Game Rules

Rules System (The Rifts Roleplaying Game by Palladium Books)

Note that this is not a perfect system (none are, really). There are numerous vaguely worded rules, conflicting rules, and rules clarifications in books that I may or may not own. Also note that I have never run a real face-to-face campaign using the Ultimate Edition rules, so if there is a difference I haven't noticed, I might revert back to the old rule out of habit. I apologize ahead of time and I welcome corrections.

Character Creation

Our initial characters are already in the mix, but just in case it ever becomes relevant (character death, for example), these are the character creation guidelines:

• No characters with natural M.D.C. (full conversion cyborgs, dragon hatchlings, etc.)
• No characters with power armor or robots as starting equipment (robot pilots, glitter boy pilots, etc.)
• A character could technically use one of these O.C.C.'s with the understanding that they will not begin the game with power armor or a robot.
• Anything else goes, with the understanding that characters will be reviewed prior to beginning play. I'm not shy about asking players to make revisions if things look like they'll be too unbalancing (although I'll admit that the Malvoren R.C.C. is probably overpowered for our campaign... I let that one slip past me).

Actual Play

We'll focus on the story rather than the rolls, but we're still going to be tossing some dice around. I'm going to trust the integrity of my players and let them roll their own dice. Just share the results with me in parentheses in your comments. 

• Combat will still be handled pretty close to the way they are in face to face games (unless we decide as a group to revise the structure). 
• Experience will be awarded on a semi-regular basis, and based on a simplified version of the Rifts RPG experience table.
• 5 xp for each comment (doubled for comments within 24 hours of a major GM post; off topic posts don't count)
• 10-25 xp for using the right skill/power at the appropriate time
• 25-50 xp for a random/insignificant encounter
• 75-100 xp for an encounter that advances the story
• 150+ xp for an encounter that concludes an adventure
• 25-100 xp for impressive ideas (quantity will depend on success or failure of said ideas)
• 100+ xp for a critical action or idea (one that makes the completion of the mission possible, one that saves a team member, or one that saves the lives of innocent NPCs)
• When rolling dice, use this website.

House Rules

Only one so far... players, feel free to make suggestions as they come up.

• S.D.C. creatures can be destroyed outright by mega-damage weapons if the weapon is significantly more powerful than the armor they're wearing. If the damage is greater than the double the remaining M.D.C. of the armor, the armor is destroyed outright and some of the damage goes through! For example, let's assume Johnny is hit with a plasma blast that dealt 20 points of mega-damage.
• If his armor has 21+ M.D.C. remaining, he just subtracts it from the total and continues fighting.
• If his armor has 10-20 M.D.C. remaining, his armor is destroyed but he takes no damage.
• If his armor has 9 M.D.C. or less, the armor will shield him from double its value and he will take the rest of the damage. If his armor has 9 M.D.C., he will take 2 M.D.  If his armor has 3 M.D.C., he will take 14 M.D.

Joining Us

As of right now, I'm not comfortable enough with the format to open this up to people I don't already know. I also have a strict policy in my own gaming group that new players must be approved by the entire group after a trial period (usually one evening of gaming in real life... not sure exactly how it will work in this campaign). As things progress, we might open this up to other players. In the meantime, feel free to email me character ideas if you're interested.