Savage Rifts Concerns: The Tomorrow Legion and Castle Refuge

[Hotrod]

I'm so happy to see the Savage Worlds Kickstarter doing so well (172k already!). The new mechanics sound fun and interesting, and the art looks promising. I'm particularly interested in seeing the new maps, especially that of North America. This is a good thing for our community, and I plan to pick it up. That said, there's something in the kickstarter description that bugs me.

This new kickstarter seems to be aggressively pushing a hitherto-unknown faction into an already-crowded landscape with what sounds like a comic book superhero-group concept. I have three concerns about what this may mean for Savage Rifts and, by extension, classic Rifts if Kevin imports this new faction into the official canon:

1. From the description, Savage Rifts seems to align all player characters into a single faction-driven paradigm. The text strongly suggests that this new (proprietary?) faction provides a refuge for nice, poor people and has a list of enemies that includes the Coalition, the Federation of Magic, and the Pecos Empire (detailed in the Savage Foes book). Rifts was built from the ground up to give players and GMs the option of exploring different factions as members, allies, neutral parties, or enemies. Lumping player characters into a single faction (as the text seems to suggest) would be a very limiting design choice.

2. The new faction itself seems inappropriately utopian, turning the game into a struggle of "us good guys vs them bad guys". Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have heroes and villains, but Kevin's world is a complicated one, and as I heard him say once, "there are no utopias in Rifts." This Tomorrow Legion may be fighting for a brighter future, but from their own perspectives, so are the Coalition, the Pecos Empire, and the Federation of Magic. Rifts Earth is a savage place (pun intended), and the things a character must do in order to confront the horrors from the rifts aren't always pleasant. On the individual level, people sacrifice their lifespan, biological bodies, and sanity to get an edge. What sacrifices must a society make to get an edge? To date, there haven't been any easy answers. Even Erin Tarn's fangirl fawning over Lazlo is honest enough to admit it has a huge immigration/refugee problem post-Tolkeen.

3. Speaking of Erin Tarn, she's one of the founders of Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion according to this article. The other is Lord Coake. While this seems in-character for Lord Coake, Erin has thus far been the chief in-character narrator of Rifts, not a leader or organizer. Now she seems to be some sort of authority figure over our characters by default as well. That doesn't sit well with me personally; I dislike her as a narrating perspective and character in Rifts, and Savage Rifts seems to be embracing her viewpoint in a way that Rifts never has.

I get the design choice. Having a single faction from which all parties spring makes it easier to produce fleshed-out scenarios in greater detail. There's a certain practicality to it that makes sense. I just hope that future supplements will give players and GMs more options

Am I way off base in my critique? Should this new faction become canon in classic Rifts?

[Bill]

It doesn't matter. I pretty much ignore the primary factions when I run a Rifts game anyway.

[dragonfett]

It sounds like they (Erin and Lord Coake) are trying to form their own utopia after the Tolkeen War and the primary antagonists of this utopia are the CS (because their a D-Bee loving hippie commune), and the Pecos Bandits (because they want to take what the Tomorrow Legion has), and the Federation of Magic (for whatever reasons).

My biggest concern is how geographically this is going to work because the CS is right in between the other two which means that The Tomorrow Legion should only be worrying about two out of three of these. This is of course if they are at odds due to where they are established and not for some other reasons.

[Glistam]

I definately have mixed feelings about it. They could have used any number of existing places - Lazlo and Kingsdale are two that immediately come to mind - to achieve the same end result. Also, "Tomorrow Legion" is what the heroes in Century Station are called. It bugs me a little that they're using the same term here.

[Mech-Viper Prime]

I'll stick with the old rifts thank you, having my character answering to Erin Tarn, yeah you guys have fun with this.

[Sureshot]

I'll stick with the old rifts thank you, having my character answering to Erin Tarn, yeah you guys have fun with this.

You can still buy the rules and just ignore the Tomorrow Legion. I'm not a big fan of Erin Tarn. I am of Savage Worlds. So like the old Rifts I can pick and choose what I want to use.

[Sureshot]

I really see no need for concern over the Tomorrow Legion or Castle Refuge. One can always pick and choose what faction the want to use in their games. The Coalition in mine are truly evil. In some other other games they are run as is in the books. I'm buying it for the rules and better art. Not for any new or old factions.

[Proseksword]

Lord Coake calling a greater army of heroes to his side makes plenty of sense - between the aftermath of Tolkeen and the Minion War the Cyber-Knights have a huge amount of trouble on their hands.

"Castle Refuge" & "The Tomorrow Legion" sound like as good a names as any.

Erin Tarn would almost certainly associate herself with such an organization, although I don't understand how her credentials as a vagabond scholar would justify her a leadership position within it.

No, I think my biggest problem is the idea that this organization is somehow based out of Arkansas. If you have decided to build a fortress to protect the populace from all the horrors of RIFTS Earth and to rally your champions against the darkness, why would you build it smack dab in the Coalition's backyard, within striking range of all the nastiest independent powers of North America. Why not in Wyoming where the Cyber-Knights headquarters was always rumored to lie, or in North Dakota where the temporary Lyn-Srial cloud cities harbored Tolkeen refugees? Arkansas just got declared a Coalition State. You're essentially evacuating refugees into a war zone!

[Sureshot]

No, I think my biggest problem is the idea that this organization is somehow based out of Arkansas. If you have decided to build a fortress to protect the populace from all the horrors of RIFTS Earth and to rally your champions against the darkness, why would you build it smack dab in the Coalition's backyard, within striking range of all the nastiest independent powers of North America. Why not in Wyoming where the Cyber-Knights headquarters was always rumored to lie, or in North Dakota where the temporary Lyn-Srial cloud cities harbored Tolkeen refugees? Arkansas just got declared a Coalition State. You're essentially evacuating refugees into a war zone!

The location is strange. I do hope they change it before release as it's a very strange and poor choice to locate the fortress.

[kaid]

Plus side the mississippi is there for getting through a bunch of the country but that is pretty much smack into the 25 year expansion plan for the CS. After seeing what happened to tolkeen I am uncertain of the wisdom of setting up shop there. But it remains to be seen how big of a foot print this place has and how many live there given all the wilderness could be a reasonable location for a decade or two although with the minion war brewing who knows.

[Shark_Force]

never mind the 25 year CS expansion plan. arkansas is in their plan for the next 25 days.

and yeah, it does seem weird. i would have expected them to move to someplace a bit more remote.

particularly considering their response to tolkeen being attacked was basically "well it's your fault for not living far enough away". never mind learning from pre-rifts history, it sounds like those two could learn something from looking at their own extremely recent personal history.

ah well, as has been noted, we can always just ignore it (though i have to say, if that's the general consensus, they may have chosen their added material poorly).

[say652]

As a sleazy Coalition States Captain, Tarn is a dissident and Terrorist marked for extermination.
All of her associates are also criminals.
The Penalty is Death.

[Jorick]

I think it's just taking the refugee crisis narrative post Tolkeen and running with it. All these folks now squished between the Coalition and an increasingly aggressive Federation need help. All of this is basically in Aftermath. I think the Tomorrow Legion is just trying to help prevent a bloodbath, not create a Utopia. They have a base of operations (Lazlo would be the real origin of the effort/movement). If they wanted a Utopia, Arkansas would be a poor choice of location. EDIT: The purpose of the Arkansas location, I think, would be to have a base of operations in what looks to be ground zero of the upcoming Coalition/Federation conflict. This is where the fight would start if not for the Minion War.

From a game play perspective, it gives an easy in. It's the sort of thing GMs should be doing anyway, to help give players, especially new ones, direction.

[Daniel Stoker]

I really see no need for concern over the Tomorrow Legion or Castle Refuge. One can always pick and choose what faction the want to use in their games. The Coalition in mine are truly evil. In some other other games they are run as is in the books. I'm buying it for the rules and better art. Not for any new or old factions.

Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same boat as Sureshot. I'm not sure at this point of I'll ever even use them but the TL is a hook to use to explain why your Glitterboy, Burster, Crazy, Ley Line Walker, and Psi-Stalker are all working together. If you need it, great it's there. If you don't, go off and do what you need and mine their adventures for what you can use and go off and do what you want.


