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I'm loath to give Palladium even a penny more (even indirectly via PEG's license from them) due to their ongoing deceit/inaction regarding the Robotech Kickstarter but I'm curious about this ruleset both for Rifts as well as for other mashup wide ranging IPs like 40k. How are the rules for scifi combat type campaigns like the aforementioned Rifts and 40k? Are the characters finely "balanced"/bland like 4e D&D? Or potentially an unbalanced mess of a spectrum like the original Rifts? Or something inbetween? I'm curious if it can be used for 40k settings with Ad mech, normal humans, space marines, and even the occasional xenos (heretics!!) thrown in the mix without leaving one or more in the dust. Heck, throw those 40k characters into rifts as well even. Can it handle that type of variety? I'm ok with some classes/builds/characters being better than others in combat to a degree but I don't want them to be leagues apart. I don't plan on buying this new for the reasons above but I'm curious in case it shows up used online on the secondary market.

If you're just curious about the ruleset, pick up the Savage Worlds rules. I think they're needed even if you do go ahead and get the Rifts ones as I don't think even with three books it's presented as a standalone game.

It's under $9 new right now on Amazon.

That's a good idea but I'd have to see a preview of the rules. I don't know how inclusive the basic rules are and how much of the scifi aspect depends on the rifts supplement (thinking of GURPS as my only experience in that you pretty much needed the genre supplement to get a real feel for the rules in the setting). It may give me a general idea of the rules overall though so thanks.

They are hilariously awesome. I was involved in playtesting, and have been playing the lone Glitterboy in our campaign. So fun. Not only is the boomgun crazy powerful (with some big drawbacks, like being carried by a gigantic high-profile target). I am having fun playing a non-standard Glitterboy, which is to say I am heavily invested into close up, hand to hand combat. In my hands he's basically a ten-foot tall version of a Pacific Rim Jaeger, sometimes grabbing pieces of terrain to swat big monsters and robots with.

My local campaign includes several old-school Rifts players, who like this version much better. The basic Explorer's Guide that runs Savage Worlds is only ten bucks, and we have used only that book to run just about every genre possible over the years, and the Rifts add-on gives all the cool special rules for Rifts-specific archetypes.

 warboss wrote:
That's a good idea but I'd have to see a preview of the rules. I don't know how inclusive the basic rules are and how much of the scifi aspect depends on the rifts supplement (thinking of GURPS as my only experience in that you pretty much needed the genre supplement to get a real feel for the rules in the setting). It may give me a general idea of the rules overall though so thanks.

There are free SW test rules here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/157207/Savage-Worlds-Test-Drive-2015?manufacturers_id=27
Also on Pinnacle site you can find plenty of free things to download.

Just remember that SW skills are intentionally vague- "shooting" for example is the skill that covers everything that could conceivably be a ranged weapon, same for fighting or throwing. But the beauty is that the core rules don't bat an eye at a fantasy game with gods, monsters, and wizards one day, and a gritty vietnam war game the next. Though of course things are intentially biased towards supernatural stuff being in any of the genres the rules are used for.

I do like how there is a special profile set for Savage Rifts that allows for non-archetype characters. In a demo game I played, I was actually just a random skilled military guy alongside a Glitterboy, a Juicer, a Mind Melter, etc., and I was just as useful for the scenario.

 Shadow Walker wrote:

 warboss wrote:
That's a good idea but I'd have to see a preview of the rules. I don't know how inclusive the basic rules are and how much of the scifi aspect depends on the rifts supplement (thinking of GURPS as my only experience in that you pretty much needed the genre supplement to get a real feel for the rules in the setting). It may give me a general idea of the rules overall though so thanks.

There are free SW test rules here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/157207/Savage-Worlds-Test-Drive-2015?manufacturers_id=27
Also on Pinnacle site you can find plenty of free things to download.

Thanks for the link and info; I'll take a look. I found a youtube channel that has a long video on character creation supposedly so I'll be watching that tonight.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AegisGrimm wrote:

I do like how there is a special profile set for Savage Rifts that allows for non-archetype characters. In a demo game I played, I was actually just a random skilled military guy alongside a Glitterboy, a Juicer, a Mind Melter, etc., and I was just as useful for the scenario.

Good to hear as I hope to maybe one day possibly (lots of qualifiers there but accurate given my current gaming situation/thoughts on palladium) use it for 40k where I don't want any particular character to be useless.