What are your favorite memories from the Rifts main book (1990)?

[JoshDavis]

What is it that you just loved from the original Rifts main book?

What did you find novel and unique?

What are your most exciting memories?

What is something that didn't work for you or felt awkward?

What was your first character or GM experience like?

I first encountered Rifts in 1997. It was a completely original game. I had been exposed to a few RPGs up until that point, and I was blown away by the novel combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, dystopia, and mecha action. I loved the idea that almost anything could exist in this world. I remember sitting around with my friends in the school cafeteria every morning and building our characters together to get ready for the weekend when we would play our first game. I made a Wilderness Scout who I also imagined as something of a sharpshooter and sniper. Looking back, I wish I had made him a Juicer instead. I think a Juicer with some wilderness skills would have better accomplished what I was going for. I didn't really understand how necessary MD weapons and MDC armor were at the time. I remember imagining being a sniper with an MD weapon and thinking "that's just too messy. You wouldn't use a bazooka to assassinate someone." I was wrong though. I learned certain MD weapons can be precision weapons and the value of making every attack a called shot.

[taalismn]

You totally use a bazooka. Accuracy is great, but if you miss by an inch, you may as well miss by a mile.
A weapon with a good blast radius (and ideally a proximity fuse) ups your chances of scoring on the target.

[Grazzik]

Going from D&D to opening RMB and seeing Full Conversion Borgs... yeah, a bit of culture shock there that got me hooked...

[taalismn]

Went from Robotech to Rifts; was wowed by the hardware and the massive damage potential. Plus some of the scary concepts like Juicers, Crazies, and 'Borgs.

[MantazSectle]

I recall being impressed by the artwork, the premise of the game, and the variety of classes, powers, and gear.

I just received a copy of the book today, along with:

Vampire Kingdoms
Atlantis
RIFTS Sourcebook
Conversion Book


I find that all the things I liked then, I still like. Siembieda's foreword/introduction was engaging and effective. The Quick Find table is handy.

There are a few minor hiccups and omissions, but the Sourcebook pretty much covered those.

I'm foggy on my first PC, but he might also have been a wilderness scout. That Kevin Long illustration really sells it!
I know my second PC was 'Weird Thing' a Kukulkan dragon hatchling (Conversion Book) who roamed the streets of Jurez in a mega-damage plated sedan with a Dragon Wolf and teamed up with a pair of renegade dog boys and a ley line walker to stamp some vamps.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

I had a roundabout entry into Rifts. Didn't read the original 1990 version, but I was aware of the Palladium system through Robotech, which my older brother was reading in the mid-late 80s. I was barely old enough to understand it at the time, so while I didn't get involved in playing, the art and layout of Palladium books did stick with me.

I never had a D&D book, so I was never 'tainted' by its influence. I discovered a personal interest in Rifts (as opposed to the tangential Palladium interest from my brother) circa 2008, when I had a strong inclination towards tech and wanting to make a detailed sentient AI/NI character (essentially in the vein of Terminator, but without the 'kill everyone' programming; this was inspired by the new Terminator TV show). I vaguely recalled how Palladium's character creation system worked from the Robotech books (as well as the original Heroes Unlimited that my brother also owned), and so I bought the Rifts Ultimate Edition with a general idea of what to expect, but not sure if it'd keep my interest.

In the years since, I've gravitated more towards magic and psionics and now consider magic my main focus. But I still like tech, just not to the exclusion of everything else.

I consider that a testament to the depth and quality of the Rifts setting, that I could start playing it with an almost diametrically opposed mindset to what I have now; and yet those two perspectives can still happily coexist in the same universe and I can switch between them at will.

I have since dabbled in other settings that mix magic and tech, but none of them stick with me like Rifts. The Palladium rules system contributes a lot to the semi-plausible feel of the setting, and for me, plausibility/realism is necessary.

[JoshDavis]

I never had a D&D book, so I was never 'tainted' by its influence. I discovered a personal interest in Rifts (as opposed to the tangential Palladium interest from my brother) circa 2008, when I had a strong inclination towards tech and wanting to make a detailed sentient AI/NI character (essentially in the vein of Terminator, but without the 'kill everyone' programming; this was inspired by the new Terminator TV show). I vaguely recalled how Palladium's character creation system worked from the Robotech books (as well as the original Heroes Unlimited that my brother also owned), and so I bought the Rifts Ultimate Edition with a general idea of what to expect, but not sure if it'd keep my interest.

In the years since, I've gravitated more towards magic and psionics and now consider magic my main focus. But I still like tech, just not to the exclusion of everything else.

I consider that a testament to the depth and quality of the Rifts setting, that I could start playing it with an almost diametrically opposed mindset to what I have now; and yet those two perspectives can still happily coexist in the same universe and I can switch between them at will.