Daniel Stoker

[Jerell]

The location is strange. I do hope they change it before release as it's a very strange and poor choice to locate the fortress.

I am in agreement with this. Lazlo, or Wyoming, or somewhere in that area would seem a better choice...

Now that I think of it, maybe the creators choose to keep it more east so Atlantis could raid the players easier? On the plus side I guess you're further away from the bugs.

There's always Merc Town to start at I suppose.

[Blue_Lion]

I think it might cause some issues with keeping things straight I am not sure that PB will let them write things into the setting freely and the idea that it is a default play as faction seams to be imposing a limit the opposite of how rifts should be written.

[glitterboy2098]

I really see no need for concern over the Tomorrow Legion or Castle Refuge. One can always pick and choose what faction the want to use in their games. The Coalition in mine are truly evil. In some other other games they are run as is in the books. I'm buying it for the rules and better art. Not for any new or old factions.

Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same boat as Sureshot. I'm not sure at this point of I'll ever even use them but the TL is a hook to use to explain why your Glitterboy, Burster, Crazy, Ley Line Walker, and Psi-Stalker are all working together. If you need it, great it's there. If you don't, go off and do what you need and mine their adventures for what you can use and go off and do what you want.


Daniel Stoker

that is my read as well. you are not required to be part of the tomorrow legion, it is merely there to give a good excuse why a disparate group of individuals are working together. and also to give some extra framework options for why said group of people are getting involved in various events.

it really isn't much different from say, nightbane, where the books are written assuming that the players are going to be part of the resistance, even though setting wise they could also be spooksquad, underground railroad, warlords, or any number of other factions; nightbane, human, or other.
or how in BTS the book is written assuming your character's are assumed to be members of the Lazlo society. when you could be independents, connected to other similar groups, or just "wrong place, wrong time"


i mean, in rifts it can be really hard to justify the wide variety of characters all being in the same place and getting involved in the same adventure to start things out. much less why they'd stick together afterwards to go do something else as well. many of the rifts game's i've been in so far have taken the "the players are all recruited by an employer to do "X"" approach anyway, this just makes a formal organization out of it, which also means a GM can inject a degree of support (NPC contacts, access to extra gear, intel, etc) while also avoiding having to tie into one of the major nations like lazlo, the coalition, manistique, etc.

[kaid]

never mind the 25 year CS expansion plan. arkansas is in their plan for the next 25 days.

and yeah, it does seem weird. i would have expected them to move to someplace a bit more remote.

particularly considering their response to tolkeen being attacked was basically "well it's your fault for not living far enough away". never mind learning from pre-rifts history, it sounds like those two could learn something from looking at their own extremely recent personal history.

ah well, as has been noted, we can always just ignore it (though i have to say, if that's the general consensus, they may have chosen their added material poorly).

Well they are moving into that area but its going to be a decade or more before their presence is anything but sporadic outside CS settlements/points of interest.

[Shark_Force]

never mind the 25 year CS expansion plan. arkansas is in their plan for the next 25 days.

and yeah, it does seem weird. i would have expected them to move to someplace a bit more remote.

particularly considering their response to tolkeen being attacked was basically "well it's your fault for not living far enough away". never mind learning from pre-rifts history, it sounds like those two could learn something from looking at their own extremely recent personal history.

ah well, as has been noted, we can always just ignore it (though i have to say, if that's the general consensus, they may have chosen their added material poorly).

Well they are moving into that area but its going to be a decade or more before their presence is anything but sporadic outside CS settlements/points of interest.

sure, but the CS already sends armed goon squads to murder everything that looks like it might not be a mundane human to various locations. if they want to move in to arkansas, don't you think they might devote a little extra attention there?

and then, if the people in the area fight back, what do you think the CS response is going to be? "oh, we'll just leave them be and hope they haven't set up any more permanent settlements or accumulated more resources that are going to make them harder to get rid of 20 years down the road"?

personally, i suspect the more likely response is probably "hmmm... we probably need more murder squads. go promise some more 'burbs trash that if they survive a war of annihilation and do everything we say for 10 years, we might let them live in a city legitimately when they retire. maybe".

