Tripping the Rift(s)

Roleplaying

I've recently had a revelation of sorts in regards to roleplaying games. Many games out there are, simply put, not Newbie friendly. Too many older games are not designed for an easy introduction into it's fat, bloated awesomeness and, due to this, have garnered a rather awful opinion from the hobby player-base. I aim to fix this with a few of my favored RPG systems starting with Numero Uno on the Internet Hate List: Palladium games' Rifts.

This game has been around since August 1990 and has been added to, quarterly, since then. That is 23 years of material NOT including the various other Palladium Games systems THAT ALL TIE INTO THE RIFTS SETTING. After the Bomb, Beyond the Supernatural, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Strangeness, Nightbane, Palladium Fantasy, Heroes Unlimited, Dead Reign, Robotech, Chaos Earth, The Mechanoids AND MORE all create the MEGAVERSE, a realm of infinite possiblities.... and infinite BLOAT. This game is FAT as hell. There is over 60 books just for Rifts let alone the other systems and the Rifter Magazine (Palladium Games' quarterly magazine) which all add more material for the players and GM's to use. HOLY HELL that is a lot of material to sift through.

Which is an impossible task for the starting player.

*I have a special relationship with Palladium Games. They were the makers of the first roleplaying game I ever played (Robotech)... back when I was 7. I've been a fan ever since. I also have many varied opinions about the palladium system, some bad, some good, and am always willing to discuss them. Suffice to say I'm a fan, but not a fan-boi and if anyone wants my opinions, please ask... I love a discussion.



ANYWAYS, For the starting players this plethora of available info is staggering. Having recently helped a table full of newbies make characters for a game I was playing in (run by my good friend, the singular and majestic HARRIS), I realized some things that should hopefully help with character creation:

1. Know what you want to do
2. Restrict your access 
3. Realize you'll be spending a LONG time making characters
4. Use the GM's guide
5. Don't be afraid to ask questions
6. Don't use online character sheets

Know what you want to do: Come up with a solid idea for what you want to be. That idea can be ANYTHING. Want to be a laser slinging magic user. Easy! Want to make a cyborg murder-bot? No Problem. Want to make a time-travelling werewolf Jesus? that's actually do-able. Once you have a firm idea of what you want to be, then you can figure out what R.C.C (racial Character class) and O.C.C. (Occupational Character Class) you will need to attain your character dreams.

Restrict your access: Try and keep your efforts to, at most, two books. One book is preferable Otherwise you will be doing a LOT of referencing between the multiple books and it'll be a real hassle.
I understand some people love to be difficult and want  the moon and stars (that time travelling werewolf jesus was an actual example from a campaign I played in once. We all have those types of players...), but realistically, you don't need to be ridiculous to be fun.

Realize you will be spending a LONG time making characters: One 4-6 hour game session will not be enough. Two sessions might be. TRUST ME.
There is a lot of front-end book keeping and, i you are unlucky enough to not have multiple hard copies available, or are stuck to huddling around one laptop, then the time will be even longer. It took my GF three days  to make her character, roughly 16 hours, because she wanted to read all the background of what she wanted to be (she's a reader, and that was the fastest part... maybe an hour), but the number crunching, and referencing from multiple books (Rifts: Atlantis and the GMs guide, she was making a True Atlantean Undead Slayer) plus an over complicated character sheet (see rule 6) made it difficult for her. Plus I was wrapped up playing Neverwinter... Bad bean!

Even Father time get's old...

Use the GM's Guide: I don't mean this for GM's either (though you should!). The Gm's guide has all the most up to date rules for the palladium system in regards to Rifts, a quick stats guide for ALL armours, weapons, robots, power-armours and vehicles in the game (up until it's release anyways) as well as a quick reference guide for ALL skills in the game with base percentages and level bonuses in a two page spread (for the skills). This is incredibly helpful and speeds things up immensely, as previously, one had to go through all the books to find all of the skills and had to go to the skill descriptions to get the levels and bases.
Really, it's just a super helpful book to have.

Don't be afraid to ask questions: Your GM should know the system thoroughly if they are running it (If they don't... YOUR GAME IS IN TROUBLE. Seriously. good luck to you, I hope it works out, because this system is a doozy and if you "wing-it".. well... Remind me to tell you about the summer I made over 73 separate characters for a Rifts game because our GM didn't appreciate the work put into making a character and killed us off as fast as we could make them... HARRIS. Yes, you're a douchebag for killing me again last week btw...). The point is, Ask questions. If you're GM doesn't know, ask the internet. Google knows all, and internet rules lawyers know even more because they have tiny lives. Use your time more wisely by exploiting their strengths. Everybody needs someone sometime ;)

Don't Use online Character Sheets: This one seems odd, but hear me out. Which of these is easier to
figure out:
This (a)?

or this (b)?

Unfortunately, that second one is a custom one made and available online that spans 6 pages and is supposed to make reference easier. Yeah... right. It's a catch all page that covers every available option.. but 99% of characters won't need EVERY SINGLE OPTION, and therefor this sheet is just too jumbled and too.... much, for any new player. Use the ones off the Palladium site, or better yet, write it down using pen and paper. I write all my stuff down in a note pad I keep and write my own character sheet for this game. That way it's organized how I need it and I understand it more. Realistically it only adds a few minutes and it's far easier for me to reference.

So those are my 6 rules to making character creation easier for Rifts. Perhaps, if there is a response, I'll go through making a character from scratch for you all, but for now, follow the above steps and you'll be golden.

Until next time,
May all your stats roll up 17 or 18 (so you get an extra dice to add!)
Bean out~