The RIFTER Idea

[Witchcraft]

Anyone ever seen Celebrity Deathmatch? It's a "Clay-mation" that used to be on MTV way back when. I had a hare-brained idea for RIFTS CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH! Now I sincerely doubt that Kevin would entertain putting something like that into one of his "serious" books but what the heck? He approved the swim-suit issues, right? *ducks* Seriously though let's do NPCs first -- Victor Lazlo versus Prosek or Erin Tarn versus Haephestus. How about Odin versus Quetzlcoatl?

Now, not just NPCs how about actual class vs class match-ups? Dragon-hatchling versus Glitter Boy Pilot, Temporal Raider versus LUDICROUS MAGE. How about a Ninja-juicer versus a Cyber-Knight?

What if we took those same match-ups and changed their levels -- BLAMMO! Mind Melter versus Shifter and level 1? Hmm...Mind Melter versus Shifter at level 15? Oh my! How about an Apok vs a Psycho-stalker? Or a Holy Terror versus an Anti-monster? I'd really like to see someone's interpretation of a Cosmo-Knight versus a Promethean or Dominator.

The format could be more of a narrative "play-by-play" like an announcer spectating in a ring. The "arena" could be different each time -- desert, Atlantis, underwater, Antarctica, etc. Maybe some artwork to go along with it -- and, of course, stats for the combatants. It'd be like watching MMA fighting only in RIFTS and...you're READING it instead of vegetating in front of the b00b t00b.

Has it been done before? Is it feasible? Any ideas? Flame away! I'm ready...

Witchcraft

[PhellaOne]

Anyone ever seen Celebrity Deathmatch? It's a "Clay-mation" that used to be on MTV way back when. I had a hare-brained idea for RIFTS CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH! Now I sincerely doubt that Kevin would entertain putting something like that into one of his "serious" books but what the heck?

Cool idea! I could see it as a "blow-by-blow" commentary in a Rifter. Just something to have a little fun with. I know me and my crew, Storytellas Studios, have done this for years. We called them "Battle Royals", where we would take a break from whatever campaign we were running and pit our favorite guys in a "there can only be one" situation. I don't know if my guys are the only ones who do it (I don't think so), but they constantly debate which of their characters could kick any other characters a**. It got to the point where it got disruptive and so I made it a point for them to "meet outside". We had so much fun with it, it just became an event we would do every so often. Heck, when it got to about six or more PCs I even started awarding prizes (a small amount of XPs, a secondary skill, etc...) to the winner. We took this idea and ran with it (as we tend to do with everything), making maps and giving odds. My guys are nuts and started putting "real-life" consequences on the outcomes. Some even bet REAL MONEY on themselves. Oh yeah, Battle Royals were a great break from the usual and as the Ref, it required minimal effort on my part. It might have even been the Battle Royals that inspired me to use the term "Referee" instead of Gamemaster (I'm pretty sure that was how I came by the term). Anyway, I for one would be interested in seeing some of these match-ups. Good call!

Game on! Long live Palladium Books!!!

[Witchcraft]

Oooh! A battle-royale sounds awesome! So instead of seeing a narrative about the two combatants we'd see a play-by-play of people actually RPing the combat out? That'd be incredibly interesting to see in the RIFTER. Your arena-style deathmatch games sound like a fantastic alternative to the regularly scheduled broadcast of gaming.

[PhellaOne]

Oooh! A battle-royale sounds awesome! Your arena-style deathmatch games sound like a fantastic alternative to the regularly scheduled broadcast of gaming.

Yeah, and it shuts those guys up who like to claim "My so-and-so character can whoop your so-and-so character". At least until they start complaining about WHY they lost. They are alot of fun though.

Game on! Long live Palladium Books!!!

[Juce734]

This sounds kind of like a gladiator arena and I had 2 players in my group do it outside of the campaign since they were arguing who would be able to kick whos ass. Lets just say it really came down to the environment in depending who would win.

[SpiritInterface]

Two men enter, one man leaves !

[Carl Gleba]

To me, ideas like this would have the best chance at publication. It's different and could be funny as hell. I know Kevin and as long as it was written well he would publish it. I say go for it!