[say652]

Let's field test some genejumble from Lone Star or the most likely response, lets send four million Old Style SAMAS and a couple hundred thousand Skelebots to test their defenses.

The CS is seriously no joke, and not some Keystone Cops idiot Villain.

[Blue_Lion]

The CS would not drive out tolkeen and then sit by while a new magical force sets up on their boarder. A new significant magical faction setting up close by they will take action to stop it before it has a chance to grow to much.

As to needing a reason for the group to work and form there are lots of optoins you to come up with this.

1. Looks at rifts mercenaries.
2. Some times they can have prior relationship mutual friend set it up. Grew up in the same town.
3. Members of military for an existing faction.
4. Fate/psi future sense.
5. Any other reason the group or GM can come up with.

With most RPGs this is an issue that groups need to face and it is only a minor issue not something a system needs to go out of its way to address.

[Slight001]

My last group used the bar/saloon starting point. They all had their reasons for being there and ended up a group for the simple reason that they wouldn't just keep their heads down and ignore what was going on.

[Blue_Lion]

My last group used the bar/saloon starting point. They all had their reasons for being there and ended up a group for the simple reason that they wouldn't just keep their heads down and ignore what was going on.

You know that is where allot of groups start for some reason.

Think the one of the worse starts was waking up in a crack house, in the burbs right before the CS raided it.

[say652]

If I had a credit for everytime I woke up in crack house in chi town, I wouldn't have to adventure.
Lol.

[Blue_Lion]

If I had a credit for everytime I woke up in crack house in chi town, I wouldn't have to adventure.
Lol.

Wait they have crack houses in chi town, I thought it was just one giant building. Now the burbs yea that will defiantly have one or two.

You might want to have your charters lay off the crack.

[say652]

I usually play NTSET or ISS characters lol.

[Slight001]

My last group used the bar/saloon starting point. They all had their reasons for being there and ended up a group for the simple reason that they wouldn't just keep their heads down and ignore what was going on.

You know that is where allot of groups start for some reason.

Its a common communal location with food, drink and often beds for sale. As such the location is inherently prone to generating numerous excuses for why someone would be there.

[Blue_Lion]

My last group used the bar/saloon starting point. They all had their reasons for being there and ended up a group for the simple reason that they wouldn't just keep their heads down and ignore what was going on.

You know that is where allot of groups start for some reason.

Its a common communal location with food, drink and often beds for sale. As such the location is inherently prone to generating numerous excuses for why someone would be there.

Not always beds.

[Library Ogre]

My last group used the bar/saloon starting point. They all had their reasons for being there and ended up a group for the simple reason that they wouldn't just keep their heads down and ignore what was going on.

You know that is where allot of groups start for some reason.

Its a common communal location with food, drink and often beds for sale. As such the location is inherently prone to generating numerous excuses for why someone would be there.

Not always beds.

Thus the word "often".

However, bars, inns, etc., as mentioned, give you a place where a diverse group might be when something happens. "Hey, the town is being attacked!" "Well, I happen to be in the town, so I will defend it!"

[Tiree]

I think this is lost on a lot people:

Initially the RMB had towns days apart. Vehicles were sparse. Travel was rare, and MDC was even more so. Could it be possible that Savage Rifts, is going back to the roots of Rifts?

[Proseksword]

Given that they are adding yet another faction & settlement in an already crowded area with a goal of challenging the continent's superpowers? I highly doubt that.

[Nekira Sudacne]

I usually play NTSET or ISS characters lol.

I thought you usually played awesomely powerful Heroes Unlimited characters with black vault powers. Or have you sworn that off?

[glitterboy2098]

honestly, i'm not sure that we should start complaining until we know the details. it could well be that the tomorrow legion is a loose organization of people (like say the Lazlo society was), and Castle Refuge is just their hidden base/HQ, rather than a new nation. that sort of thing would be fairly easy to integrate into the setting, and the CS might allow it to continue to exist as long as they remain an annoyance rahter than a major threat. certainly it would give the CS propagandist's lots to work with.

[Alrik Vas]

I usually play NTSET or ISS characters lol.

I thought you usually played awesomely powerful Heroes Unlimited characters with black vault powers. Or have you sworn that off?

He means both. Same characters.

