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Hello everyone!

I am slowly working on my first campaign for Rifts, and one of the things that is tripping me up on some of the worldbuilding work are ley lines. I know what it says in RUE as far as what they are and that it includes a random line generator, but I have a few questions regarding how others approach them in their games. If I am breaking some kind of rule or something in asking, I apologize in advance because I got significantly chewed out on Reddit a few months back just for asking about maps and what to do about creating ley lines.

Are most ley lines permanent or temporary (especially the ones rolled randomly) or how long do they last? I know they typically flow in straight lines but are they more likely to go east/west or north/south or does it matter? Is there rhyme or reason as to why they appear and disappear? On a comparison level, does the map of Rifts England represent more of the regular saturation of ley lines one could find just about anywhere in North America?

Again, i'm just asking for advice and theory craft on how others do it. I am really gun-shy about getting trolled agin, I'd just like to hear how others do it so I can feel more confident in how I approach it in my game. If I end up with a ley line walker or other magic user, I want to feel like I have them covered with some standard logic on how to build the game around their character's abilities.

the palladium Reddit communities are rather difficult to deal with. a lot of the members are people who got kicked out of these forums for being trolls and generally toxic behavior. especially to newer players. and most of the general RPG groups tend to be filled with people who have a low opinion of palladium's games, as well as less than ideal behavior.

driftingkenshi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 3:39 pm Are most ley lines permanent or temporary (especially the ones rolled randomly) or how long do they last?

generally they are permanent features of the landscape, the random roll ones is just so that PB doesn't have to make a map of every possible line in the world's location, and thus allows GM's to put one where ever.
there are a few very high level magic spells in both official material and unofficial materials (like the rifter) that allow for the locations of leylines to be changed, created, or removed, but that is basically magic that even gods and divine beings rarely have.

in some settings where the magic levels are lower than on rifts earth (like palladium fantasy and especially Beyond the Supernatural) ley Lines brighten and fade as the levels of magic change (such as with certain times of years like solstices and equinox';s, or stellar events like eclipses, planetary alignments and conjunctions, etc) usually with comparable surges and reductions on the amount of magic a spellcaster can draw from the line. generally though ley lines don't actually vanish from existence or spring up from nothing.

that said, if you need a ley line to form or vanish for narrative reasons in the story you are playing through with your group, it would be easy enough for a GM to handwave that it can happen in your world. Rule Zero always applies. ("it's your game, you can change things from what the books say. especially if it makes things more fun")

I know they typically flow in straight lines but are they more likely to go east/west or north/south or does it matter?

they go all directions. many of the ones that have appeared on the official maps go at angles rather than align to compass directions.
and in rifts, there is usually no rhyme or reason for their particular directions. often major important sites like stone circles, pyramids, temples, etc lie along them or at nexus points where two or more cross, but that's generally more of a "those sorts of site existed to take advantage of the ley line's path and its magical power" thing rather than being the cause of the line itself.

Is there rhyme or reason as to why they appear and disappear?

as mentioned, usually they don't. in some settings they have, but in those it is generally because the level of magic in the world changed. rifts earth went from a world with very low magic, to a world with extremely high magic, as a result of a highly destructive cataclysm that killed lots of people in a short time span. indeed it was actually even higher magic than it would become for awhile immediately after due to all the aftershocks of that event (the chaos Earth game setting) causing even more death and destruction. things eventually stabalized at a slightly lower level and became the earth of the Rifts RPG. the world of the Palladium Fantasy RPG went from a world that had very high magic to one with somewhat weaker (but still potent) magic as a result of a very destructive magical war using up a lot of magic. the prehistory of Rifts earth had a similar event happen, where the ancient people of atlantis (back around the end of the last ice age) caused a colossal magical accident, which caused the world's overall magic to drop rapidly and then fade further until it barely existed.d

On a comparison level, does the map of Rifts England represent more of the regular saturation of ley lines one could find just about anywhere in North America?

no. not by a long shot. England in Rifts is the highest concentration of ley lines and ley line nexuses on the entire planet. no one knows why. there are other regions with high concentration.. the Ohio river valley for example, some parts of the appalachian mountains, various places on other continents. but most regions have ley line numbers that are far less dense.

driftingkenshi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 3:39 pm...I apologize in advance...

None required, this forum is great. There's drama from time to time, but everyone seems to be here for the same reason - to ask, to answer and to share. Friendly tip to avoid ... drama, just be clear on when you are stating a house rule Some folks like a clear distinction between RAW and head canon. BUT...

glitterboy2098 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 6:50 pm...that said, if you need a ley line to form or vanish for narrative reasons in the story you are playing through with your group, it would be easy enough for a GM to handwave that it can happen in your world. Rule Zero always applies. ("it's your game, you can change things from what the books say. especially if it makes things more fun")

Glitterboy2098 is 100% correct. No one should tell you how to run your game. You want Ley Lines made of pineapple flavored cotton candy? That would be nuts, but 100% cool at your table. Handwavium is the most common element in the megaverse's periodic table.

I've tried to map LLs and nexi (nexii? nexuses?) on Google Earth... to generally good but mixed results. I house rule that the maps in the books were done by adventure-addled wanderers without compasses or common sense, so players don't get hung up on the fact that some locations mentioned are not actually lined up. Handwavium-fueled d-shifting warping space and time hundreds of miles away can help explain weird kinks in a LL if needs must. Density can vary... for example, note there are practically no LLs in most of Texas... a great place to play tech heavy campaigns.

To avoid a lot of overthink re LL - I see their boundaries as a bit fuzzy so if the story takes the team near a massive line or a cluster of nexi, I play fast and loose with the rules and allow for the benefits to show up with mages and psychics miles out, tho maybe in a diluted form, just so the evening isn't spent asking "are we on the line yet?". By approaching it narratively, the GM stays in control of the setting. E.g. "As they walk through the haunted woods, Tyler [rolls perception] realizes his yellow T-shirt is slowly pulsing with a faint greenish hue. Mentioning this, Marge the Mage nods saying there's been a surge in a local LL as the villagers they abandoned are being decimated by the advancing plague, the dead's PPE causing the LL to pulse slightly with each plague victim passing..."

If I find I'm facing down a rules lawyer playing a mage, I have them roll against the principles of magic ability from Nightbane (with full situational modifiers particularly if under stress or in a unfamiliar place) and if they fail the roll, I say they don't know what's going on so just deal with it. If they make the roll, I may acquiesce a little though add a ton of handwavium... and maybe hold a grudge.

Would love to hear how you land on dealing with LLs in your game.

If you are interested in Ley Lines and such I recommend getting the first edition of Beyond the Supernatural on Drivethru. It needs to be the first edition because the new one doesn't have magic information. It has great info on places of magic including LLs, Nexus Points, magic triads/triangles, as well as things like Rips in magic and transitional places of magic. Great stuff that I just rediscovered.

I agree with Warshield73 on the first edition of Beyond the Supernatural. It is a great resource.

You can find compiled information on Ley Lines here:

https://equip-r.blogspot.com/2010/10/an ... s.html?m=1

(Note: click on the upper-right button for an automatic Google translation)

You can download a North America Rifts Map with permanent Ley Lines (on electric blue color) here:




Hope this helps.

My Rifts America has been expanding the Tennessee/Alabama area, so adding ley lines and nexus points has been a must. The Memphis bass pro Pyramid is doing some weird stuff yo.....