Chaos Earth Compatability With Other Rifts Books?

[jdrakeh]

Somebody (elsewhere) mentioned to me that Chaos Earth contains a streamlined version of the Megaversal System and I was wondering how compatible it is with other Rifts book (World Books and such). Opinions?

[Curbludgeon]

I don't think there's much if anything in the way of rules differences. The main book doesn't have any psionics or magic, and classes and equipment are pretty on-theme. Rise of Magic has some magic classes, all of which could be shoved in a Rifts game.

[slade the sniper]

It is the same system. All the megaversal stuff is compatible with each other. Chaos Earth is just Rifts immediately after the apocalypse (about 200 years before Rifts). The game system is the same, so all the world books should be 99% compatible if you use Chaos Earth. Lore bits are obviously going to be a bit different, but rule wise they are the same.

-STS

[jdrakeh]

Awesome! Playing through the early apocalypse really appeals to me. I picked up all of the Chaos Earth books, plus the Game Master Guide, Book of Magic, Adventure Guide, and Vampires. Gonna snag some World Books and the 30th Anniversary core book when I next get paid.

[Grazzik]

Just a couple things to keep in mind for Chaos Earth...

• On character generation, don't forget to check if they are genetically enhanced (CE Main book pg 26)
• Magic is brand new to people, so the magic OCCs from Rifts may be a bit too refined for the setting, though the mechanics are the same
• CE SB1 introduces some new demon vulnerabilities not found elsewhere, particularly animal vulnerabilities on pg 11. Whether you use them or not is up to you, but I've found no harm in ignoring many of them.
• Setting-wise, the availability of MDC in CE should be very low outside military/NEMA. People have to make do with what they have and Rifts MDC culture is the product of 300 years of survival.

Have fun and remember that the apocalypse in CE was a time of massive change in reality itself, so if you make a mistake and a rules lawyer calls you on it, blame it on dimensional flux

[Curbludgeon]

There are a fair chunk of articles in The Rifter. Each section is in descending order of what interested me.

"official"
50 Early psychics are described, both as latent minor psionics (a thing which may see more general use) and in the classes Reactionary, Charismatic, and Teke Freak.

80, 81, and 82 are about Nebraska, with things like Pyromancers, Ash Psychics, Demon Fields, and OCCs for less fancy people.

17, 18, and 19 are Siembieda's precursor\introduction to Chaos Earth. 18 has versions of classes from the main book, while 19 has versions from Rise of Magic, but I have yet to check about how different they are.

"optional"
30 has a description of 8 different Blue Zone Demons

47 and 48 detail an adventure involving NORAD, a number of classes for the air force, scientists, and equipment. The adventure is more in 48.

35 describes an antagonist group of rogue Marines at al, including a light version of the Semper Fi power armor found in Rifts Underseas.

27 has an article about Britain

...and then there are a couple of short stories and the like.

[Grazzik]

50 Early psychics are described, both as latent minor psionics (a thing which may see more general use) and in the classes Reactionary, Charismatic, and Teke Freak.

Rifter 50 is a great resource also for the rules on the emergence of psionic powers during the Cataclysm.

Pg 54 specifically has rules for adding psychic powers to experienced PCs without switching OCC. It also points out that the rules on pg 53 for switching to a psychic OCC can be used to switch to a magic OCC also! This is an important evolution in the rules re psychic / magic OCCs that a) makes narrative sense as the CE setting relies on these OCCs from the earliest of days and b) allows PCs to experience a transitional point in their lives as they adapt to their new world.

However, GMs should be on the look out for crafty players looking to abuse this mechanic. Not sure how that would happen, but I can't shake the feeling there are loopholes that could be exploited...