Alternate causes of the Cataclysm?

[slade the sniper]

What are some alternate causes of the Cataclysm that people have used?

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

What do you use? Do they change the setting of Rifts in any appreciable way? Does the timeline change much (2098, 104 PA), or does it not matter?

-STS

[Warshield73]

What are some alternate causes of the Cataclysm that people have used?

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

What do you use? Do they change the setting of Rifts in any appreciable way? Does the timeline change much (2098, 104 PA), or does it not matter?

-STS

Right after Atlantis came out I had the idea that the coming of the Rifts was caused by a group of mages that believed they were descendants of Atlantis (I wasn't sure if they were or not) that were trying to release enough mystic energy to return Atlantis to Earth. I never ended up using it though so no changes to the setting but I imagined a group similar to the Vanguard that had been operating in the magic zone or France trying to take Atlantis.

What I did end up doing after Nightbane came out I altered the cause of the coming of the Rifts to be Night cults, with people some of the worlds governments, trying to bring about Dark Day. They underestimated the effects of such a large PPE release during the planetary alignment. The biggest change was a Rifts Earth Nighlands that really only existed in or around the Pacific Rim that had infiltrated the Republic of Japan, the New Navy and some of the Canadian and South American west coast areas. This ended in a civil war within the New Navy with Nightlord controlled group on one side and Nemo with my PCs on the other. Long term it had conflict in Japan as the Nightlords tried to take control there too. I even had the Nightlands mirror cities of the Republic ones disappear and then return at the same time of the Earth counterpart. I also had to rewrite some of the early history of Atlantis to have conflict with the Nightlords as well.

[Sohisohi]

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

My personal canon is that all that "supernatural" stuff, like the planets aligning at midnight- during a bloodmoon- of Friday13th- during one of the solstices did happen. . . But it's all coincidence, the reality is that a nuclear strike in SA woke up an old one.

Everything, even Atlantis, is just a cosmic coincidence. Or more accurately, all those extra things happened because a cosmic being was about to be awoken. Signs, which people assume to be the cause, are just a symptoms of the real issue.

It doesn't change much, since everyone is still jumping to conclusions; but it let's me keep a high level threat, which I can sick on my players if I think they might survive.

[cawest]

i have it because someone was working on a BSG style jump engine.

[Warshield73]

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

My personal canon is that all that "supernatural" stuff, like the planets aligning at midnight- during a bloodmoon- of Friday13th- during one of the solstices did happen. . . But it's all coincidence, the reality is that a nuclear strike in SA woke up an old one.

Everything, even Atlantis, is just a cosmic coincidence. Or more accurately, all those extra things happened because a cosmic being was about to be awoken. Signs, which people assume to be the cause, are just a symptoms of the real issue.

It doesn't change much, since everyone is still jumping to conclusions; but it let's me keep a high level threat, which I can sick on my players if I think they might survive.

I like this. Everything people think is a cause is really just a portent is a nice way to skirt the canon and a great way to bring in the Old Ones. Which one did you use and is he actually awake? I could see this working with Ahriman too.

i have it because someone was working on a BSG style jump engine.

I don't understand this.

[slade the sniper]

I love using the Cthulhu Mythos as the deep background (once you peel away all the conspiracies and layers of sanity) for any/all settings.

BSG = Battlestar Galactica??

-STS

[Warshield73]

I love using the Cthulhu Mythos as the deep background (once you peel away all the conspiracies and layers of sanity) for any/all settings.

-STS

I love aspects of it but I usually just incorporate other PB stuff in to do the same jobs. I love using PFRPG Old Ones or Nightlords as the focus of the games.

BSG = Battlestar Galactica??

Yeah I'm sure it is but I don't understand what he did and how BSG jump drives apply to the conversation.

[Library Ogre]

I normally play with the idea that it was not a single event, but, rather, multiple events on multiple parallel worlds that all smashed together with the Coming of the Rifts. So, in one world, you might have had a nuclear exchange in South America. In another, you might have had dimensional experiments in Lone Star. A third might have had a particularly occult arrangement of ducks happen at Stonehenge. Any one of these would've caused some minor, local, disruption. All of them, happening at the same time, on these parallel worlds, caused the massive PPE dam created by the True Atlanteans (an event which lead to the creation of these different worlds) to break. All these alternate Earths smashed together, becoming a single world.

Ten thousand years of pent up PPE has been pouring across Rifts Earth ever since. Eventually, it will subside, and Earth will fall to its natural level... but that will take a long time, especially as more PPE still comes in, and several Earths are now contributing.

