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In 1990, Palladium Books launched Rifts, a post-apocalyptic-science-fantasy-horror-mecha-role-playing game using a game system from 1981.
In 2021, two guys who played it a bunch revisited the game and, armed with hindsight, set about mocking, parodying, and critiquing the game. It turned into this embarrassingly long book.
Coverage of the basic rules, the nearly 30 (i.e. 27) classes, psionics, magic, the Rifts Earth setting, gear, and what passes for the gamemaster section.
Insights into the game's history and inner workings.
Snarky jokes and humorous tables and lists, like a class generator, random skull armor, bests and worsts, plus a Palladium Bingo card!
The Glitterskull R.C.C. and playbook, letting you play as the "mascot" of the game at long last.
Magic & Missiles, a fully playable one-page RPG!
Over 200 superfluous footnotes.
An in-depth criticism of the game's Nazi apologism. It's worse than you think, and we brought receipts.
In 2021, two guys who played it a bunch revisited the game and, armed with hindsight, set about mocking, parodying, and critiquing the game. It turned into this embarrassingly long book.
Coverage of the basic rules, the nearly 30 (i.e. 27) classes, psionics, magic, the Rifts Earth setting, gear, and what passes for the gamemaster section.
Insights into the game's history and inner workings.
Snarky jokes and humorous tables and lists, like a class generator, random skull armor, bests and worsts, plus a Palladium Bingo card!
The Glitterskull R.C.C. and playbook, letting you play as the "mascot" of the game at long last.
Magic & Missiles, a fully playable one-page RPG!
Over 200 superfluous footnotes.
An in-depth criticism of the game's Nazi apologism. It's worse than you think, and we brought receipts.
- GenresNonfiction
174 pages, ebook
Published February 15, 2021
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 21, 2021
Unlike the authors, I only briefly played Rifts back in the day, but this searing critique of the core rules (with some sidetracks into other books) is what I imagine I'd write if I hadn't settled on Shadowrun and Torg as my multi-genre games of choice back in the early 90s. Well, that and if I wanted to take the time to write nearly 200 pages of searing critique of a really bad game.
The majority of this book is a valid section by section critique of the rules, mostly filled with humorous asides. One exception is a serious chapter on the way that the game handles the nazi-like Coalition States in a far too apologetic manner.
Overall a great read for anyone at all familiar with the mess that is Rifts and Palladium Games in general.
The majority of this book is a valid section by section critique of the rules, mostly filled with humorous asides. One exception is a serious chapter on the way that the game handles the nazi-like Coalition States in a far too apologetic manner.
Overall a great read for anyone at all familiar with the mess that is Rifts and Palladium Games in general.
September 29, 2023
I didn't expect to be interested in a nearly 200-page takedown of Rifts, but a friend recommended it, and it was a surprisingly fun read. It's the kind of criticism that can only come from two people who on some level really love the game (or at least the idea of the game) while also recognizing it has significant flaws. There's a lot of assuming Kevin Siembieda's intentions throughout, but there's also a lot of Kevin Siembieda's intentions visible in Rifts, so I can see why the instinct is there. I'm someone who sees the flaws in Rifts but keeps wanting to love it (even to the point of writing on the Savage Rifts conversion), so I'm definitely the target audience.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews