Re: Palladium/Rifts into M&M
Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 12:23 pm
The really odd thing about Palladium's Attribute generation system was that, for the most part, the stats are meaningless unless you get a 17 or better. Physical Strength is multiplied by a certain value to determine your lifting and carrying capacity and Speed determiens your, well, speed, other than that there's literally no mechanical distinction between any other Attribute from 1 to 16. Attributes only gain mechanical adjustments at 17+. Also, as a weird quirk, you can't actually have an Attribute score of 16. By default, you roll a 3d6, if that result is a 16, 17, or 18, you roll a further 1d6 and add that. So, if you roll a 15 you get a 15; But, if you roll a 16 you will always get a 17 or better.
I did appreciate a few mechanical ideas from Palladium. I liked that their alignment system presented each alignment with a series of bullet-point "first principles;" I liked that certain skills (e.g., gymnastics) allowed you to improve your Attributes; I liked that the classes had fairly open but still thematically tailored Skill Lists to chose from... But, well, I liked all that in 1991. Palladium Games' stubborn refuse to every make any serious revisions to their game over not just years but DECADES has not done it any favors. The RPG industry has changed, we've discovered new and better ways to do things... Palladium Games are still using the same system waaaay past it's "sell by" date. The original Rifts core rulebook came out in 1990, the "Ultimate Edition" core rulebook came out in 2005. They are completely compatible with one another.
To put it in perspective, AD&D 2nd Edition came out in 1989, by 2005 we were halfway through the 3.5 edition (3.5 came out in '03, 4e came out in `08); the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) came out in 1990, the Wii came out in 2006; George H. W. Bush was in his second year of office in 1990 and George W. Bush was in his fifth year of office in 2005... In 1990, I was a nine year old kid, in 2005, I had a toddler.
I did appreciate a few mechanical ideas from Palladium. I liked that their alignment system presented each alignment with a series of bullet-point "first principles;" I liked that certain skills (e.g., gymnastics) allowed you to improve your Attributes; I liked that the classes had fairly open but still thematically tailored Skill Lists to chose from... But, well, I liked all that in 1991. Palladium Games' stubborn refuse to every make any serious revisions to their game over not just years but DECADES has not done it any favors. The RPG industry has changed, we've discovered new and better ways to do things... Palladium Games are still using the same system waaaay past it's "sell by" date. The original Rifts core rulebook came out in 1990, the "Ultimate Edition" core rulebook came out in 2005. They are completely compatible with one another.
To put it in perspective, AD&D 2nd Edition came out in 1989, by 2005 we were halfway through the 3.5 edition (3.5 came out in '03, 4e came out in `08); the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) came out in 1990, the Wii came out in 2006; George H. W. Bush was in his second year of office in 1990 and George W. Bush was in his fifth year of office in 2005... In 1990, I was a nine year old kid, in 2005, I had a toddler.