A new player will join our happy group pretty soon, which comes in pretty handy as we experienced some WoW-related absentees...

Now he won't be able to play every weekend like the rest of us manages most of the time, so I thought of starting something new for a change. While I still have plans for a Midnight campaign and some WFRP2 stuff, I'll probably keep those in check once we're up to full manpower.
Now I've been buying Rifts supplements from ebay for some time, and recent threads here and elsewhere once again brought me to consider actually using them. Now while I've been reading them for quite a while, I think I never even played a Palladium game (not so sure whether some fantasy stuff aeons ago might have been the PFRPG).

So, for beginners, what rules are wonky, what classes and races have to be taken lightly and what region is particularly recommended to start something new that won't overwhelm both me and my players?

I really want to let other folks chime in here, so I'll just post some initial thoughts and then watch for a bit.

OK, first off:  there will likely be a lot of (and a good amount) of well-deserved crapping on rules aberrations in Rifts.  Yeah, they're there.  
Rifts requires a strong GM presence, a GM who is comfortable with making decisions on the fly and shooting down rules lawyers, and above all, one who can keep up a lot of enthusiasm!  And remember, Rifts was designed by folks who, for all the byzantine passages, really go loosey-goosey with rules.  Don't be afraid to do the same.  Find your comfort level of what to use, and stay there.  There's a lot that can be said on combat, but for now, I give you this gem:  anyone with Hand to Hand starts with 4 attacks.  Simplify your weapon proficiencies to +1 every other or every 3rd level.  And keep combat RUNNING!  You need to stay on players--consider it the equivalent of running the hurry-up in football.  If MDC creatures are taking forever, don't be afraid to fudge the MDC--who's gonna know?  Don't let those stat blocks make you their bitch!  And allowed called shots in plethora-esque quantities.

What I'd suggest is start off allowing races from Conversion Book 1 and Rifts UE.  You may not be comfortable with dragon hatchlings right off the bat, but most of the other classes in there should be fine.  Keep an eye on the size of robots if you have a robot pilot, and understand that much of game balance is in the hands of the GM (it certainly isn't built in--stop thinking niche protection, and think screen time!).

If you want to go low-powered, it is possible.  Rogue Scholars, Scientists, Mystics, Vagabonds, even Headhunters, Operators, and the like--all have special abilities, but unless you go crazy with the shopping list, you can actually have a pretty low-powered group.  Books like Arzno, Madhaven, or even New West can help focus things in a bit for you.

I've done quite a few houserules for my Palladium Fantasy campaign, including a percentile role vs. difficulty check skills system mod I really like.  You might see if there's any help there.

I'm in the same boat (i.e. I don't know anything), and in terms of starting location I'm now thinking the Madhaven book.

I wanted to go nuts first, and Phase World sounded like it would do the trick, but I think I'd be overwhelmed by the vastness, novelty and over-the-topness of it all. Whereas with Madhaven (=Manhattan) at least the *setting*, or what's left of it, is vaguely familiar.

It also sounds nicely self-contained, plot-wise. I don't feel I have to buy half a dozen background books to get a handle on it, as I do with the Coalition material.

Zachary's advice is good. I've only played Rifts a handful of times, but it is really important to make sure that your Rogue Scholars and Headhunters don't get outshone by your Glitterboys, Juicers and Mind Melters.

It's also worth bearing in mind that you're going to have to keep track of the psionic and magic systems on top of everything else. Most big enemies in Rifts pack either psionics, magic, crazy technology or some combination of all three. It's worth spending a day or so going over the subsystems to make sure you clearly know what magicians and psionicists are capable of so you don't get bushwhacked.

I found the mother lode--a guide through the Rifts books, and a bunch of detailed reviews of the most crucial ones:

http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=555

I suggest making new players pick a class out of the main book (UE) only.  There's so many options there that it should be plenty.  And since people are likely to die once in a while in the harsh world of Rifts, you can always let them play something else later.

Also, I not-so-humbly suggest checking out my "intro to Rifts" docs (see my sig).  A lot of people have used them for introducing new players to Rifts.

Hmm, I've been going through my books again. I think I might restrict the players to the Rifts core book (not UE, don't have that) and the conversions book. Any suggestions for good start locations? Treasure hunting 'round Atlantis sounds dangerous, but at least it's a unique start, not too post-apocalyptic, not too fantasy...

And boy, you're certainly right about the rules. Is there really any reason for MDC? The scale seems a bit arbitrary...

Quote from: SosthenesAnd boy, you're certainly right about the rules. Is there really any reason for MDC? The scale seems a bit arbitrary...

I believe MDCs first appearance was Robotech.  At the time it was a way to distinguish the giant Robots and aliens of the genre.  It always seemed to work okay there even with the Cyclones.  Rifts took it to another level with what I like to call "personal" MDC weapons and equipment.  So a guy with MDC body armor and laser pistol could theoretically take out a 20th century tank.  Palladiums standard line is to time MDC by 1000 into SDC, which mechanically does nothing.  I'd have preferred if they kept MDC to vehicles and large monsters.

Yeah, I can live with MDC powered armor or bazooka-style weaponry, but MDC vests and sidearms are a bit too anime for my tastes...

If you want to avoid the eventual physics questions* that will arise from this, I'd pick up the latest Heroes Unlimited book and start porting the Rifts setting.  It has the magic, psionics, vehicle, mutant, and robot rules all tied to SDC.  

*If your gaming group was anything like mine, you'll end up fighting for a half hour why being stabbed with a 6" vibrating blade does 1000-4000 SDC when you're not in armor compared to being stabbed with a 6" non-vibrating blade does 1-4 SDC when your not in armor.  The blade can still only go 6" into the body right?  Same with lasers vs. projectiles.

Quote from: SosthenesYeah, I can live with MDC powered armor or bazooka-style weaponry, but MDC vests and sidearms are a bit too anime for my tastes...

Hmm...you may want to try MDC x100=SDC, or just upgrade to an all-SDC system.  Armor Rating will work, and to denote laser/former MD weapons, just triple or quadruple the damage to reflect the tech jump.  There are plenty of folks who prefer all-SDC Rifts, and it sounds like you might, too.

(Hey, I stayed out of the thread almost a day.  That's an accomplishment for me).

Here´s my Rifts simplificator numero uno:

Throw out the skill advancement rules, immedeately!

Use BRP-like skill points instead.

Allot skills, be happy.

Personally I'd run it with another system. Savage Worlds seems a good fit, you could use the Heavy Armour rules to deal with the MDC/SDC gulf without overpowering characters too much.

Yeah, I know it sounds like an "Exalted could totally do this!" post, but Rifts is one of those games where I love setting but the rules leave me utterly cold.

NO!

The rules are just fine!
Don´t overlook the opportunities for great battles with the multiple action system!

*Zap!*
*Dodge!*
*Zap!*
*Dodge!*
*Zap!*
*FWACKOOOM!"

 It´s a blast, and totally lends itself to awesome action description. Don´t use a different system. It´s also nice that you can foregoe future actions to save your sorry ass NOW. That´s the most elegant suppression fire mechanism that I´ve ever seen.

Apart from that Rifts is run like that:

In combat, Roll d20, add modifier ->  Roll & SHOUT!
For skills: Roll under modified percentage -> Roll & Reason

It´s like True20 mixed with CoC.

Only the chargen (= process of finding out modifiers) is tedious, but withthe workarounds in this thread, it´s pretty easy.

Hmm... True20 Rifts. Now there's a thought...

Even better, Mutants & Masterminds!

Sorry, Settembrini.