My Savage Rifts Wishlist

I'm still processing the announcement that Palladium Books' Rifts setting is going to get a Savage Worlds version. I'm really excited to see the finished product, but as a long time fan of the setting I do have some things that I hope to see. Since it's been stated that this is a multi-book deal, that takes care of my first wish: that this isn't simply a one and done deal. That would be great in and of itself, but we're talking about a line of 80+ books and even with conversion notes, it would be great to have the pros do more than just the base work for me. (I'm lazy like that.) That said here's my wishlist for the Savage Worlds Rifts line:

2 (Since #1 was referenced above). Adhere to the spirit of the setting, but not a direct conversion. Rifts is as gonzo and gonzo gets, and the power creep has been more of a power mad dash of late. If the folks at Pinnacle can find a way to adhere to the spirit of the setting without having the game turn into an arms race of what character can level a mountain right out of the gate, I'd be ecstatic. I'm all for mechs and dragons and aliens and wizards and mercenaries available for play as characters, but there's gotta be a way to balance it out somehow so someone isn't always sitting in the back just trying not to get hit with an Massive Damage Class punch or cigarette butt.

3. Speaking of MDC, and this goes into #2 as well, control the MDC/SDC nonsense. Not every new item or species or spell or cooking pot needs to deal Massive Damage. Savage Worlds already does a pretty good job with this with the regular damage/Heavy Weapon split. I hope to see that split continues to be applied in much the same way as it is in many SW settings. HW armor is the purview of tanks and mechs, not the soldier on the field of battle in power armor. HW weapons are big, bulky, and powerful, but nothing like what someone keeps in a holster on their hip.

4. Since this is a multi-book deal, I hope Pinnacle doesn't just follow Palladium's lead and follows the Worldbooks and Sourcebooks step-by-step. I hope the second book isn't Worldbook 1: Vampire Kingdoms followed by Worldbook 2: Atlantis and so on. I could see Pinnacle being able to cram a couple worldbooks worth of info into a single tome since SW statblocks for everything from races to weapons to monsters to spells are MUCH more compact than what is found in any Palladium System book. I hope that Pinnacle is able to offer the Rifts setting in their own way.

5. Print and PDF. Palladium has been putting their books out for sale in electronic format for a while, and I hope (and actually expect) that will continue with the deal with Pinnacle. I'm for certain picking up the core book in print, but most of my gaming purchases are in pdf these days. It's simply more convenient for me, and it (usually) allows me to stretch my meager gaming dollars farther.

6. I would like to see full-color books and more hardcovers if possible. Palladium does a great job keeping costs low, but it has made their books look as aged as the Palladium system. I think at least a small part of why new gamers will likely give Palladium games a pass is because they just don't look as modern and as "sexy" as many other games sitting on the same shelf that have higher production values and an overall more polished look.

7. I hope Savage Rifts is popular enough to carry through to the Dimension Books and beyond. I'd love to see a Heroes Unlimited take with the SW rules that can slide right into Rifts. (Aliens Unlimited 1 is still one of my favorite Palladium books...I'm a sucker for new aliens...) A Savage take on the excellent (I daresay even better than Rifts) Palladium Fantasy setting would be beyond awesome to see as well.

So there you have it, my wishlist for the upcoming Savage Worlds Rifts line. Seriously, December can't get here soon enough. First Episode VII and now this? It's going to be a very geeky holiday season this year!