[slade the sniper]

I love using the Cthulhu Mythos as the deep background (once you peel away all the conspiracies and layers of sanity) for any/all settings.

-STS

I love aspects of it but I usually just incorporate other PB stuff in to do the same jobs. I love using PFRPG Old Ones or Nightlords as the focus of the games.

BSG = Battlestar Galactica??

Yeah I'm sure it is but I don't understand what he did and how BSG jump drives apply to the conversation.

As for the PFRPG Old Ones...Great Old Ones...hmmmm. I use them 99% interchangeably, the PFRPG just gives me a bigger selection

I have no idea how BSG showed up. I can understand if it was similar to Event Horizon (super great movie!)...

a particularly occult arrangement of ducks happen at Stonehenge.

I love this. Not a normal, or even an occult arrangement...a particularly occult arrangement. Sounds like cult activity!

-STS

[Library Ogre]

It also explains why pre-Rifts history is so mixed up... there's like six different Earths, all with slightly different histories, getting jammed together, so actual, non-conflicting, details are hard to manage.

[Warshield73]

I normally play with the idea that it was not a single event, but, rather, multiple events on multiple parallel worlds that all smashed together with the Coming of the Rifts. So, in one world, you might have had a nuclear exchange in South America. In another, you might have had dimensional experiments in Lone Star. A third might have had a particularly occult arrangement of ducks happen at Stonehenge. Any one of these would've caused some minor, local, disruption. All of them, happening at the same time, on these parallel worlds, caused the massive PPE dam created by the True Atlanteans (an event which lead to the creation of these different worlds) to break. All these alternate Earths smashed together, becoming a single world.

It also explains why pre-Rifts history is so mixed up... there's like six different Earths, all with slightly different histories, getting jammed together, so actual, non-conflicting, details are hard to manage.

Right after Conversion Book 1 came out a player and I actually discussed the idea that Rifts wasn't just the future of BtS but of all PB Earths. We decided against it because I wanted to use those as alternate dimensions and because Rifts Earth never seemed to have much in the way of super powered people but I can see the appeal.

Ten thousand years of pent up PPE has been pouring across Rifts Earth ever since. Eventually, it will subside, and Earth will fall to its natural level... but that will take a long time, especially as more PPE still comes in, and several Earths are now contributing.

First sending people to a '90s Power Rangers clip is only about 2 steps above Rick-Rolling so just putting that out there.

I have always viewed the rise of mystic energy on some planets as being similar to a runaway greenhouse effect. The higher it goes, the more sources contribute to it, the harder it is for it to come down, the longer it lasts. I have even created worlds in other dimensions and the three galaxies that have levels higher than Rifts Earth and these planets eventually destroy themselves. Almost a Venus for PPE.

I love using the Cthulhu Mythos as the deep background (once you peel away all the conspiracies and layers of sanity) for any/all settings.

I love aspects of it but I usually just incorporate other PB stuff in to do the same jobs. I love using PFRPG Old Ones or Nightlords as the focus of the games.

As for the PFRPG Old Ones...Great Old Ones...hmmmm. I use them 99% interchangeably, the PFRPG just gives me a bigger selection

I have always viewed them as interchangeable and truthfully it was reading PFRPG and few other things that actually got me to read Lovecraft in the first place. I had heard of him of course but I was more of a sci-fi person in high school.
I think the greater selection you mentioned and the already created gaming stats, especially after CB 1 and Dark Conversions books it just made it easier to use the PB stuff and kind of gave the games a feeling of scope and history. Adding the Nightlords to my Rifts campaign, even though my players only visited the Nightlands a few times and never faced even a Night Prince, really changed the feel of my games and added a lot of lore and sources of magic.

I also love adding the Night Lords to Heroes Unlimited too.

BSG = Battlestar Galactica??

Yeah I'm sure it is but I don't understand what he did and how BSG jump drives apply to the conversation.

I have no idea how BSG showed up. I can understand if it was similar to Event Horizon (super great movie!)...

Event Horizon is a criminally underrated movie and I have used it as inspiration for a number of games in Robotech, Rifts Space and Phase World.

a particularly occult arrangement of ducks happen at Stonehenge.

I love this. Not a normal, or even an occult arrangement...a particularly occult arrangement. Sounds like cult activity!

I am fairly certain that any arrangement of ducks would be particularly occult.

[Library Ogre]

Ten thousand years of pent up PPE has been pouring across Rifts Earth ever since. Eventually, it will subside, and Earth will fall to its natural level... but that will take a long time, especially as more PPE still comes in, and several Earths are now contributing.