I have since dabbled in other settings that mix magic and tech, but none of them stick with me like Rifts. The Palladium rules system contributes a lot to the semi-plausible feel of the setting, and for me, plausibility/realism is necessary.

A lot of that resonates with me. I'd never seen D&D when I picked up Rifts for the first time although I played other RPGs that were undoubtedly influenced by it. The setting really does make the game system in a lot of ways. I don't know if I would play "generic post-apocalyyptic robtots, magic, and aliens" game without the rich world the game laid out. Some of my fondest memories of that first book was reading through the fiction and thinking that if dragons and magic and aliens did exist, it probably would look a lot like this. Lots of fantasy settings have characters who are larger than life, and that makes them difficult to relate to. But the gritty nature of Rifts felt real to me.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

A lot of that resonates with me. I'd never seen D&D when I picked up Rifts for the first time although I played other RPGs that were undoubtedly influenced by it. The setting really does make the game system in a lot of ways. I don't know if I would play "generic post-apocalyyptic robtots, magic, and aliens" game without the rich world the game laid out. Some of my fondest memories of that first book was reading through the fiction and thinking that if dragons and magic and aliens did exist, it probably would look a lot like this. Lots of fantasy settings have characters who are larger than life, and that makes them difficult to relate to. But the gritty nature of Rifts felt real to me.

I hear some people complain about books like Japan and the New West, but I don't mind when things get a little campy. I feel it'd be boring if it was all unrelentingly uniform and grim, and it'd be boring if it was totally incoherent and zany. I think Rifts walks that line pretty well. Each world book essentially creates its own little microcosm and as such, can be embraced or ignored by itself, or synthesized with other world book ideas. That ability to compartmentalize is what makes the setting so flexible overall. And then when you factor in conversions from other Palladium settings, then truly anything is possible.

As much as I like the other settings, I'm always thinking about how to convert characters into Rifts, not the other way around.

[Shorty Lickens]

I think for me it was the brutality and ugliness. At that time I hadn't seen any other RPG system go so hard.
Murder. Torture. Rape. Body horror including mutilation and cyber snatching and experimentation. Demon worshipping and sacrificing and soul-drinking. Drug addiction. Bio weapons. Chemical weapons. Possession and brain-washing. No other system I'd played had all those elements in one place. I didn't use most of those things in my scenarios, but the fact they exist and were included all together made me realize there was much more out there than just hobbits and trolls.
The last time I saw D&D touch that stuff was the Book of Vile Darkness, and as I recall that was only in 3rd Edition and it came out in 2002. So its actually pretty old when you consider all the books and new editions since then.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

The last time I saw D&D touch that stuff was the Book of Vile Darkness, and as I recall that was only in 3rd Edition and it came out in 2002. So its actually pretty old when you consider all the books and new editions since then.

I like that magic usage has moral baggage, CS persecution, etc, in Rifts; whereas in D&D it's just so common and integrated into so many classes/subclasses that it's completely unexceptional. Even making pacts with demons as a Warlock lacks any real moral conflict (unless the GM/players create it themselves).

D&D and other modern systems have seemingly moved away from hard-coded moral alignments for your character (D&D still has them nominally, but they're treated as an afterthought and barely given a paragraph in the core rule book). Younger players seem to be confused by, and disdainful of, classical morality; so they just ignore its existence. I like that Palladium still has a moral system you're expected to follow.

[Orin J.]

i remember first finding the book used somewhere and thinking how amazing it was to have a game system where you could move a charater up in combat potential just by giving them gear but that leveling was the big gate for improving their skills for out of combat potential.

then i found out my group was just gonna plasma anything that looked like it was gonna take brain cells. ah well, a few artillery strikes and they'd learn....

[Marcethus]

I first played Rifts in the late 90s. My first character was a CS RPA Elite SAMAS Pilot. The group was a mix of mages, non-humans and even a dragon hatchling. It was fun roleplaying the human supremist attitudes and watching the character grow out of them.

Then in 97 when I bought my own copy of the RMB, the shop I went to had a copy of the Silver edition for the same price as the soft cover. That shop became my FLGS until the store went out of business.

[slade2501]

I picked up the main book in 93, freshman year of high school. This game went HARD, absolutely batshite insane compared to anything I had seen before, D&D had nothing on this game in terms of character options, vehicles, equipment, magic, psionics and ALL IN ONE BOOK. I didn't have to buy 20 extra manuals or magazines to have a universe of options and details. Still the GOAT in terms of one stop imagination.

[Devjannz]

Favorite Memories was opening the book in 1990 and seeing that a Dragon was a player character option. My first character was a Fire Dragon Hatchling who had a thing for 80' Heavy Metal (he could play the guitar) and when shifted into a Human form would often look like he was from a band of that era. Since we were not sure exactly what the shapeshifting ability covered our GM said that he would make himself appear clothed and it could look like whatever I wanted, so he always had a leather jacket that said "Dragons are #1!" on the back and a shirt that said "You've tried all the rest, I bet Dragons are still the best" on the front.....that was part of the slight superiority complex that most dragons, god or bad, have. LOL He was a lot of fun to play and I still have that character sheet in my folder at home.

