of England. Why would an Apok care about what's going on in the NGR? They wouldn't. But rather than seeing each book as its own system, GMs and players alike allowed any and everything to be used any and everywhere, and all it did was cause more problems. 3.)Never truly defining why PCC, RCC, and OCC exist. I think he did this because he wanted to avoid all the problems of D&D when it came to people wanting to choose powerful races as characters. In D&D 3E, if you want to play a human, your effective character level as a 1st level fighter is 1. If you want to play a Drow, your effective character level as a 1st level fighter is 3. Which means, because you're playing a more powerful race, you're a 3rd level character but only have 1st level fighter HP, attacks, saves, etc. It's a shame he never really went into this or explained any of it, or truly laid out how multiclassing should work, or what happens if you want to pick a race to play a specific class. Again, this all falls back to him rushing out books and leaving entire swaths of information out of them. 4.)Auto-dodge should only apply to melee attacks. A sniper shooting at a Juicer who's sitting at his campfire 500 yards away shouldn't have to worry about the Juicer reacting to his shot. In a game that focuses on gritty realism, I think this fell far short of the mark. So, obviously, Rifts does have some problems, but realistically, they aren't system problems, they're creative problems. As far as Savage Worlds, I've looked at the Deluxe book, and it's interesting, but I haven't seen the Rifts version. I don't see how they'll end up working attributes, edges, etc, if you want to play a dragon hatchling. Like I said, (and I'm just going off the original) it doesn't seem like it will allow for a lot of variety. I don't mind rules light...streamlining things can be great. When I think of rules heavy, I think of Warhammer 40k...and I don't think Rifts is anywhere near that, but that doesn't mean that some things can't be fixed. However, I don't like "options light" which seems to be the problem with most newer systems. 5E is a perfect example of this. The Drow used to be a powerful race of dark elves, seldom seen, and definitely to be feared. Now, they're a starting player race, and they don't really feel any different than playing a human, or a surface elf, for that matter.
@thomascaramela9699
5 жыл бұрын
In your opinion is there much of a future left for Rifts in the RPG world? All, I see in Vegas is a large growth in people playing D&D.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I think that the Savage Worlds edition has given the universe a new lease on life. The original rules system, however, seems doomed to a slow death as Palladium refuses to update it.
@andropple1013
5 жыл бұрын
See my comments above and you'll see that this game series will survive a lot longer than most think. They are now the oldest, longest surviving role playing game without a change in their series. They have more content than any other gaming system, including Dungeons and Dragons. While they are not as well loved as DnD they are still around and kicking. I think most people if they played with a GM that knows the system would prefer that game, but most of the GM's have gone the easier route with DnD and their simplified rule set.
@dragonturtle2703
Жыл бұрын
I actually like the combat turn method. Low combat characters are always going to feel overshadowed in combat. The only way around it is to go the D&D rout of everyone being a pretty good combat class, everyone having a decent number of skills, etc.
@fredbrooks9734
4 жыл бұрын
Great video and I agree with everything said in it. Still a fan of the world not the mechanics. Though with a good GM I would play it again. Good on you for not being afraid of being honest on the merits and flaws of the Rifts mechanics
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. I completely agree, I'd play any system with a great gm. :)
@joeycavazos4817
2 жыл бұрын
I've played both d&d and rifts.. they are both good. But i do like rifts a bit more.... my favorite is rifts south America
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
My favorite place to play Rifts was the south west of the former US. I ran an entire campaign out of Arzno. A close second was dinosaur swamp.
@joeycavazos4817
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain never made it that far. My Amazon was having some fun clearing put pirates in South america.. was headed to England after that man thst was almost 20 years ago!. Then we stopped and was playing night breed i believe. Where u can shape shift which is part of your abilities. Had a character thst looked like Pixie from Monster Rancher
@lknanml
Жыл бұрын
Oh man.. We played this for awhile back in the 90s. Rifts in space. Still have a few books.. Thanks for the blast ah Rift down memory lane. OH yea.. Fielding a Glitter Boy.. Roll. Your arm is blown off. Time to rally and kick ass. Spoiler. There was no rally Only 6 more hours.. Won't this be fun. Ahh those were the days.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
I know exactly what you mean.