[say652]

I usually play NTSET or ISS characters lol.

I thought you usually played awesomely powerful Heroes Unlimited characters with black vault powers. Or have you sworn that off?

He means both. Same characters.

Sometimes I break out the munch but skill wise, The NTSET Protector is one of my all around favorite Occs.

[Hotrod]

honestly, i'm not sure that we should start complaining until we know the details. it could well be that the tomorrow legion is a loose organization of people (like say the Lazlo society was), and Castle Refuge is just their hidden base/HQ, rather than a new nation. that sort of thing would be fairly easy to integrate into the setting, and the CS might allow it to continue to exist as long as they remain an annoyance rahter than a major threat. certainly it would give the CS propagandist's lots to work with.

You make an excellent point, and I certainly don't mean to be slamming Savage Rifts. I'm curious and excited to see how they put the vision of Rifts into effect. I'd just prefer to see multiple perspectives on the intrinsically complicated world of Rifts, rather than an "Erin Tarn is right, and anyone who disagrees with her is evil" perspective. That's a critique that, in fairness, applies to most of the Rifts catalogue. I suppose I'm wishing that Savage Worlds would move away from this approach, rather than closer.

[Blue_Lion]

I usually play NTSET or ISS characters lol.

Then you really should not be sleeping in crack houses.

[MikelAmroni]

Bit of thread necromancy, but now that we have a good description of this from both the Player's Guide and the GM guide, what do people think of Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion?

[kaid]

It seems more reasonable now I have seen the map. It is actually geographically pretty close to kingsdale and that already is a city of magic/tech stuff so seems like a reasonable jump off point. Overall its not terribly large so I imagine areas that size blip in and out pretty commonly. The CS is far likelier to lay the hammer down on kingsdale first before it so they would probably have some warning if the CS was getting active in that direction.

[Tiree]

I can't believe they put it on an actual recreated castle location...

I am not thrilled with the location of Castle Refuge, and I would have preferred it closer to the water (Lead Hill/Diamond City Arkansas).

[Molydeus]

Issues of location and logistics aside (I can't bring myself to care about what part of Arkansas they're in), I admit to having mixed feelings about the Tomorrow Legion. (And this is speaking as someone fully on board for Savage Rifts.)

On the one hand, I understand what the writers were trying to do, creating a common faction of protagonists. Everyone is assumed to start out as a member of the Legion by default. Not that other reasons can't exist to work together, not that players can't create those reasons, and not that it would be a Herculean task to ignore references to the Legion in your Savage Rifts games, but it's a good common ground to start on. I remember numerous games where one of the biggest challenges was getting everyone to work together, and sometimes convenient to have those dots connected before character creation begins.

However, my preferences run more towards the morally gray rather than binary morality. Rifts does morally gray well, despite having objective good and evil "baked in", where you have groups and factions that have both positive and negative qualities. It seems the Tomorrow Legion is just goody good guys fighting the good fight for goodness's sake, which doesn't bother me a lot (enough that I'll try to from the game), but does bother me some.

In my Savage Rifts games, then, I'll dirty up the Legion a bit. The Tomorrow Legion has an idealized image that it presents, and one many in the Legion try to live up to. But there are cracks in the facade, and it's not nearly as united as it might seem to outsiders. While only a small group, the Tomorrow Legion has individuals acting in their own self-interests and trying manipulate the Legion into serving their own ends. This applies to idealists as much as it does to the selfish, and they're all vying with one another for their piece of the pie. Those trying to co-opt the legion to good ends can be as destructive to the group as anyone else.

So not only will Tomorrow Legion PCs take up gun and sword and powers to fight the Coalition or Federation of Magic or Spluggorth or Xiticix or Team Rocket or whatever, they may very well end up acting against individuals and political interests within their own faction. That may very well become political players in the Legion, advancing their own agenda. Even within a community as small as the Tomorrow Legion there's potential for conflict and politicking.

