User:Bill/The Prophet
Setting[edit]
Rifts is a post-apocalyptic setting where the world has been ravaged by a massive nuclear holocaust, which in turn unleashed a magical maelstrom that continues to wreak havoc on the world, and various natural disasters set off by both of the other events. Supposedly 90% of all life on earth was wiped out in a single day. Then things got worse. Through rifts in space and time, aliens from other dimensions, times and worlds flooded onto earth. The entire planet has become a war zone where the remaining humans must defend themselves from all manner of alien and demonic threats. The default time period of the game is around 800 years in our own future, 300 years after the cataclysm that ruined everything.
As I mentioned in the write-up for King of the Road, North America is mostly uninhabited. Only a handful of small, heavily armed, city states exists. A few of these have banded together in an effort to create actual nations; the most significant of which is the Coalition States of America. Unfortunately, the CSA is a fascist state with a human supremacist movement. Kentucky, where The Prophet is set, borders the CSA but is not actually claimed by it. Kentucky is a very dangerous place because a phenomenon known as D-shifting occurs there. D-shifting causes the terrain to be in a state of unstable flux between several dimensions, potentially causing great harm to anybody in it.
The game will focus on the prophet Esatereon, a man who proclaims the dawning of a new golden age. He shares his powers and knowledge freely, swiftly raising the small hamlet of Roperville in the mysterious former Kentucky to the size of a small city. Esatareon's technology has allowed the townspeople to raise a tower that suppresses the D-shifting in the immediate vicinity of the river. He possesses tremendous mental powers, such that he has even been able to convert the assassins sent by the Coalition to his cause. Esatereon preaches absolute faith in his power and the power of a nameless God.
Are things as they seem? Is Esatareon too good to be true? Who is this nameless God that he pays tribute to through prayer and abstinence? What is the source of his technology and how does it actually work? The people are eager to accept any savior they can get, but is this man truly what he claims to be?
Characters[edit]
The players may choose to be a band of mercenaries come to join up with Roperville's newly formed military, refugees seeking shelter in the new city, or townspeople. A group made up of all three would provide an interesting perspective and possibly be a great game.
I think focusing on any of the three offered roles would shape the direction of the game pretty strongly though. A game for a group made up entirely of mercenaries would shift the game primarily towards combat and provide little incentive for the characters to stick around if things got weird. I would want to restrict alignment or require some sort of psychological limitation to reduce the chances of the characters fleeing if the group chooses this option. A game for a group made up entirely of refugees would probably focus more on intrigue and exploring how Esatareon's influence has affected the community. And one for a group made up entirely of townspeople would probably be a bit more conspiracy oriented.
As with my previous Rifts offerings, any character concept is valid. I would like to maintain a rough balance of abilities and resources among the characters though, so I will be approving all characters.
Rules[edit]
I do not normally use the Palladium Role Playing System if I can avoid it. While it can be made serviceable, I just don't like it. I would be willing to use it though; if only to point out how bad it is. Alternatively, I would be happy to use any point-based generic game in my collection or use my own Rifts-inspired homebrew.