@lknanml
Жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Do you remember Car Wars? 1980ish release? We found it in 1987. We ended up making 3D tracks. It was a HIGH end setup. Yea. Cut up gid maps and tape. Can't recall if the game had rules or we added them for minimum speeds and loss of control going into a loop. Too slow and you fell off or shot off the side. I was getting hammered. I entered the loop as my rear armor was destroyed. One hit and I was done. Decided to try a 180 since I had a TON of armor on the front and I might land a good shot. I had to a roll a 1 to pull it off. Another roll of 1 to shoot and a roll of 2 to have enough speed to complete the loop. Here we go.. 1st roll was a 1 as we collectively said OHHH lol. 2nd roll to shoot was a 1. More ohhhs 3rd roll to maintain speed was a 2. Rolled a 6. Damnit!! Unexpected 4th roll took place because he ran right into me.. Rolled a 1 !! WTF NO WAY!!!! LOL Now the attacking car was going too slow and he lost the roll, fell off and blew up hitting the ground. UH.. So that happened. I never played Car Wars again. I'd never eclipse that move so I decided to go out on top. Good times, Good times.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
@@lknanml I do remember car wars, they actually released a new edition just a few years ago.
@onabiv
3 жыл бұрын
I find your review very interesting. Many of the things that you say is negatives I consider positives. I'm really not a fan of the oversimplified games that we see these days. I also don't like systems that combine skills and combat into the same system. They shouldn't be the same. Combat should be simple, skills should be complex. Keeping them separate was a stroke of genius, in my opinion. I will agree about the number of attacks per turn. I always house-ruled characters to give the weaker ones more attacks. Or I would give them "attacks" where they couldn't actually attack but could make other actions.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
We will have to agree to disagree about the two systems, but we definitely agree about the issues with the way different numbers of attacks are handled.
@NerdsofWisdom
5 жыл бұрын
I wish I had time to play all the RPG's!
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
Me too.
@DarkepyonX
2 жыл бұрын
Question: There was a Rifts racial class that anything it held , would do MDC damage and that could lead to some absolutely ridiculously hilarious moments
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
I'm sorry that I don't remember, and I've sold off my old Rifts books at this point. I think making this video was instrumental in convincing myself that I was probably never going to use them again.
@SobiTheRobot
2 жыл бұрын
Ain't that just Glitter Boys in general?
@michaelstriker8698
Жыл бұрын
Labor intensive: Space Opera and Anarchy Online come to mind. {edit: DBs with TMNT, if you have it}
@TheBoardGameKaptain
Жыл бұрын
I haven't played those. What makes them so labor intensive?
@michaelstriker8698
Жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Anarchy Online is an mmorpg with some cool stuff like flying vehicles, solo missions, in-combat spell-free healing, post-combat spell-free healing, all classes have basic buffs and class-specific spells, leveling from making gear/med kits is possible if you have the mats, and 200 levels of mobs/missions/dungeons. (It may be possible to level sneaking through missions with trap-clearing and lock-picking experience and no combat. You get experience from using those 2 skills in missions.) (There are nano points (magic) used to cast nanos (spells) and nanomages (like wizards) are great at this. If your nano pool runs low, you can use a nano kit to refresh it.) Also cool is 3 sets of gear slots: implants (semi-permanent), armor, and weapons/misc/CPUs. And, group missions don't require all of the group members to do them - this makes a kind of power-leveling available. Plus vehicles become available at higher levels, including flyers around L75. On the labor-intensive side, every level has 1500 pts (increases at specific levels) to spend on 8 stats and 50-ish skills. Each skill point in a stat or skill costs a bit more than the previous one, and dark blue skills cost 2x green skills. Green skills are class skills. But, you often can't maximize all of your green stats, and some light blue stats and blue stats are needed for spells. It is possible, if you choose several out-of-class skills, to have a somewhat functional character by level 50, and a barely playable one by 75. Examples are like an enforcer (melee type) with ranged weapons that have multiple attacks and a spell focus, or my Atrox martial artist with implant construction and medical skills. There is also the implant planning, as different stats and skills