Has anyone written up a primer for Rifts they wouldn't mind sharing? My group is going to start Rifts in a month or so and only two of us have ever played it. I was hoping for something I could e-mail in advance so they could get a feel for the setting their character grew up in and get the brain juices flowing.
I could write something myself but if someone else has already done so and can save me the time and typing that would be awesome. Plus it might jog my memory on something I've forgotten. I haven't played tabletop Rifts in roughly a decade. Some PBEM games but those don't tend to be as productive or cover as much ground/territory in my experience.
Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
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Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
Re: Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
LostOne wrote:Has anyone written up a primer for Rifts they wouldn't mind sharing? My group is going to start Rifts in a month or so and only two of us have ever played it. I was hoping for something I could e-mail in advance so they could get a feel for the setting their character grew up in and get the brain juices flowing.
I could write something myself but if someone else has already done so and can save me the time and typing that would be awesome. Plus it might jog my memory on something I've forgotten. I haven't played tabletop Rifts in roughly a decade. Some PBEM games but those don't tend to be as productive or cover as much ground/territory in my experience.
There's an official one: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204 ... rs_id=2627
It's an intro adventure with basic rules and pre-mades.
But I'm not sure that's what you want. What kind of content were you looking for specifically?
[EDIT] That is to say, I think you want more background info maybe. That depends a lot on where you're setting your adventure.
Re: Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
Right. More just general info about North America, the major factions, iconic classes, etc. Sort of the movie trailer for the North America setting. The stuff that someone growing up outside the control of the Coalition propaganda machine would accept as general knowledge.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
Re: Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
Um, it's not exactly what you asked for but if your PCs are CS citizens I have a CS "creation myth" that I put together that basically lays out the "official" CS-endorsed history from the cataclysm through the founding of the empire.
I give it to my players during character creation (if their PCs grew up or lived in the CS) and have them highlight, cross-out or note the heck out of it to represent how much of the official history their characters believe. It's intentionally vague and the whole thing is understood to be kind of unreliably narrated but it's a fun way of getting players into their PC's headspace.
Word of warning, though, it's not 100% cannon. Though you could always change that.
Coalition History
Earth was a paradise, once.
There was no hunger, no disease, no poverty. Humanity, once fractious and divided, had come together in a Golden Age of peace and cooperation that spread to every corner of the world. We mapped and mastered the secrets of the human mind. Bent the atom completely to our will. Even reached out and landed explorers onto other worlds.
But then came the rifts.
In a single moment, the world was thrown into chaos as ley lines surged to life across the globe. Massive gateways, miles wide—hundreds of times bigger than most common rifts today—tore open where the ley lines crossed. And from those gateways, Hell was released into paradise. The invasion had begun.
Millions of creatures, monsters, demons spewed forth from the rifts and savaged the Earth. Across the world, humanity tried to fight back. But the enemy was ceaseless and powerful. They scorched the sky to deny us the great weapons we had built in space. They warped and poisoned the land so that it no longer resembled the paradise of the Earth, but some deadly mockery of it. They turned our own people into monsters. Children raised from the grave as shambling horrors. Whole families changed and mutated into inhuman monsters that hungered for flesh. And those innocents whose minds they warped to their sick causes.
And worst of all, these monstrous abominations that invaded our world brought with them a sickness. A blight that infected even pure, innocent, good humans. That infected our very world.
Magic.
Humanity rallied. Not everywhere. Too many places were lost to darkness. Too many people left to death, or worse. But across the world the tide turned. Now aware of the thing they faced and the incredible power that its enemy possessed, Humanity showed its own mighty strength. The best of our world met the monsters of Hell and, without surprise and disorder on their enemies’ side, humanity pushed them back to the hellish worlds from whence they came.
It would have been the end of it. A hard-won victory, but a victory nonetheless. And one that Humanity would learn from so that they could never be taken so unawares again. But on the cusp of Humanity’s triumph, we were betrayed. Betrayed by our own. Men and women who had been seduced by the dark power the monstrous invaders had left behind.
Magic.
These people were fascinated by it. They saw only Magic’s uses. They saw its potential. Its ability. But they missed its agency. It’s dark purpose. Many of them had the best of intentions when they reached out into the universe. When they studied a power they did not understand. And could not control.
Forgive them, oh Lord—so the prayer goes—they know not what they do.