And that's what it is, a small faction, Lifeboat of survivors a churning sea surrounded by sharks and cruisers and monsters. Let's not overblow the importance or size of the Tomorrow Legion. It's a group of people banding together out of common interests, not a nation or city-state. It doesn't seem to have any sort of formal government... Tarn and Coake don't lead the Legion, they simply founded it and provide guidance. The thing is, a small group like that can become movers and shakers in their own right. That will attract attention. This is not necessarily a good thing, because right now, I'm certain the Coalition is aware of the Legion but has yet to act decisively against them. Once the Legion promotes themselves from annoyance to active threat, the party will be over.

I have serious concerns about the Tomorrow Legion's ability to stand up to the forces that the Coalition States can bring to bear. Heck, they'll fall against the Federation of Magic, the Xiticix, and any other group of sufficient size. And get this, the Tomorrow Legion is p1ss1ng off all of them. It's a distinct possibility that the Tomorrow Legion won't live up to its name, and end up a temporary blip on the radar screen -- a good idea that existed for a few years until brought down. Of course, friendships forged within that group would still remain, at least among the survivors. And the ideals that inspired the Tomorrow Legion will also live on. I have admitted misgivings against the Legion, but I don't want to see them fall; I would consider that a tragedy. But I really don't see how they would survive. If anybody has any ideas on that, by all means share them.

Will the Tomorrow Legion can accomplish some good in the world before it goes away? Who will they inadvertently cause more harm been good? That's where you come in. That story will be told in our games.

[dragonfett]

The way I see the Tomorrow Legion is similar to that of the Jedi Council in Star Wars. They have the goal of doing good in the world, but do now wish to get entangled in politics, so sometimes their response to an event will be more muted than they would like. This could also cause internal strife as member who strongly feel that they should be doing more go out and do more and in doing so attract unwanted attention of political entities.

For example, a CS patrol and beset by a horde of demons (summoned by someone in Federation of Magic) and the players intervene, saving the CS patrol but attracting unwanted ire from the Federation of Magic, even though they don't know it.

[Molydeus]

The way I see the Tomorrow Legion is similar to that of the Jedi Council in Star Wars. They have the goal of doing good in the world, but do now wish to get entangled in politics, so sometimes their response to an event will be more muted than they would like. This could also cause internal strife as member who strongly feel that they should be doing more go out and do more and in doing so attract unwanted attention of political entities.

For example, a CS patrol and beset by a horde of demons (summoned by someone in Federation of Magic) and the players intervene, saving the CS patrol but attracting unwanted ire from the Federation of Magic, even though they don't know it.

I see your point how about how old the Tomorrow Legion would probably operate, and it's valid. However, I'm not sure your analogy is that on-point.

The Jedi were very political creatures, at least at one point. Back in the time of the prequel trilogy, the Senate was essentially the Jedi Council's bottom ho. The only thing that keeps the Jedi from meddling in the Galaxy's politics now is the fact that they have never recovered from Anakin's antics and then the Sith smacking them down. (Righteously. ) So it's more a matter of externally imposed circumstances rather than any apolitical stance on the part of the Jedi. Of course, that's probably not how they'd spin it...

[dragonfett]

The way I see the Tomorrow Legion is similar to that of the Jedi Council in Star Wars. They have the goal of doing good in the world, but do now wish to get entangled in politics, so sometimes their response to an event will be more muted than they would like. This could also cause internal strife as member who strongly feel that they should be doing more go out and do more and in doing so attract unwanted attention of political entities.

For example, a CS patrol and beset by a horde of demons (summoned by someone in Federation of Magic) and the players intervene, saving the CS patrol but attracting unwanted ire from the Federation of Magic, even though they don't know it.

I see your point how about how old the Tomorrow Legion would probably operate, and it's valid. However, I'm not sure your analogy is that on-point.

The Jedi were very political creatures, at least at one point. Back in the time of the prequel trilogy, the Senate was essentially the Jedi Council's bottom ho. The only thing that keeps the Jedi from meddling in the Galaxy's politics now is the fact that they have never recovered from Anakin's antics and then the Sith smacking them down. (Righteously. ) So it's more a matter of externally imposed circumstances rather than any apolitical stance on the part of the Jedi. Of course, that's probably not how they'd spin it...

Ok, so my analogy was a bit off as I probably was slightly mis-remembering somethings, but at least I was still able to make my point. Woot!

