So, there's all kinds of bizarre inconsistencies in the RIFTS setting, things that don't make sense, things that contradict each other, things that are just plain weird.

Today I came across one thing that got me thinking: The calendar.  The "calendar" of RIFTS is the "P.A." (Post-apocalypse) calendar.
The setting material CLEARLY states that this is the official dating system of the Coalition States, and that it was established by the Coalition states; the reference date, the year zero, was the year of the founding of the Coalition.
And yet, for no apparent reason at all, the book also states that gradually all the human nations of the world came to use this calendar; even ones that predated the Coalition and are more advanced technologically than they are, like Japan and Germany.

So for no good reason at all, nations that were around before the CS, are more powerful than the CS; and couldn't give a fuck about the CS, are for some reason using a calendar that apparently honours the founding of the CS!

How the fuck does that make any sense?!

But of course, this can all be an opportunity of sorts in the game. There must be some REASON, right? So instead of throwing up one's arms and bitching at how senseless RIFTS is, why not try to figure out some sense?
For starters, you'll note that the Calendar is not "Coaltion Founded", its "Post-Apocalypse" (P.A.). The setting material states that there was a terrible apocalypse at one point, that led to over 200 years of total anarchy and chaos, and the date of year 1 of the P.A. calendar marks the founding of the coalition.
Now, what if something happened in that year, that led to the creation of the Coalition States, that was so significant that other nations would also start using the P.A. calendar (not because of the founding of the CS, but because of that other event).
It could even be that this event is something that the CS now downplays because it would be politically inconvenient to the current regime; perhaps the whole CS was founded on a lie?

What other stuff can we do with this sort of thing? How can we turn the inconsistencies in RIFTS into opportunities?

RPGPundit

Funny you should mention this. In our last game, as part of an ongoing sideplot, we had "1 p.a." line up with several biblical mathematical codes, a major nova event visible from a large portion of the earth, and a world-spanning ley-line shift/closure at midnight that day.  Clearly, there was something more to the CS's founding day than met the eye.


To be honest though, we take a lot of Riftisms as, well, just Riftisms.  It's like knowing a vinyl-looking chair once devoured someone on Dr. Who.  I'm just not going to rationalize it too much.

Figuring out how to make that fucked up wackadoo bullshit into something that doesn't disintegrate when a stray thought brushes up against it made writing my NaNo novel a lot of fun.

Majaor computer operating system in the world of RIFTS is produced in "Coalition states"... it's the only explantion...

So...you're saying...WINDOWS VISTA is the cause of the collapse?

That would explain a lot!

David Johansen: Well... yes.

i never gave it much thought, either.  

but IIRC the mutants in orbit supplement or something did give an actual AD date for the apocalypse.  so when i run into shit like "everyone uses the coalition calendar" i just extrapolated the year, and went with that.  

i never kept pace with the releases for rifts when i played it.  usually i can be a stickler for (or can be influenced by) metaplot stuff, but in that case it all went out the window.  just the nature of the setting as others have pointed out, and as we have all observed.  :shrug:

The actual date (AD) is also given in the RIFTS Gamemaster's Guide.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditSo, there's all kinds of bizarre inconsistencies in the RIFTS setting, things that don't make sense, things that contradict each other, things that are just plain weird.

Today I came across one thing that got me thinking: The calendar.  The "calendar" of RIFTS is the "P.A." (Post-apocalypse) calendar.
The setting material CLEARLY states that this is the official dating system of the Coalition States, and that it was established by the Coalition states; the reference date, the year zero, was the year of the founding of the Coalition.
And yet, for no apparent reason at all, the book also states that gradually all the human nations of the world came to use this calendar; even ones that predated the Coalition and are more advanced technologically than they are, like Japan and Germany.

So for no good reason at all, nations that were around before the CS, are more powerful than the CS; and couldn't give a fuck about the CS, are for some reason using a calendar that apparently honours the founding of the CS!

How the fuck does that make any sense?!

RPGPundit

If you look at history and the real world, it's full of apparent paradoxes like this. It's messy and complicated, and doesn't fall into neat boxes. This is especially true when it comes to cultural exchange which would lead to things such as the adoption of or retention of a particular calendar.

An example: contemporary Japan. What is its attitude to the West, especially America? In the absence of any real knowledge, you might assume that because of its defeat in 1945 the people either A) hate the US or B) have been re-educated to love what it stands for. I submit that the reality is more complicated, and while I don't want to go into it here, is basically neither of the above.  

So while I don't particularly think that Kevin Siembieda is intentionally emulating the chaos of real history, the sort of example you cited doesn't make me bat an eyelid. I like history and culture in-game messy and complex, sometimes even unexplained, as it adds a sense of depth and realism.

Well you could always do something like what happened in Soviet Russia and the Gregorian calendar.

Maybe the other states tried something more radical with the calendar. And the majority of the people went with what they preferred until the standard was a forced issue. That calendar was the one of the CS.