Rifts, the forgotten NPC/McGuffin of Rifts

[slade the sniper]

So, I since I have never seen a thread that talks about rifts themselves, how about it?
What are they?
What can be done to open and close them?
Can you make them anywhere to anywhere?
Are there permanent rifts that can not be closed?
Can/do rifts make changes to things/beings that pass through them?
Are any rifts sentient?
How big can a rift be, how small?
Any good/bad stories concerning rifts?
Can rifts be opened up along timelines, not just dimensions so that you can do time travel within the same dimension?
Can the CS make a "technological" rift? Would they use it?

Finally, can the "space fold" of Robotech be considered a "rift"? Especially since they often seem to be a bit...unreliable for plot reasons.

Anyway, I figured a thread about rifts, specifically, would be fun...

-STS

[Meneliki]

What are they?
Tears in the fabric of spacetime.

What can be done to open and close them?
They occur naturally at leyline nexi, and can also be opened/closed by magic users.

Can you make them anywhere to anywhere?
I think you can make them from wherever you are? As for the destination, i think you need to be familiar with it. Or.. it may need to be at a nexus. Hmm. Fuzzy on this, will have to re-read.

Are there permanent rifts that can not be closed?
Yeah there's the Demon's Gate rift. It fused with some structures when it appeared and is now indestructable and perma-open. CS guards it.

Can/do rifts make changes to things/beings that pass through them?
I don't think so, never read anything to that effect.

Are any rifts sentient?
No.

How big can a rift be, how small?
Anywhere from a few feet tall to a mile high, IIRC.

Any good/bad stories concerning rifts?
Here's a messed up story concerning rifts - my campaign has been going on for almost a year IRL and the party has yet to encounter a rift. I'm a horrible GM. lol.

Can rifts be opened up along timelines, not just dimensions so that you can do time travel within the same dimension?
I've never read anything about that, so that'd probably be up to the GM's discretion. I wouldn't personally allow it.

Can the CS make a "technological" rift? Would they use it?
I'd say no, and no. They don't have that capability, and there's no way they'd use it if they did. They're too paranoid, and that'd be wayy too hypocritical of them. (their entire platform is based on hating the rifts and what comes from them).

Finally, can the "space fold" of Robotech be considered a "rift"? Especially since they often seem to be a bit...unreliable for plot reasons.
I'm "that guy" who knows literally nothing about Robotech.. sorry. lol

M

[Warshield73]

What are they?
Tears in the fabric of spacetime.

What can be done to open and close them?
They occur naturally at leyline nexi, and can also be opened/closed by magic users.

Can you make them anywhere to anywhere?
I think you can make them from wherever you are? As for the destination, i think you need to be familiar with it. Or.. it may need to be at a nexus. Hmm. Fuzzy on this, will have to re-read.

Are there permanent rifts that can not be closed?
Yeah there's the Demon's Gate rift. It fused with some structures when it appeared and is now indestructable and perma-open. CS guards it.

Can/do rifts make changes to things/beings that pass through them?
I don't think so, never read anything to that effect.

Are any rifts sentient?
No.

How big can a rift be, how small?
Anywhere from a few feet tall to a mile high, IIRC.

Any good/bad stories concerning rifts?
Here's a messed up story concerning rifts - my campaign has been going on for almost a year IRL and the party has yet to encounter a rift. I'm a horrible GM. lol.

Can rifts be opened up along timelines, not just dimensions so that you can do time travel within the same dimension?
I've never read anything about that, so that'd probably be up to the GM's discretion. I wouldn't personally allow it.

I agree with almost all of the above. My first Rifts game after RMB came out I didn't have them encounter or go through a rift for the first 2 years. I was a far worse GM.

Can the CS make a "technological" rift? Would they use it?
I'd say no, and no. They don't have that capability, and there's no way they'd use it if they did. They're too paranoid, and that'd be wayy too hypocritical of them. (their entire platform is based on hating the rifts and what comes from them).

The CS Lonestar has a dimensional doorway device that I believe is a tech device from before the rifts that can create what is basically a dimensional rift. I think that Dr. Bradford is the only one that knows about it but I think if it worked certainly Prosek junior would use it to attack there enemies. We know that they have black ops squads that use magical rifts to attack other dimensions so he would totally use a tech version.

The CS hates magic but they don't seem to have too many limits on tech other than modifying humans.

Finally, can the "space fold" of Robotech be considered a "rift"? Especially since they often seem to be a bit...unreliable for plot reasons.
I'm "that guy" who knows literally nothing about Robotech.. sorry. lol

M

Rifts are tears in space-time that are two way. There is great artwork in several of the books were you can see an alien environment and you can go back and forth like a door.

Space fold is moving an entire area from one place to another so I think it might be considered a dimensional anomaly but not a rift.

[Zer0 Kay]

What are they?
Tips in space time and/or the fabric of reality

What can be done to open and close them?
There is natural, magical (spells and circles) and tech phaseworld

Can you make them anywhere to anywhere?
Phaseworld can so yes

Are there permanent rifts that can not be closed?
Yup written all over the place

Can/do rifts make changes to things/beings that pass through them?
Depends on the dimensional barrier... I guess that means no because it is the dimensional barrier doing it not the Rifts (e.g. Mirror wall from Nightspawn)

Are any rifts sentient?
Not that I've read, but why not make one?

How big can a rift be, how small?
As big as required by plot

Any good/bad stories concerning rifts?
Answered later

Can rifts be opened up along timelines, not just dimensions so that you can do time travel within the same dimension?
Yes (Victor Lazlo)

Can the CS make a "technological" rift? Would they use it?
Yes. Why not? They open it up and push the unwanted into it.

Finally, can the "space fold" of Robotech be considered a "rift"? Especially since they often seem to be a bit...unreliable for plot reasons.
Yes.
So in my Rifts a portion of Antarctica drifted out swapping places with an area in Splicers. Everything below the ground in Splicers came to Rifts earth passing through the mirror wall killing all the nanites. That portion contains a Splicer great house. The aboveground took some other route because the factory and robots came through. The factory can only do repairs and cant manufacture nanites. Somewhere on the Splycer planet there is a new lake saturated with PPE.
In the Arctic the SDF3 attempted an emergency jump near the black hole AND happened to intersect with the Regis' Superluminal form which caused caused an anomaly and the SDF3 is ice locked and the Regis is in a hive on the seafloor. They have a ceasefire due to their current situation. ALUCE base was Rifted to the dark side of the moon. Using some tech that got back to their dimension a Mechanoid ship tried rifting to Rifts but came in to an or it too close to Jupiter and are now using all of their engine power to keep from singing into the red eye. There is an unseen aerial rift that sits on top of the Rockies, anyone climbing or attempting to fly over them, in close proximity will go up into this Rift which goes into some weird dimension that is a massive rock wall that then inverts as you descend onto another world like the tops of the mountains in both dimensions became one. I'm developing some other geologically locked aerial Rifts too. Some are over Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland and is called by many in the local area Bifrost. The northern lights weren't caused by the solar winds hitting the magnetosphere it was solar winds passing through the leyline nexis and moved by the magnetosphere.