Fresh off the Boat: Savage Rifts (SWADE Edition)

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Is that larger book at the back the core book?
 
A-ha. Which is the core book then?
It's a Savage Worlds game, so the Savage Worlds Adventure edition book has the core rules.

The savage rifts books add extra rules and races and equipment and edges etc etc etc
 
It's a Savage Worlds game, so the Savage Worlds Adventure edition book has the core rules.

The savage rifts books add extra rules and races and equipment and edges etc etc etc
I get that, but which is the core book for the RIFTS series, or the first book you’d buy if you could only buy one?
 
I get that, but which is the core book for the RIFTS series, or the first book you’d buy if you could only buy one?
Uhhhh, Tomorrow Legion Players Guide, I suppose. It’s got all the standard rifts... classes...? I don’t have my books in front of me, I can’t remember the term.
 
Tomorrow Legions Players Guide, Game Master's Handbook, Savage Foes of North America are in the box. All are updated for the SWADE Core rules.

The three new books are:

Arcana and Mysticism - which delves into pretty much all things magical, centering on the Magic Zone, the Federation of Magic, the Spirit West, Psyscape and Soul Harvest and a bunch of other places.

New Iconic Frameworks - two words: Dragon Juicer. Also, Nega Psychic, Zapper, Elemental Fusionist, and more MARS stuff.

New Races - Dwarves, Elves, Halflings (Oh My!) and a bunch of other stuff. I'm thinking this book might be a glimpse into the upcoming Fantasy Companion SWADE-mode. Which is a good thing.

Lots of gear, lore, Gazetteers for each region, adventures, bestiary and more than enough to get your game on. Clocks in at 192-pages. Good art!

Empires of Humanity - covers *everything* else human. Centers heavily on the Coalition, ARCHIE (whole section of ARCHIE and its rise and what's its doing). Free Quebec, and a ton of other major human outposts all across North America, a huge section on the Frontier West (Pecos Empire, Lone Star and a bunch of other stuff).

New Iconic Frameworks - Momonic Headhunters, Sentient Constructs, more MARS options, and some other stuff.

New Races - Mutant Animals (seriously this is like the best build-your TMNT and After-the-Bomb animal stuff ever), Mutant Felines, and Psy-X Aliens

Tons of gear, cybernetics, vehicles, weaponry. Gazetteers, plus a large campaign, bestiary, and a lot of cool stuff. Also clocks in at 192-pages. Excellent art.

Blood and Banes - This book covers all the weird and cool stuff. Xiticix, Vampire Kingdoms, Mutant Lands, the Calgary Monster Kingdom, Desert Kingdom. Gazeteers for all of them. More races, Iconic frameworks, a mini-campaign, bestiary, in the same format as the ones above. Also clocking in at 192 pages

All the books have indexes, lots of new edges, races etc. More tables for random stuff.

Basically - it's *everything* you need to do your Rifts campaign in North America and more. It also comes with the Rifts Tomorrow Legion Field Manual, which is a 96-page softcover book with four adventures, and more "stuff" (gear, races etc.)
 
I get that, but which is the core book for the RIFTS series, or the first book you’d buy if you could only buy one?

Rifts has it's own "core" book (three of them - and they're in that box in the middle). It's recently updated to the new SWADE rules. But let me be clear - while Savage Rifts is totally compatible with SWADE, it's really SWADE on steroids which is as it should be. At minimum, even if you don't play Savage Rifts, but play SWADE, it's useful if you ever get your SWADE game to crazy-power levels... you can flow right into these mechanics.
 
I picked this up via the Backerkit route, so glad to hear that they are starting to arrive. I guess the physical product won’t arrive in the UK for a little while yet but I have the PDFs already, so...

I’d be really interested to hear your impression and experience of running it when we get to that point :grin:
 
I picked this up via the Backerkit route, so glad to hear that they are starting to arrive. I guess the physical product won’t arrive in the UK for a little while yet but I have the PDFs already, so...

I’d be really interested to hear your impression and experience of running it when we get to that point :grin:

It'll be a bit before I run it. I'm running my current campaign, but once it's done I'm going to give up the GM chair to focus on my writing project with my badass editor (my wife). When I return - it's almost 90% guarantee the next game I run will be Savage Worlds. I plan on making a pitch for Savage Rifts to the gang. The competition is fierce tho. Deadlands, Interface Zero loom large. (not to mention CPRed, which should be out by the time I'm finished.)
 