First sending people to a '90s Power Rangers clip is only about 2 steps above Rick-Rolling so just putting that out there.

I make my own fun.

I have always viewed the rise of mystic energy on some planets as being similar to a runaway greenhouse effect. The higher it goes, the more sources contribute to it, the harder it is for it to come down, the longer it lasts. I have even created worlds in other dimensions and the three galaxies that have levels higher than Rifts Earth and these planets eventually destroy themselves. Almost a Venus for PPE.

Interesting. I remember in Phase World there's supposed to be a world even more Rift-torn than Rifts Earth, and had always fancied getting a bunch of Stone Masters together to try to tame it. With the massive PPE storms and such, I always pictured it like the Givin homeworld in Star Wars... subject to rapid and deadly environmental change, but because of the Rifts, not the moons.

[Warshield73]

I have always viewed the rise of mystic energy on some planets as being similar to a runaway greenhouse effect. The higher it goes, the more sources contribute to it, the harder it is for it to come down, the longer it lasts. I have even created worlds in other dimensions and the three galaxies that have levels higher than Rifts Earth and these planets eventually destroy themselves. Almost a Venus for PPE.

Interesting. I remember in Phase World there's supposed to be a world even more Rift-torn than Rifts Earth, and had always fancied getting a bunch of Stone Masters together to try to tame it. With the massive PPE storms and such, I always pictured it like the Givin homeworld in Star Wars... subject to rapid and deadly environmental change, but because of the Rifts, not the moons.

I think the planet you are talking about is Gemini 2, the twin planet of the Seljuks. I believe it was sealed up by the spell that cost the entire Seljuk race there mystic potential. This was actually the world that gave me the idea of a runaway magic effect. I said if Gemini 2 had continued without the sealing spell it would have destroyed both planets.

I can't remember any other worlds with higher levels of PPE but there might be.

[eliakon]

In a game I ran the nuclear war turned out to be a cover.
The entire thing was a carefully orchestrated ritual (what? you thought that the death of billions would happen at the exact moment of peak energy by accident?)
The purpose of the ritual was... opaque (monomaniacal rambling about "we shall open the True Gate and be as to the gods as gods are to men" were par for the course)
there was a lot of interdimensional and trans-temporal shenanigans involved and the entire thing culminated with a raid by a scrappy band of heroes who managed to raid the ritual site and make the first nuke blow up 15 seconds early immolating the entire cult [/i]just[i] before the last spell could be finished.
Okay, so they caused the Cataclysm in the process... but sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet and sometimes you have to break some worlds to save reality.

[Warshield73]

In a game I ran the nuclear war turned out to be a cover.
The entire thing was a carefully orchestrated ritual (what? you thought that the death of billions would happen at the exact moment of peak energy by accident?)
The purpose of the ritual was... opaque (monomaniacal rambling about "we shall open the True Gate and be as to the gods as gods are to men" were par for the course)
there was a lot of interdimensional and trans-temporal shenanigans involved and the entire thing culminated with a raid by a scrappy band of heroes who managed to raid the ritual site and make the first nuke blow up 15 seconds early immolating the entire cult [/i]just[i] before the last spell could be finished.
Okay, so they caused the Cataclysm in the process... but sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet and sometimes you have to break some worlds to save reality.

I like this one but not for Rifts proper. I don't think the details of this would be all that relevant 300 years later so it wouldn't change much.

I think this would be an outstanding idea for Chaos Earth. There could be surviving cultists, your PCs could even be the "scrappy band of heroes or even Scooby band of heroes if you prefer.

[scalien]

What are some alternate causes of the Cataclysm that people have used?

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

What do you use? Do they change the setting of Rifts in any appreciable way? Does the timeline change much (2098, 104 PA), or does it not matter?

-STS

I am working out a way to incorporate the Shimizu Pyramid City into the Cataclysm. The city is currently planned to begin construction in 2030 and finished in 2110. My idea is the advent of mega damage materials accelerated the development, maybe with a second or third in other parts of the world since the Shimizu corporation patented this in many countries and wants to have these built all over the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Mega-City_Pyramid

Naturally, this alters the state of Japan and I am still deciding if I want to have the pyramid linked to the dimensional test, replace the test completely, or what exactly. But a pyramid, two-thirds of a mile high and home to a million people with its own means of power/food/manufacturing, just seems like too good of a set-piece not to incorporate into the setting.

[taalismn]

It was a guy named Bob.

