Qev wrote:Well, Rifts is fantasy... but that sort of solution to the problem seems rather contrived to me.
Some sort of magical nuclear damping field could be going on... but still, shouldn't that also affect nuclear reactors, making them unfeasible?
IRL, anyway, even slight changes to the strengths of the fundamental forces would cause all sorts of havoc. Weakening the strong force would make fusion release less energy... but would also make the nuclei of heavier atoms unstable; strengthening it makes fusion harder to achieve but more energetic (I think).
Some people like to use the peculiarly exacting balance of forces in our universe as evidence for Intelligent Design.
Of course, there is some evidence that the fine structure constant may be changing over time... which would be really, really weird if it turns out to be true.
The problem is, there is no answer kevin or anyone would give you that would make you happy. (You as in anyone that would like to see Chi-town destoryed).
For whatever reason, Kevin has choosen not to allow this sort of thing in the game.
For your games, you have to figure out why. Not him. Hand of god? Sure, why not. Kinda lame and unimaginative, but it works. Other behind the scenes things...whatever. It's all good.
And nothing says that in your game Chi-town has to still stand.
If you look at rifts in too much of a logical way you're gonna lose the magic of it. If you don't let yourself let go of what you know about reality, of course there are gonna be inconsistancies. Kevin is an RPG writer, not a physisist, a biological engineer or a nuclear physist.
If you ever sit there and say "well, in Real life..." you're already wrong.
I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but seriously, Rifts is a game. Remember, in rifts, Cardboard on avarage is tougher than the stuff Glitterboys are made of. By all accounts, giants probably shouldn't exist *something about bones not holding or something like that*.
So, in rifts, people know how to make reactors to power walking monstrosities, but don't know how to make nukes. It shouldn't matter why. It's a game. All that matters is that that is how it is. Remember, rifts isn't a popular game because of how close to reality it is. Come to think of it, no game properly "converts" Real world to fantasy setting, and if it did, it probably wasn't very popular.
Of course, if you're gonna house rule it, then by all means, rock on.