benefit different characters AND several skills use the same slot. (7 implants, 3 slots each, 3 levels of power for augments (1 level each per implant: faded, bright, shiny), need ever higher treatment to implant/remove them) Implants can be built by anyone with enough skill, but that skill is often a blue or dark blue skill. And there is armor/weapon planning. Some weapons give extra combat abilities, but also require more skill levels in the relevant areas, like a pistol with burst, fling shot, and dual wield requiring Burst skill, Fling Shot skill, and Pistol skill to use, plus ranged dual wield skill for 2 pistols. Different armor types tend to have different advantages against damage types. Like cold armor vs fire but not cold or disease, vs hot armor being good vs cold but not radiation or poison. In addition, there is the in-combat HP (first aid kit) and mana (nano something) kits, plus the post-combat "heals both" kits (treatment kit). These also require first aid and treatment skills. Add in player-made gear which, while it requires various skills to make, can be made level-specific. Level specific gear gives the user an advantage over mobs because the stats tend to be better. = = = Space Opera is a percentage based system with 14 randomly rolled stats, 7-20 races (depending on how detailed you want, like Ursine or Canine or other canine races), 5-20 home planet types with gravity/atmosphere/environment bonuses and weaknesses, along with various classes (including a Force-like-wielding class) with class-specific and class-related skills. As with several game systems, your stats can limit or enhance your class options. Ship design involves frame, engines, jump drive, power plant, computer, armor, beam cannons and missiles, programs, and parasite craft (fighters, shuttles, skiffs). Space station design involves the same except for engines and jump drives. There are several governments outlined, too. So, designing an adventure with various contacts, enemies, transports, and local color/background, can be very labor intensive. Like Traveller, only more so.
@davidransom4703
2 жыл бұрын
this is the best series of books just the world books you can spend days making up stuff i converted so many characters from movies and other books we even did marvel super heroes and the predator characters just the best open ended series I've ever played i need to catch up on books though will be checking out you're content thank you
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome and thank you. :)
@DANTICVS
2 жыл бұрын
GMing is labor intensive. You can just make up the stats for enemies though.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
True but the number of stats and the system here makes if far more time intensive to do than many other systems such as Alien RPG, Savage Worlds, Pathfinder, Vaessen, etc. And all of those systems include already made monsters and NPCs in their books so that you don't actually need to make them. The decision to keep with the format of making each stat a range (3D6 or 2D6, etc) rather than just having a few examples statted out and ready to use of each type of enemy/monster in the books has always been a real head scratcher for me. It's just not user friendly.
@chrisboone2755
4 жыл бұрын
I just wanted to reply around 19:20 mark...You know you don't need to roll for NPC stats right? You can simply pick a stat between the 3d6 or avg it to 10. I GM'ed RIFTS for a few years and pretty much did that. Gave avg stats to things, noted bonuses, etc.
@chrisboone2755
4 жыл бұрын
Also at 21:10 ... Doesn't DnD still have players manual and monsters manual?
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
I’m fully aware and used to assign attributes rather then roll for them when making monsters myself. It’s still far more labor intensive then the game just having ready to use monsters and NPCs like most modern games. As for D&D and Pathfinder requiring 2 books each to play, yes they do. I generally feel like you need far more books to have enough details to run a Rifts game and the books are organized in a far less user friendly manner.
@charleslennonbaker
4 жыл бұрын
I always felt Rifts would make the perfect video game RPG. In fact I bought Destiny 1&2 video games because they resembled the core dynamics of Rifts to a tee. In the past twenty years, I find myself looking for and comparing many SCI-FI movies that contain or clone the Rifts ‘idea’. The first Hellboy movie for a long time was just about everything I could have hoped for in a Rifts movie, come to fruition.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
It is a real shame that they were never able to get a deal going for a Rifts video game series. I would have loved an open world game, like Fallout 3 was. That would have been awesome.