And so, their hearts were poisoned by Magic’s dark purpose. And through them, Earth was discovered not only by the demonic forces that Humanity had beaten back, but by a thousand, thousand other powers all across the unknown megaverse. More demons and monsters, surely. But other things as well. Dark gods and creatures of myth and fantasy. And alien beings of technology that put even the height of Earth’s Golden Age to shame. And each beheld the Earth with only a single emotion, the only one many such creatures could feel. Greed.
It’s said that the war that followed was so devastating that it reshaped the very face of the world. Mountains were crushed to dust in the thunderous calamity and new islands rose from the oceans. Great tsunamis wiped out invader and defender alike as sea and storm tore across the globe with a vicious fury. The sky, it’s said, burned with nuclear fire for a full day and night.
The Defenders fought bravely. A hundred monsters fell for each of these brave warriors of Humanity. But, one by one, the Defenders stumbled. Man by man, city by city, nation by nation, Humanity was worn away. Inch by inch, they ripped our world from the dead fingers of our children.
What followed was a hundred years of darkness. The great wondering. The Demon Plagues. The Rise of Atlantis. And always, always, the spread of Magic as good and vile men both fell to the lure of its power. But all was not lost. Humanity had been beaten, but we were not broken. We were mad a minority on our own world, but we survived.
Through strength and tenacity, the settlements of Chi-Town, Quebec and Iron Heart beat back the dark age and, together, founded a single unified government. A new beginning for the American Empire. The dawn of a new age where Earth would be taken back for the Human Race--and this Coalition of States moved to make that dream a reality. They annexed territory around them that had fallen into the hands of diabolic monsters and demons and aliens. The people there were given succor and care. Molded into Coalition Citizens themselves and shown a better way of life. Shown that they could be proud to be human again.
The Coalition was not alone in this endeavor, however. They had a powerful ally. One that shared their goal of reclaiming the best parts of the Golden Age of Man and founding it anew in the present.
The Federation of Magic.
At the time, the Coalition was uncomfortable with the Federation’s use of sorcery. But they needed allies and the Federation seemed to have proven that, in the right hands, magic really could be an invaluable tool for good. Together, the Coalition and Federation began to cleanse North America of the taint of Evil that had lingered since the days of the Cataclysm. Acre by acre, settlement by settlement, both great powers expanded their territories and brought more and more of North America under their protection.
But it couldn’t last. The seduction of Magic is subtle, but persistent. And eventually the Federation’s leadership fell under its corruption. They began to consort with aliens and monsters, first as advisors but soon they admitted entire alien communities to the Federation’s membership—some of these creatures even becoming leaders within the Federation. By then, the Federation’s betrayal was almost inevitable as the Coalition’s once-ally began to fortify its borders and prepare for war.
But, wanting to believe the best in their allies, the Coalition tried to make them see their errors. To correct their coarse and realize the dangers of Magic and the evils of the inhuman invaders they now acknowledged as citizens. But rather than see sense, the Federation pushed further, going so far as to invade neutral towns and settlements on their borders under the guise of “protecting” them from the Coalition.
None were surprised when war finally broke out. The Coalition was prepared—powerful and well-provisioned. But the ferocity of the Federation horde was more that the Coalition had ever imagined. And when the bulk of the two great armies met, the Coalition forces were broken and scattered by their demonic opponents.
The battle was a disaster. The Coalition was left fragmented and in full retreat, fleeing back into their own territory as each Member State recalled its own troops back to defend their capitals. The Coalition Assembly debated and dithered, paralyzed by their own bureaucracy and unable to convince the Governors of the State’s they represented to halt their retreat and reform the army. It appeared like it would be the end of the Coalition, even without the Federation arm bearing down on them.
But all was not lost. From the chaos, a young colonel, Joseph Prosek, loved and respected by his men and feared by the enemy--rose to prominence. While the Assembly withered with indecision, he regrouped the disparate Coalition armies—against the wishes of those armies’ actual commanders—for a final stand on the Des Plaines River where he defeated the enemy. He went on to drive the Federation forces completely out of Coalition territory and crush their army at the mouth of the Ohio River Basin, leaving them a shadow of their former power.
He returned to Chi-Town a hero to the people but he was named treasonous by the Assembly, who were jealous of his power. They spread lies about him. Accused him of outlandish war crimes. But when they tried to take him, the people in the streets rose up to defend him, as did the army.
And so General Joseph Prosek was remade Emperor Prosek.
Under his rule, and his son Karl’s after him, the Coalition States have expanded to control over half of the Old American Empire. They are the most powerful Human Nation in the world. And they are poised to begin an expansion that will bring all North America under their righteous control.
