From my experience ALL game groups have had their own house rules as surely as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The longer the group has been around the more house rules seem to be in place. I have decided to add a section here on our house rules while including some that are no longer in use. Perhaps they will help your' group in some way?

• Character Creation

  This section primarily outlines the different methods in which we rolled characters up along the way. (As you can see we once had Munchkin Inside the way many PCs have Intel Inside!) However this section does go beyond that in illustrating what character classes we have historically permitted & where we typically draw the line today. It also outlines our allowance of R.C.C.™ classes to select an O.C.C.™, especially as where it concerns character races such those found in the Conversion Book & highlights how we deligate skills of a fully fleshed out R.C.C.™, complete with a full skills set as opposed to their O.C.C.™ Skills set. It also goes on to describe what starting equipment we will typically permit for a starting character based upon their origins and backstory. While not directly related to character creation we also give indications towards our policy regarding O.C.C.™ changes.

• Skill Advancement 1.0

  This section outlines a set of rules that separated the advancement of skills from character levels. Thus each skill had its respective level & needed to be used in a practical setting a certain number of times before it could advance to the next level. (A simple numeric or hashmark tally was good enough for this.) This also broke the hard and fast rule that skills from prior occupations could NOT advance until their new occupation surpassed their old occupational level. It may sound like a lot of work but its simple, effective & reasonably realistic. It also outlines how we handled skills that either overlapped or were intentionally selected more than once.

• Skill Advancement 2.0

  This section outlined a second version of the skill advancement section that allowed for "skill atrophy." We've all heard the phrase, "I've forgotten more about ______ than you will ever know!" This made that possible. However having to keep track of how many skill uses were used between character levels to determine atrophy, staying the same or advancing made things a little too complicated. For playability's sake it has fallen into disuse with the RRVGG.

• Combat Refinements

  This section outlines a series of bonuses acquired by levels of character experience for Initiative, Perception & Save vs. Horror Factor. It delves into our rules regarding parrying attacks. (This section is overdue for revision in this particular section especially due to projectile speed/mass versus the character's Physical Strength & engaging in hand-to-hand combat with those who outstrip one's Physical Strength. The energy weapon/projectile Dodge difficulty of -10 does not apply to The RRVGG in many cases. (There are, however, exceptions to this rule.) We are also more lenient with supernatural and superhuman characters and do not require them to roll to Pull Punch just to shake someone's hand. Finally it explains our rules regarding the speed a character moves at during a leaping action or attack.

• Magic & Psionic Group Clarifications

  This section outlines only a couple of small nuances about the use of P.P.E.™ per action, potential for learning magic although it is not specifically mentioned as an ability of one's O.C.C.™, the inability to dodge Call Lightning and how "dirty" magic which requires spell components can be turned into "clean" RIFTS® style magic. It also discusses the use of both "See Aura" as well as "Telepathy" and how they differ in RRVGG games.

• Revised RIFTS® Combat Rules

  This was an experimental system assembled in 2005 & was play tested by the RRVGG for a handful of play sessions between 2005-2007. It did away entirely with mega-damage, introduced Penetration Value, Penetration Resistance, Damage Capacity, Blood Loss, etc. - and how to convert RIFTS® creatures, characters & equipment to this modified system. Our evaluation of it was that it was cumbersome and time consuming to do the conversions from the books and to tally it down on paper. There was not anything specific wrong with the system. In fact it balanced the game in ways even I had not intended but ultimately it did not progress beyond play testing.

• RIFTS® Air Combat

  This feature was removed from the RIFTS® Gallery updated, upgraded, supercharged & then submitted to Palladium Books®. In January 2006 it appeared within Palladium Books® The Rifter® 33 with good reviews. Later some of the materials from RIFTS® Air Combat became canon when they appeared in RIFTS® World Book 33 Triax™ Two. (For the record, I will state that I was a little disappointed that I did not receive a copy of this book but given the terms & conditions of submissions the subsequent appearance of materials already surrendered to Palladium Books® are not required to be compensated for in any way - as you must sign over the intellectual rights to said materials.)