@mercedogre
5 жыл бұрын
(long time Rifts fan) I agree with you that the attacks/actions per melee rules as described in the book are wonky because a character with 4 actions/melee may have to sit idly by as others finished their attacks unencumbered, but Ive come up with a house rule that fixes that, each combat round consists of 5 turns, if you have more than 5 actions/melee you can double up on actions in one turn (to reflect your characters speed/agility during combat) or use an attack that requires 2 turns ie power punch, if a character has 5 actions/melee, take one action per turn, if a character has less than 5, then they have to "sit out" one turn of their choice, beginning, middle or end of the round, this rule ensures all character start and end the combat round together
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I did something similar the last time I GM'd Rifts, though I split each combat round into 4 turns.
@mercedogre
5 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain I did five because the books describes a melee action being approx 3 secs each with a full round is 15 seconds
@isaacfreeman1
4 жыл бұрын
I broke combat into 4 TURNS with variable amounts of ACTIONS. Movement is a set value per turn (SPD = ft traveled)
@Messiah114
4 жыл бұрын
Im kinda confused, how do you "play" a book
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
I'm not sure if your joking or serious. If you are serious and have never played a role playing game, I'll link to a whole game play vid we shot for a different rpg called Forbidden Lands. Take a look, it should give you a good idea about how you play a role playing game, kzitem.info/news/bejne/koKZzXhrpp2pi6A
@Messiah114
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Haha thank you
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
Messiah you’re welcome.
@j.celgoog3275
2 жыл бұрын
Like many other here, started Rifts in 1995, for nearly 10 years. Damn, as soon as I tried DD3.5, I couldn't even play it again. A pity because the content is second to none.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
I know exactly what you mean.
@j.celgoog3275
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain The worst is that I manage ONCE to bring my friends to play Rifts. I had to buy the ultimate edition since so many extremely basic rules for D&D doesn't even exist in Rifts (hidding, spotting ?) and at the end of the game, that was pleasant for me, everyone looked at me saying "Ok, ok, no new game, thank you". And when you write on the forum of Palladiumbooks that you (and many others) want a second Edition, even Maryann Zembieda used to laugh at us.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
2 жыл бұрын
@@j.celgoog3275 I don't think that they'll ever do a second edition. They seem completely philosophically opposed to the idea. I was incredibly surprised that they gave Pinnacle the rights to do a Savage Worlds version of the rules. I think that what this tells us is that while they will never do an actual second edition of their rules, they are willing to license the IP out for others to make alternate rules versions. I'd be interested to see if anyone else does this with any other rules systems or if Savage Rifts will be unique.
@chickenbonelives
5 жыл бұрын
Me and some friends played this in high school and I don't think we ever even really knew what we were doing. recently a friend busted out his giant stack of Rifts books and decided to do another campaign like 20 years later and we could not make characters. the process for making characters is extremely frustrating and took us 9 hours sharing one book. We played two sessions and I don't think we're going to go back for a third. If we're going to play 80s and 90s games I'm going to stick with my cyberpunk 2020.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
I do concur. The system is just clunky and unwieldy.
@fiddleback4903
4 жыл бұрын
With online games it's pointless to use Stone age table top games.
@fiddleback4903
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Yeah, RIFTS was 90% artwork, 5% original content, and 5% actual game play. 🤔😂
@krassos
3 жыл бұрын
If I ever get Crazy Billionaire Money I'm gonna buy Palladium and update the system. Or probably hire someone to do so.
@krassos
3 жыл бұрын
Also, even for 5E D&D you need the Monster Manual and the GM's Guide to play.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
That would be a good use of your lottery winnings. ;)
@krassos
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Kevin is getting on in years and I do love Palladium's settings - so they need to keep going.
@joeycavazos4817
2 жыл бұрын
The Amazon and Anti-Monster! R.c.c
@joecoo4615
3 жыл бұрын
Rifts is great the books are awesome still pick em up from to time Mechanic wise Rifts gives you a shed load. MDC and PPE both got added If you check out the First edition of Paladiums Fantasy game ( The black n red book ) it's I.S.P only. You pick n choose what you want to use. Tailor them to your table. Recently picked up Mork Borg and using ideas from Palladium stuff. Just picked up Wormwood and loving that. Runs great with L.o.t.F.P 's Carcosa.
@joecoo4615
3 жыл бұрын
Of course the SDC damage was in The original fantasy game.
@joecoo4615
3 жыл бұрын
Ultimate Edition was personally disappointed with so swaped it for a heap of Rifts source books and the original RIFTS Corebook. Your collection is sweet.