I give it to my players during character creation (if their PCs grew up or lived in the CS) and have them highlight, cross-out or note the heck out of it to represent how much of the official history their characters believe. It's intentionally vague and the whole thing is understood to be kind of unreliably narrated but it's a fun way of getting players into their PC's headspace.
Word of warning, though, it's not 100% cannon. Though you could always change that.
Coalition History
Earth was a paradise, once.
There was no hunger, no disease, no poverty. Humanity, once fractious and divided, had come together in a Golden Age of peace and cooperation that spread to every corner of the world. We mapped and mastered the secrets of the human mind. Bent the atom completely to our will. Even reached out and landed explorers onto other worlds.
But then came the rifts.
In a single moment, the world was thrown into chaos as ley lines surged to life across the globe. Massive gateways, miles wide—hundreds of times bigger than most common rifts today—tore open where the ley lines crossed. And from those gateways, Hell was released into paradise. The invasion had begun.
Millions of creatures, monsters, demons spewed forth from the rifts and savaged the Earth. Across the world, humanity tried to fight back. But the enemy was ceaseless and powerful. They scorched the sky to deny us the great weapons we had built in space. They warped and poisoned the land so that it no longer resembled the paradise of the Earth, but some deadly mockery of it. They turned our own people into monsters. Children raised from the grave as shambling horrors. Whole families changed and mutated into inhuman monsters that hungered for flesh. And those innocents whose minds they warped to their sick causes.
And worst of all, these monstrous abominations that invaded our world brought with them a sickness. A blight that infected even pure, innocent, good humans. That infected our very world.
Magic.
Humanity rallied. Not everywhere. Too many places were lost to darkness. Too many people left to death, or worse. But across the world the tide turned. Now aware of the thing they faced and the incredible power that its enemy possessed, Humanity showed its own mighty strength. The best of our world met the monsters of Hell and, without surprise and disorder on their enemies’ side, humanity pushed them back to the hellish worlds from whence they came.
It would have been the end of it. A hard-won victory, but a victory nonetheless. And one that Humanity would learn from so that they could never be taken so unawares again. But on the cusp of Humanity’s triumph, we were betrayed. Betrayed by our own. Men and women who had been seduced by the dark power the monstrous invaders had left behind.
Magic.
These people were fascinated by it. They saw only Magic’s uses. They saw its potential. Its ability. But they missed its agency. It’s dark purpose. Many of them had the best of intentions when they reached out into the universe. When they studied a power they did not understand. And could not control.
Forgive them, oh Lord—so the prayer goes—they know not what they do.
And so, their hearts were poisoned by Magic’s dark purpose. And through them, Earth was discovered not only by the demonic forces that Humanity had beaten back, but by a thousand, thousand other powers all across the unknown megaverse. More demons and monsters, surely. But other things as well. Dark gods and creatures of myth and fantasy. And alien beings of technology that put even the height of Earth’s Golden Age to shame. And each beheld the Earth with only a single emotion, the only one many such creatures could feel. Greed.
It’s said that the war that followed was so devastating that it reshaped the very face of the world. Mountains were crushed to dust in the thunderous calamity and new islands rose from the oceans. Great tsunamis wiped out invader and defender alike as sea and storm tore across the globe with a vicious fury. The sky, it’s said, burned with nuclear fire for a full day and night.
The Defenders fought bravely. A hundred monsters fell for each of these brave warriors of Humanity. But, one by one, the Defenders stumbled. Man by man, city by city, nation by nation, Humanity was worn away. Inch by inch, they ripped our world from the dead fingers of our children.
What followed was a hundred years of darkness. The great wondering. The Demon Plagues. The Rise of Atlantis. And always, always, the spread of Magic as good and vile men both fell to the lure of its power. But all was not lost. Humanity had been beaten, but we were not broken. We were mad a minority on our own world, but we survived.
Through strength and tenacity, the settlements of Chi-Town, Quebec and Iron Heart beat back the dark age and, together, founded a single unified government. A new beginning for the American Empire. The dawn of a new age where Earth would be taken back for the Human Race--and this Coalition of States moved to make that dream a reality. They annexed territory around them that had fallen into the hands of diabolic monsters and demons and aliens. The people there were given succor and care. Molded into Coalition Citizens themselves and shown a better way of life. Shown that they could be proud to be human again.
