How This Section Fits the Guide
This section covers Rifts for Savage Worlds, Pinnacle Entertainment Group's adaptation (made with Palladium Books) of the Rifts setting. It is not about Palladium's original Rifts game, which uses its own Megaversal rules; where this section mentions an original-game idea, it says so.
Everything you learned in the rest of The Savage Worlds Guide still applies here: trait tests, raises, Aces, the Wild Die, Bennies, Shaken and Wounds all work exactly as described in Core Rules, Combat Basics and Advanced Combat. Rifts adds its own layer on top: Iconic Frameworks, Mega Damage, magic and psionics drawn from ley lines, and setting rules (see the guide's general take on those in Setting Rules). The parts that follow focus on what Rifts adds or changes and link back to the core parts for everything else.
A World Torn Asunder
Imagine waking up in a world where reality itself has been shattered like a mirror dropped from a great height. Each fragment reflects a different dimension, a different possibility, and through the cracks between these shards, anything and everything can pour through. This is Rifts Earth - a planet transformed by catastrophe into something both terrifying and wondrous.
The Great Cataclysm
Like a pot of water suddenly brought to a boil, Earth's dormant magical energies erupted in response to a global war of devastating proportions. The old calendar doesn't matter anymore - people now count years P.A., "Post Apocalypse", and the Golden Age is centuries in the past. What matters is that the world we knew ended, and something new and strange was born from its ashes.
What Are Ley Lines?
Think of ley lines as rivers of pure magical energy flowing across the Earth. Before the Rifts, they were barely detectable - like underground streams hidden from view. Now they blaze across the landscape, visible to the naked eye at night, crackling with power during the day. Where these rivers meet, nexus points form - and at these cosmic crossroads, reality becomes negotiable.
The Rifts Themselves
A Rift is exactly what it sounds like - a tear in the fabric of space and time. Imagine punching a hole through a wall, except the wall is reality itself, and on the other side could be literally anything:
- A dimension of pure elemental fire
- An alternate Earth where dinosaurs never went extinct
- A realm of fantasy creatures straight from mythology
- A technological utopia centuries ahead of us
- Places that defy description or understanding
The New Inhabitants
When you open a door, you can't always control what walks through. The Rifts brought visitors - countless numbers of them. These Dimensional Beings (D-Bees) range from the beautiful to the horrific, from the benevolent to the malevolent. Some came as refugees, others as conquerors, and many simply found themselves lost in a strange new world.
The Tomorrow Legion: A Beacon of Hope
In the midst of this chaos, the Tomorrow Legion fights not just for survival, but for something greater - a future where humans, D-Bees, magic users, and technologists can work together to build a better world.
Your Role in This World
As a member of the Tomorrow Legion, you are more than just a survivor - you are a hero in a world that desperately needs them. Whether you wield ancient magic, cutting-edge technology, psychic powers, or just raw determination, you stand against the darkness and fight for a better tomorrow.
The Promise of Adventure
In Rifts Earth, every day brings new challenges and wonders:
- Ancient ruins holding pre-Rifts technology
- Dimensional invaders threatening peaceful settlements
- Political intrigue between the Coalition States and Federation of Magic
- Mystical artifacts of unimaginable power
- New Rifts opening to unexplored dimensions