[desrocfc]

Not gonna lie, the layout. There is no competition between RMB and RUE, RMB the clear winner.

For me though it was the world overview section that presented just enough as a GM to really salivate over the adventure possibilities. The RUE has much of the same, but are 'updated' in regions with the new WBs that take much of the initial immersion away.

When they get around to rebooting the system and/or Rifts, I would love to see this section really go back to its roots.

[Ace, TW]

My twin brother and I came to Rifts through Robotech. We never had any D&d books and we self taught ourselves the rules of RT and of course when we went shopping for books the Rifts cover was hard to overlook. Once we realized they used the same rules we picked it up.

I initially wanted to play a Borg because it was like being a mecha pilot without ever having to get out or have it taken away. I moved on to a techno wizard soon because we needed a support class and they were just as capable as the operator.

Even better was when I realized that the class has the most incredible ability to riff on magic and do just about anything.

That he could fight just as well as the men-at-arms with a power armor suit was just sublime.

[hellbender]

Late to the party, sorry. I started out on D&D and played for a few years then had a dry spell. I picked up the RIFTS core book and was really blown away. This was maybe '91. I then bought the books as they came out and ran a lot of RIFTS, and I found that it appeals to a greater audience once you ditch the 'only fantasy' mentality that a lot of people seem to have. I then went dry for a few years, ran some Deadlands and back to D&D. However, I always had that RIFTS itch. My books were 'lost' in a move and now I am rebuilding my collection and, while I have Savage RIFTS and have run it, I don't know, it seems to be 'reeled in' a bit and a little too safe. It does make me laugh when I see all of the trendy 'NuDnD' players bragging about their tiefling as if it the coolest thing ever. They really need to look outside of the trend. I realized that I love RIFTS and I am back in the fold.

[Fenris2020]

I had to choose between a Borg and a Hatchling Dragon lol. It took me forever to make up my mind.

[Warshield73]

I first came across Rifts in a gaming store in Chicago in September or October of 1990. Four or five of my friends/gaming group took the train up from central Illinois for the day and when I was looking at Rifts several of the group were telling me it was a waste of money as we already had a TMNT, 2 robotech 1e, 1 TSR Star Frontiers and 1 West End Star Wars games running. We would never have time to play it they said. I bought it anyway.

Fastforward a few hours on the ride home and every going through the book, looking at the art and even choosing OCCs. Some of those characters were run for over 20 years.

What got most of my group hooked was the variety of player OCCs and equipment. For me it was the setting, how vast and alien it made just North America sound. The artwork, especially the cover and color sections, really helped too.

I'm foggy on my first PC, but he might also have been a wilderness scout. That Kevin Long illustration really sells it!

Yeah that hit a lot of us. My first PC was a Wilderness Scout too but in adition to the artwork selling it I was also pulled in because of the 1e Invid Invasion Nomad Scout. We had started playing that in the summer of 1990 and there were supposed to be at least 3 guys running games so I created my scout with his battler cyclone but then I was the only one who GM'd any games so never got to play him. As a result I ended up creating a wilderness scout for Rifts that I also never got to play because I was always the GM...Yeah that was a pattern.

[Ice Dragon]

The possibiltiy to play different character classes (O.C.C.) and races (R.C.C.). First thougth, was: "huh??? - you can play a dragon ". I created a Ice Dragon Hatchling I still play to today (if I have the opportunity). The other thought was, what a world - you have horros, psi, magic, super hightech weapons, human supremacists, Cybertech, Body snatcher, demons, monsters, ...

I fell in love with the setting and it's endless opportunities as a player and for the GM.

[Marcethus]

That is one of my favorite things about Rifts, the ability to play a dragon without breaking alot of the rules or heavy modification to the rules.

[Warshield73]

The possibiltiy to play different character classes (O.C.C.) and races (R.C.C.). First thougth, was: "huh??? - you can play a dragon ". I created a Ice Dragon Hatchling I still play to today (if I have the opportunity).

Yeah, one of my friends who hadn't really played much Palladium at that point (he wasn't in our Robotech group just Star Wars) was all like :I can play a Dragon! I'm in" and he ran that dragon for more than 20 years.

That is one of my favorite things about Rifts, the ability to play a dragon without breaking alot of the rules or heavy modification to the rules.

Not only did it not break any rules until Conversion Book One came around and fixed supernatural strength that dragon would frequently get his @$$ kicked by guys in power armor so they fit in really well along with Sphinx's, demi-gods and other creatures of magic.

[Marcethus]

Even after CB1 fixed SNPS dragons fit in well in the right games.