@joecoo4615
3 жыл бұрын
The skills where bonkers just bogged down the game no end. Skill lists are crazy.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
@@joecoo4615 I quite like Mork Borg, I did a review of it as well. I finally decided to sell my collection some time after filming the review to make room for newer games. "Bogged down" is a great description, they just kept adding stuff. I still love the multiverse, but the game is cumbersome. ;)
@joecoo4615
3 жыл бұрын
Have you come across Breachworld ? That game for me back into gaming It's definitely got a Rifts vibe and i had a forward by K. S. Savage Worlds I wanted to get into but it's expensive. I just warrant spending the cash on it. Would rather by other books and hack in Palladium ideas filing off the serial numbers.
@AxiomofDiscord
3 жыл бұрын
To be fair it is more playable out of the mainbook than is Savage Rifts.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
I disagree, though it's not a fully fair comparison. Savage rifts main book is actually several smaller books, including the Savage Worlds book for the system. The Rifts main book is much larger, and may contain all the basic rules, but then you need multiple other books to properly play in any region of the world because the main Rifts book has no monsters, no D-bees, and only minor information on the different population centers. I ran a long running game in the south western former US, and felt like I needed New West, Spirit West, Rifts Mercenaries, Vampire Kingdoms, and a few bits from Juicer uprising and Canada to run it correctly, plus Arzno, because that was the actual setting. They spread info about a single region around into tons of books rather than organize them better into a few like a monster manual for all the monsters, a setting guide for each region, a guide to weapons for all the cool toys, etc. The Rifts books will make repeated reference to a monster that's common in a region, like say the Fury Beetle for north America, and then only provide the rules for it in some obscure book that's no where near where your playing, Rifts Canada for the Fury beetle even though it's supposed to be more common in the American south west.
@TenchiJeff
4 жыл бұрын
Character creation in Palladium games drives me nuts. The character classes section list a % bonus for skills, and you have flip to the skills section and add the %s together to get the actual skill for that class. I don't understand why they do this, why not just have the complete skill % listed for each class instead of constantly flipping back and forth to the skill section during character creation? There are a ton of little quality of life things and conveniences players have wanted fixed for 30 years, their refusal to update their archaic system is aggravating.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
Indeed, they refuse to change in even the tiniest way. They should have done a proper update to and streamlining of their rules system ages ago. As newer companies were making games far more user friendly, they should have noticed and adjusted how they did things to stay competitive. They're just too inflexible and resistant to change.
@TenchiJeff
4 жыл бұрын
@@TheBoardGameKaptain Then they could resell all their old stuff again with new rules dropped in, profit! Another thing they did that upset me was the Macross II rpg. They made the 6000 meter Macross Cannon only a few hundred meters long. They also botched the Manhunter rpg, although the original by Myrmidon was missing the entire magic section from the main book, so it wasn't too great to begin with.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
4 жыл бұрын
@@TenchiJeff I really feel like the only time that they play their own games anymore is at cons. From things I've heard, Kevin only seems to play PFRPG and ignores all the other games. I've also heard from people who've played in games he GMs at the cons that he heavily house rules his own system, which is very weird, because he's also obviously not satisfied with it then.
Man! I had no idea you were such a RiftsHead! Rifts IS Awesome, though I think it is telling that I have spent many, many hours of my life trying to CONVERT IT TO A DIFFERENT SYSTEM*!!!!!!!! *Mostly Hero...
@TheBoardGameKaptain
5 жыл бұрын
Indeed, you should give the Savage Worlds version a try.
@TheZorch
3 жыл бұрын
Name me an RPG system that doesn't have flaws, I'll wait. If you're a new person getting into Rifts it helps to have a good GM who is willing to take time to explain how the systems work. It can be confusing with S.D.C., M.D.C., etc. The game itself lends itself well to almost any campaign ideas you could possibly imagine. The amount of material available can be overwhelming for some new players.
@TheBoardGameKaptain
3 жыл бұрын
You missed the point. I never claimed that there was a perfect system out there. Most designers refine and develop their systems over time to improve them. The Palladium system has simply stagnated for most of the last 30 years.
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