[Molydeus]

Sorry. I just really don't like the Jedi. Long live the Sith! But yeah, I see what you was getting at. It's all good.

So for those of you conflicted about the Tomorrow Legion, like me, and for those of you that just straight-up don't like them, just consider the Legion a self-correcting problem. I think it's a good idea, I think they do good work, but they have a limited shelf life. Like you said, dragonfett, they're going to get mixed up in problems doing what they do.

Actually, the only way I see them surviving for any length of time would be to move into an area, fix as many problems/do as much damage to the enemy as they can, then pick up everything and before they get too much heat. Exactly like the A-Team, except the group is much larger and they have super tech and psionics and friendly creatures from alien dimensions. So Castle Refuge would be their digs at first, then the Tomorrow Legion stirs up a Coalition-shaped hornet's nest, and then have to bail for greener territories. They establish themselves in whatever new area they feel needs their special brand of help ("Fight all the evil! Right all the wrongs!"), but eventually they attract too much attention again being Big G0dd4mn Heroes, and they have to get out of Dodge. Wash, rinse, repeat.

This moving around will make the Legion a moving target, and lets them go to new places and see new things and make more enemies and collect allies like postcards. But this also prevents them from ever becoming big enough to ever really effect lasting change. You can only get so big without having a permanent infrastructure to build on. So their choices are to stay in Arkansas and get squashed by the Coalition, or move around and never become a true power. At least the latter is a stepping-off point for adventure and stuff, while utter extermination is less so.

[Axelmania]

For anyone who hates the idea of Tarn running this... what if it's just an Auto-G who took a bite out of her and she's tied up in a hole somewhere?

Speaking of Erin Tarn, she's one of the founders of Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion according to this article. [/b]The other is Lord Coake.

98% chance of there being a Mary Sue NPC for Savage Rifts hinted at being the offspring of this union.

While this seems in-character for Lord Coake, Erin has thus far been the chief in-character narrator of Rifts, not a leader or organizer. Now she seems to be some sort of authority figure over our characters by default as well. That doesn't sit well with me personally; I dislike her as a narrating perspective and character in Rifts, and Savage Rifts seems to be embracing her viewpoint in a way that Rifts never has.

Assuming this takes place later in the timeline, Tarn is going to be slowing down more and more in her old age, making her less suited for adventuring and more suited for an administrative/mentoring position. I think she was already teaching some apprentice scholar when Thorpe took out that GBK in SoT4.

[HWalsh]

For anyone who hates the idea of Tarn running this... what if it's just an Auto-G who took a bite out of her and she's tied up in a hole somewhere?

Speaking of Erin Tarn, she's one of the founders of Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion according to this article. [/b]The other is Lord Coake.

98% chance of there being a Mary Sue NPC for Savage Rifts hinted at being the offspring of this union.

Well as slow as the timeline goes that will be an issue around, like, 2090.

Honestly the thing I wish would happen is if we got a book that was like, "Rifts 135 PA" that just jumps the timeline forward.

[Axelmania]

Yeah if they have to advance the timeline I'd rather big jumps, like between TMNT/ATB or Chaos/Rifts. That leave a huge gap you have lots of room to fill in.

Vampire Kingdoms had some rift that could teleport you something like a century ahead in time and then bring you back, revisiting that in 'Rifts Centuried" would be cool.

[Shark_Force]

For anyone who hates the idea of Tarn running this... what if it's just an Auto-G who took a bite out of her and she's tied up in a hole somewhere?

Speaking of Erin Tarn, she's one of the founders of Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion according to this article. [/b]The other is Lord Coake.

98% chance of there being a Mary Sue NPC for Savage Rifts hinted at being the offspring of this union.

Well as slow as the timeline goes that will be an issue around, like, 2090.

Honestly the thing I wish would happen is if we got a book that was like, "Rifts 135 PA" that just jumps the timeline forward.

tomorrow legion isn't palladium, it's the savage worlds crew. and from what we can tell, their version isn't canon for the main setting, so they don't need to stay at the rate of the current setting (in theory of course. in practice, it all depends on what the license says).

[Trooper Jim]

I hate it. It is an annoying attempt to railroad PC into the writer's vision of how people should play the game. It is intended to impose his personal morality on the players.