Review of Rifter #3: Mystic China Conversions for Rifts
Rifter Article by Andrew Smith

Summary
A conversion of the stuff in Mystic China to Rifts, made fairly obsolete by the release of Rifts China 1 & 2 and the problems inherent in those books. This article rates 5 out of 10 possible stars.

General Review
In general, I've found this article to be fairly useful, though I must admit, I'd have to give a lot of in-depth thought to several areas. Most notable of these are the Chi of Ley Lines discussed by the author. While I see his logical reasoning for setting things up this way, I'm not sure if I buy the whole flipping day/night chi polarity of ley lines. It doesn't fit with the general concepts concerning ley lines and seems almost arbitrary.

I'd ignore the note about being able to sense P.P.E. with Sense Ti Chi, since that's not what the spell does.

Ignore all references to manipulating P.P.E. with Geomantic Spells such as Draw Confining Arc of Chi, Draw Flowing Spiral of Chi, Draw Alternate Line of Natural Chi, Draw Spiral Line of Chi, Draw Wall of Chi.

For Sense Infernal Influences, I don't buy the "biological relation between Infernals, demons and gargoyles" myself. If you want you can include demons, deevils, oni, gargoyles, etc in the spell. Vampires and other undead would be detected regardless.

Replenish Vajra does NOT work on Talisman and the reverse is true.

Live on Positive Chi is an obvious new spell, so there's no problems with it.

For Purify Ingredient, yes, semi-conductors would be destroyed, killing contemporary computers. However, computers in Rifts don't necessarily use semi-conductors, they could possibly use optical or other systems instead.

Fly with Stream of Chi. Yes, Ley Lines would have more Chi.

Control/Enslave Creature of Pure Negative Chi. Again, vampires and undead yes, demons & gargoyles possibly.

Bring Wood to Life. I would allow a saving throw at the very least for magical wood attempting to be transformed with this spell.

Create Vajra. While similar, they are not identical in principle to Talisman, so you can pretty much ignore this.

Draw Helix of Dragon Summoning/Command. While non-Chinese dragons can be summoned with this spell, it requires the spell caster to learn the specific type of helix required to summon those dragons.

Weep Beans of Life. Despite the author's statement, releasing 500 points of positive chi isn't the "Chi equivalent of a nuclear bomb." Evidently the author hasn't actually run the numbers on what possible amounts of Chi a regular PC could end up with.

Draw Yin Yang Symbol. I don't know why the author was playing coy on this, in MC it clearly states that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will be summoned.

Likewise the note about Black Steel Centipedes being summoned by Draw Yin Yang Symbol can be ignored.

Infernals. The author must not have realized that Infernals don't have a Base S.D.C. However Infernals can convert their chi to M.D.C. on a point for point basis in Rifts.

In general I should note that there's some question as to whether or not chi should be increased (often doubled, tripled or some other bonus provided) in Rifts. There are two lines of thought on this. One, PPE and ISP increase, do mega-damage and the like, therefore Chi should likewise be increased. Two, while PPE, ISP, and Chi are all different, ISP is derived from PPE which has been directly stated as being increased in Rifts, since Chi has no direct tie to either energy, it doesn't change at all.

It should be noted that the bit about "Should any of these demons find their way to China or Japan they will inevitably encounter the Oni" is overstated. Like I noted earlier, much of this article was made moot by the release of Rifts China. This note clearly falls under that category with regards to Infernals (which SHOULD have been included in RC1) and Rifts China.

As to whether or not the Infernals are more powerful than the Oni, yeah, I could see where the author would get that idea, since the Oni got screwed over in Rifts Japan (too much anime influence, not enough actual mythology). Likewise, you can ignore the rest of that paragraph as innacurate.

False Paths of Immortality. I disagree that they'd all be unchanged in Rifts Earth. For one thing, several of them would clearly benefit from the increases in their power source, such as the Undead Immortal, Alchemical Immortal, Possessed Immortal, Heartless Immortals, Damned Immortals, and possibly Companion Immortals. In several cases their source is more powerful (Possessed, Heartless, and Damned, possibly Companion). In others (Undead and Alchemical) there are other considerations that would possibly change the nature of the immortal. Yin Immortals, and Immortals of Sleep, possibly Ginseng Immortals (depends on what happens to the Living Ginseng) would be the most likely candidates for being unchanged in Rifts Earth.

Enlightened Immortals. This is one of the biggest areas I'd give heavy thought to. I can honestly say I don't agree with the author's notes on the subject. While S.D.C. and Hit Points would likely become M.D.C. on Rifts Earth, I can't see them getting huge amounts to begin with. They don't need it for one thing. Getting killed doesn't do much to Enlightened Immortals who have done the First Refinement, since they reincarnate regardless. PPE would be dependent on what magic they studied during their lives. I.S.P. I would pretty much ignore since Enlightened Immortals aren't psychics (unless you go with the RC nonsense on that).

First Time Refined. Contrary to what the author believes, Hsien Hsia isn't the only style available or even known by enlightened immortals. Chi Mastery Skills would depend on their knowledge and experiences (i.e. OCC(s)). See the note on Internal Alchemy below as well.

For Second through Ninth Time Refinements, dump the attribute bonuses. They have no place there in the first place.

Internal Alchemy. Since this doesn't really do much, I'd ignore it entirely. If it had been done as a Martial Art Power Category, with several new martial art powers, it might have made some sense. I should also note that it is in no way required to become an Enlightened Immortal.

Tien Hsueh/Atemi. Another debate about whether or not atemi should work on non-humans. I must say that the author has a useful idea on this problem, however, I'd probably require medical/scientific study on par with the study devoted to humans.

Finger Snap Tien Hsueh. Unlike the author, I don't buy the increased effect on creatures with superior hearing. Increased range of effect certainly, but since the disruption that takes place would be the same, the effects would be the same.

Puppet Dance Tien Hsueh. Same note for general Atemi abilities.

Fill Object with Chi. Since Chi is natural energy, the object would not be supernatural. It would still have the same effect on supernatural creatures however.

Demon Wrestling. See the notes way above concerning the relationship possibility of Oni, gargoyles, and other demons.

Resist Chi Influence. This has no effect on P.P.E., despite the author's thoughts on the matter.

Sword Chi Technique cannot be used with Rune weapons as these are not "named" by the character. Magic weapons in general I'm iffy on as well. It would detect Rune weapons because these are made by putting a living being's life force into the weapon to give it power.

Spirit Burst. Despite the author's comments, psychics would not be able to notice a Spirit Burst.

Sword Chi Storage (Gui Long). Nope, this does not get extra chi from the surroundings.

Optional Damage Table for Supernatural Martial Artists. This table should have been edited, since the damages don't really work out. Ignore the bit about using 50% of the character's normal chi since it was only thrown in as a sop to try and balance Body Chi and doesn't make any sense.

Overall Review

Appearance: Not bad overall, some things I don't quite agree with, and a few misconceptions, but overall a useful article.

Artwork: Mostly reprinted artwork from MC and N&S. Breaux's weird pic on the second page of the article seems to be a bit off for an article on China (not too mention off in proportion).
Structure: With the exception of some specific bits, this is done pretty well, much better than the half-way done presentation seen in the Rifts Conversion Book for N&S (and I still maintain it wasn't included in the "Revised" Conversion Book so Erick and Kevin could convert MC to Rifts).
Editing: It could have used some on the table, but that's about it.
Continuity: Quite useful overall and does for MC what the Conversion Book failed to do for N&S.