I'm wondering if SWADE plus Empires of Humanity would be enough rules / ideas to cobble together a Justifiers game. Any idea else would be a priority to get?
 
I'm wondering if SWADE plus Empires of Humanity would be enough rules / ideas to cobble together a Justifiers game. Any idea else would be a priority to get?

It's an interesting proposition. I've never played/run Justifiers, but I'm familiar with it in concept. Empire of Humanity+SWADE should work very well as long as you can mine the fluff from Justifiers. I might also use Interface Zero 3.0 when it drops.
 
Did they ever come up with conversions for the Temporal Warrior/Raider and the Mind Bleeder? I can't find them.

In the conversion guide, for other conversions it sort of just said "do it however to make it fit." Both of those are tricky. I'm guessing using SWADE super powers is the best way to replicate them.

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My favorite Rifts campaign centered around a Temporal Warrior, Mind Bleeder, and Gunslinger.
 
Did they ever come up with conversions for the Temporal Warrior/Raider and the Mind Bleeder? I can't find them.

In the conversion guide, for other conversions it sort of just said "do it however to make it fit." Both of those are tricky. I'm guessing using SWADE super powers is the best way to replicate them.

View attachment 16516
My favorite Rifts campaign centered around a Temporal Warrior, Mind Bleeder, and Gunslinger.


Nothing official to my knowledge (and your instincts in how to DIY are spot on.) But there's been fan creations to give you some ideas.


*more here* https://savagerifts.com/sr/viewtopic.php?f=134&t=956&sid=a501dce4a9f1b335e034e5f69ac74c74
 
Do any of the books have Tattoo Magic? Or suggestions as to how to do the various trappings that would come with it?
 
Nothing official on Tattoo Magic or Temporal Magic has been released. But PEG has commented on it:

"Tattoo and Temporal Magic aren't in the North America Worldbooks. We crammed the three American 192-page behemoths full of all the content we could, and have laid the foundation for future magic expansions with expanded rules for ritual magic and magical item creation.

When we do Tattoos and Temporal magic, I want to make sure we do them right. While that means you have to wait a tad longer, in the meantime, I think you will be thrilled with the reams of new mystical content in these worldbooks :smile:"


But of course it's one of the most discussed and popular requests (I confess I'm one of them - I love Tattoo Magic in Palladium Rifts).

TONS of people have done their own homebrews of it. This is probably the one i'd use as a baseline, but it would need some tweaking for SWADE standards YMMV.

 
I’ve just had a shipping notice from FedEx saying my box set will be picked up in the next couple of days and should be with me by the 6th. I’ll be very pleasantly surprised if it makes it here that quickly!
 
I’ve just had a shipping notice from FedEx saying my box set will be picked up in the next couple of days and should be with me by the 6th. I’ll be very pleasantly surprised if it makes it here that quickly!

Honestly, I wasn't thrilled about updating my Savage Rifts books... but after getting this boxset and you *see* how big these expansion books are compared to the Core three... (on top of getting a new set of Core) it's pretty impressive. They're dense and packed a *lot* of stuff in there. Granted it's not like getting a dedicated Vampire Kingdoms book just for the Vampire Kingdoms, etc. but it's enough for anyone to run campaigns there as is. If you're already familiar with Rifts, it's a snap to add in any fluff or do your own homebrew conversion for monsters/gear/OCC's (with a little bit of thought) over to Savage Worlds.
 
Well give us a "unpackaging" update when it lands!
 
Absolutely, once they have gone through quarantine for a couple of days :sweat:
 
Nice always appreciated the gonzo setting of Rifts but found the mechanics not to my taste. This and the Flash Gordon set look dreamy but doubt I'll be able to afford them anytime soon. Be cool if they ever did a SW conversion of After the Bomb too.
 
Yes, it is within 10 miles of me at present. They missed the noon slot, it’s currently saying ‘by end of day’. Still pretty good, all things considered!
 
Gah, stuck at the town nearby! I can wait a little longer...
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Cheers; since I have the PDFs and my group is temporarily virtual I’m not in any hardship! :grin:
 
Yeah but the pleasure of the aroma and tactile joy of that dead tree!!!!! nothing like it...(I say this as I'm clutching my copies and sniffing them... man I'm a book perv).
 
Sniffing books that have just passed through three different locked-down countries might be high risk at the moment...

ETA: looks like my package is out for delivery and due today!
 
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