[eliakon]

In a game I ran the nuclear war turned out to be a cover.
The entire thing was a carefully orchestrated ritual (what? you thought that the death of billions would happen at the exact moment of peak energy by accident?)
The purpose of the ritual was... opaque (monomaniacal rambling about "we shall open the True Gate and be as to the gods as gods are to men" were par for the course)
there was a lot of interdimensional and trans-temporal shenanigans involved and the entire thing culminated with a raid by a scrappy band of heroes who managed to raid the ritual site and make the first nuke blow up 15 seconds early immolating the entire cult [/i]just[i] before the last spell could be finished.
Okay, so they caused the Cataclysm in the process... but sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet and sometimes you have to break some worlds to save reality.

I like this one but not for Rifts proper. I don't think the details of this would be all that relevant 300 years later so it wouldn't change much.

I think this would be an outstanding idea for Chaos Earth. There could be surviving cultists, your PCs could even be the "scrappy band of heroes or even Scooby band of heroes if you prefer.

It would be of rather serious relevance if someone found the text of the ritual and decided to try again...

[Dustin Fireblade]

What are some alternate causes of the Cataclysm that people have used?

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

What do you use? Do they change the setting of Rifts in any appreciable way? Does the timeline change much (2098, 104 PA), or does it not matter?

-STS

I didn't really do much with thinking alternate causes for a long time, but my oldest son picked up a game called "Darksiders" for his xbox - I think that was 2010 or 2011 or so. Playing it gave me the idea that the 4 Horsemen were somehow behind the cataclysm. I thought about revisiting the idea and tie in the Minion War but I've never really got around to it.

[Nekira Sudacne]

We already have the canonical limited nuclear exchange in South America causing ley lines to basically explodes, followed by the Yellowstone mega-volcano.

My personal canon is that all that "supernatural" stuff, like the planets aligning at midnight- during a bloodmoon- of Friday13th- during one of the solstices did happen. . . But it's all coincidence, the reality is that a nuclear strike in SA woke up an old one.

Everything, even Atlantis, is just a cosmic coincidence. Or more accurately, all those extra things happened because a cosmic being was about to be awoken. Signs, which people assume to be the cause, are just a symptoms of the real issue.

It doesn't change much, since everyone is still jumping to conclusions; but it let's me keep a high level threat, which I can sick on my players if I think they might survive.

Curious, what exactly does this change?

Or rather, if an Old One is awake and isn't doing anything, is it still dreaming?

[Nekira Sudacne]

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

Really? Who? This is the first I've heard of this plot thread

[slade the sniper]

It also explains why pre-Rifts history is so mixed up... there's like six different Earths, all with slightly different histories, getting jammed together, so actual, non-conflicting, details are hard to manage.

Alternate Facts!

-STS

[slade the sniper]

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

Really? Who? This is the first I've heard of this plot thread

Um...me? I think that jamyz also does...and um...other people too...in the Robotech thread...I'm almost super sure of it.

-STS

[taalismn]

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

Really? Who? This is the first I've heard of this plot thread

Basra Nikki, author of the Freeman Chronicles, created a Rifts-Robotech crossover called Riftech over a decade ago. It has Dolza's bombardment split space/time. As Basra is still noodling away occasionally posting installments of the Freeman Chronicles(Robotech with some Rifts elements, and a strong Heinlein 'Number of the Beast' inter dimensional crossover adventure) our twenty years, it's possible that eventually we might see some Rifts-Robotech fan fiction, instead of just his old game material.
It's less 'alternate causes for Rifts Earth' and more 'more problems for Robotech Earth'.

[Warshield73]

Some others use the Rain of Death from Robotech/Macross.

Really? Who? This is the first I've heard of this plot thread

I am usually the GM for Rifts but the first time I played was with a GM who wanted to combine 1e Robotech and Rifts. He had the coming of the Rifts caused by the Rain of Death. And in that game a lot was different, I mean Chitown was built around a crashed Zentraedi Flagship.

[Not-a-rogue-scholar]

As stated in Chaos Earth, businesses would cut corners and take unethical shortcuts to out do the competition. Perhaps, the Rifts were intentionally opened by a Mega corp., in order to obtain new technology from what they thought would be a singular rift event.
I.E. The Mega-corp calls in an old favor, getting the Glitterboys sent to South America. The Mega-corp has some way of knowing or seeing the leyline intersection, and uses some sort of technology, only they have patents on, to strengthen the effect of the PPE release from the Glitterboy driven massacre they initiate.
The Mega-corp, did not count on the snowball effect.