The Coalition was not alone in this endeavor, however. They had a powerful ally. One that shared their goal of reclaiming the best parts of the Golden Age of Man and founding it anew in the present.
The Federation of Magic.
At the time, the Coalition was uncomfortable with the Federation’s use of sorcery. But they needed allies and the Federation seemed to have proven that, in the right hands, magic really could be an invaluable tool for good. Together, the Coalition and Federation began to cleanse North America of the taint of Evil that had lingered since the days of the Cataclysm. Acre by acre, settlement by settlement, both great powers expanded their territories and brought more and more of North America under their protection.
But it couldn’t last. The seduction of Magic is subtle, but persistent. And eventually the Federation’s leadership fell under its corruption. They began to consort with aliens and monsters, first as advisors but soon they admitted entire alien communities to the Federation’s membership—some of these creatures even becoming leaders within the Federation. By then, the Federation’s betrayal was almost inevitable as the Coalition’s once-ally began to fortify its borders and prepare for war.
But, wanting to believe the best in their allies, the Coalition tried to make them see their errors. To correct their coarse and realize the dangers of Magic and the evils of the inhuman invaders they now acknowledged as citizens. But rather than see sense, the Federation pushed further, going so far as to invade neutral towns and settlements on their borders under the guise of “protecting” them from the Coalition.
None were surprised when war finally broke out. The Coalition was prepared—powerful and well-provisioned. But the ferocity of the Federation horde was more that the Coalition had ever imagined. And when the bulk of the two great armies met, the Coalition forces were broken and scattered by their demonic opponents.
The battle was a disaster. The Coalition was left fragmented and in full retreat, fleeing back into their own territory as each Member State recalled its own troops back to defend their capitals. The Coalition Assembly debated and dithered, paralyzed by their own bureaucracy and unable to convince the Governors of the State’s they represented to halt their retreat and reform the army. It appeared like it would be the end of the Coalition, even without the Federation arm bearing down on them.
But all was not lost. From the chaos, a young colonel, Joseph Prosek, loved and respected by his men and feared by the enemy--rose to prominence. While the Assembly withered with indecision, he regrouped the disparate Coalition armies—against the wishes of those armies’ actual commanders—for a final stand on the Des Plaines River where he defeated the enemy. He went on to drive the Federation forces completely out of Coalition territory and crush their army at the mouth of the Ohio River Basin, leaving them a shadow of their former power.
He returned to Chi-Town a hero to the people but he was named treasonous by the Assembly, who were jealous of his power. They spread lies about him. Accused him of outlandish war crimes. But when they tried to take him, the people in the streets rose up to defend him, as did the army.
And so General Joseph Prosek was remade Emperor Prosek.
Under his rule, and his son Karl’s after him, the Coalition States have expanded to control over half of the Old American Empire. They are the most powerful Human Nation in the world. And they are poised to begin an expansion that will bring all North America under their righteous control.
Re: Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
That is awesome, it makes me want to run a CS game. 
Saving it for future use.
Saving it for future use.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
Re: Rifts Primer/Synopsis?
LostOne wrote:That is awesome, it makes me want to run a CS game.
Saving it for future use.
Hope your players enjoy
I've had some of my best times GMing running Roleplay-heavy CS settings. There's just so much opportunity for intra-party conflict where genuinely good characters can fundamentally disagree. Which is weird, 'cause, you know...Nazis. But when the Nazis are LEGIT the only thing standing between a lot of innocents and genuinely worse bad guys...it's gives a lot for experienced roleplayers to dig into.
My setting even has a pair of high-level former-PCs that I now run as part of the setting that used to be in a party together and split at the end of that campaign based on their (and their players) divergent beliefs about the CS.
As for your original request...I would just let your PC's read the North America section from the UE Erin Tarn prologue. Or if they aren't willing to do that much reading...just summarize it in a word doc for them, a couple of sentences each section.
Something like:
FEDERATION OF MAGIC: Loose confederacy of largely autonomous, pro-magic city states bound together for mutual defense against the CS. Individual states vary from diabolical slave kingdoms run by monsters to modern-style democracies to hippy utopia communes. They mostly hate eachother, but know that their unity is the only reason the CS hasn't killed them all. Former Great Power, but war and economic isolation has left them a shadow of their former self (but still probably the second strongest power left in NA post-Tolkeen).
And print them off a map. This is probably the biggest thing you can do to help them visualize it all. Maybe highlight names based on CS, CS-ally, Neutral, CS enemy.