TotalCon 40! RC Builder Updates!
Hello! My first post of 2026…
TotalCon 40!
TotalCon 40 is just three weeks away! I need to get cracking so that I’m ready to run my three events. As I described in my previous post, I’m running two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle & Other Strangeness events and one Dead Reign event. My events are already sold out! I will bring an extra “oh shit” character to each event just in case someone brings a buddy along to play.
If you’re in the New England area and want to join us at TotalCon, information can be found here!
Rifts Character Builder
I took advantage of some time off over the holidays to make some upgrades to the Rifts Character Builder. The biggest feature I added is something you’d expect to have been there all along: the ability to change your character’s level. It’s a feature that many of my testers have requested and recommended. It would seem like an obvious feature, but it was much harder to implement than you might think.
Changing a level in Rifts is more than just increasing your skill and adding combat bonuses. For a simple character, such as a human Vagaond, it’s not a big deal because it is just that: adjusting skill percentages and adding combat bonuses - if you’re increasing the level.
Now, let’s complicate things a bit and change the level of a caster or a psychic. If you increase your level, the number of spells or psionics available to you may increase. Great, you increase your level, then select your new spells or psionics based on it. slots available to you. No big deal. - if you’re increasing the level.
Let’s complicate things even more and select an O.C.C. that has funky stuff happening at each level, such as a Cyber-Knight or Lord Magus. As each level increases, I need to make certain adjustments, such as adding damage from a Psi-Sword or granting a saving throw bonus at a higher level. This isn’t too bad to implement - if you’re increasing the level.
Now… let’s suppose you’re decreasing your level. This is where things get complicated, and decisions have to be made. Let’s take the simple Vagaond. He increased his level and selected a new secondary skill. Then he changes his mind and lowers his level, losing the secondary skill. So what now? Should I remove the slots and let the user remove the extraneous skill? Or should I try to remove the skill(s) selected at the higher level?
I have similar challenges with Spells and Psionics. Which ones do I remove if the character loses slots?
I opted to remove the skills/spells/psionics added when the level increased. It’s not quite there yet, but it’s almost working. I added a “levelAdded” property to each skill/spell/psionic/tattoo/etc. being added. This way, if the level decreases, I can simply remove the skills that were added at the higher level.
On the other hand, the O.C.C.s that were challenging to increase in level are actually a little easier with decreasing levels. I simply remove the abilities added at the higher level, such as combat bonuses with Cyber-Knights.
I still have a ways to go with this, but basic functionality works. I’ll be uploading this feature to the live site later this week, hopefully.
As always, reach out if you’d like to be a tester!
Wow, I rambled on quite a bit about this. Sorry!
A Personal Note
My wife has a big birthday coming up: 40!
I was ready to arrange a get-together or something, but she wants to keep it on the downlow and not celebrate becoming an old person. So we will go out to eat and keep it simple.
My wife is the reason I am writing this. She is the reason I’m even gaming these days. I’ve always been a gamer growing up. I played D&D (all editions, including the boxed sets), Gurps, TMNT, Ninjas & Superspies. Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, etc. Around the early 2000s, I took a break from gaming for a few years. I’m not even sure why. And I hadn’t played in Palladium stuff since the mid-90s.
Then in 2008, my ex and I broke up. I was crushed, so I decided to meet new people and joined a D&D campaign. A year into the campaign, I showed up for our Sunday game, and I was in a really crabby mood for some reason. I arrive, get to the table, and there’s this new person there. Some girl. My first words to her: “Who are you?”
I didn’t know at the time that I’d end up marrying her.
The featured picture for this post is from the campaign where I met her. (I’m taking the photo, but you can see her on the left.)
She was more involved in the gaming community than I was. She took me to my first convention (Arisia in Boston) and TotalCon… and then GenCon, a first for both of us.
I am not just saying this because she’s my wife: she’s a phenomenal DM/GM. I’ll write a separate blog post about that later. But one time, a gaming store asked her to run a one-shot for a game called Rifts. I, of course, had some familiarity with it, though it had been a while. I explained the premise to her (who can forget???), and basic concepts and mechanics of the game. What I could remember anyway, since it has been over a decade.
I went to Palladium’s site and saw that, well, their selections had increased a bit since the mid-90s! I wasn’t sure where to start. We ordered the core book and, in the box, was this thing about a Christmas surprise package or something. We shrugged and ordered one.
I don’t know if Kevin is psychic or sprinkled some crack in the box, but he knew exactly which books to send us. And I was hooked. Again. Fast-forward a decade, and I am running my 4th Rifts campaign. I’ve run Palladium events at four GenCons, five TotalCons, and four Palladium Open Houses. I now own every book from every Palladium game.
My wife never cared for Palladium’s game mechanics, but she acknowledges that its universes are rich in story and content. In fact, she’s borrowed from Palladium Fantasy for her homebrew D&D world.
Anyway… I really enjoy gaming, and I’m eternally grateful to my wife for getting me back into it. (And I have to give a shout-out to Dan G, who invited her to his campaign, which made this all happen.)