Although there isn't really a theme to speak of in The Rifter #12, each of the articles seems to take candid looks at the darker side of things. Be it shedding light into the dark corners of the various games or taking a close look at some vile creatures, be prepared for a trip into that area this time around.
Disclaimer Time: The Rifter is a sourcebook periodical that is published four times a year by Palladium Books. The series was created to give Palladium an outlet to print new ideas before making them actual rules, but that has long since changed. Currently, (since about Issue #3) most of the things that make it to print in The Rifter are real, usable rules and some never appear elsewhere, making owning every copy of the series highly valuable. Since this is unlike any other periodical, it helpful to write on the contents of each issue as if it were a separate entity rather than a part of a long running series.
First Rodney Stott and Shawn Merrow return for a long session of answers to various questions about the use of magic in the different games. These cover just about everything from where to find the material, how armor limits spell casting, explanations of obscure rules and how to tell when spell bonuses can be "stacked" with others. Unlike the last time these two wrote a FAQ section, sometimes the answer is far too long to be able to do more than give a brief explanation and/or the location of where the answer was printed. Granted, if the printed volume is one that is hard to find, it basically makes the answer useless, but at least you know what you are really looking for now.
Next Palladium takes a close look at the Fantasy game's assassins. This is a very interesting read that contains a "code of conduct" for the assassins, a listing of the various types of assassins as well as new skills and equipment for them. There is also a nice little focus on the use of poison and poison delivery systems as well as several new types of magic armor and weapons. Myself, I have never agreed with the concept of a character class of "assassin" because a really good one would work a real job and blend in with everyone else until a contract came up. But in a game system, I guess that the skills to do the dirty work have to come from somewhere.
Then that crazy game of Systems Failure makes another breakthrough with the addition of a new military force called the Texas Lone Star Cavalry. These brave men and women actively hunt down and destroy the bug invaders. The top people of the unit are detailed along with a history and some of the really cool toys they have invented to fight the bugs.
Next is a group of super beings for the Heroes Unlimited game that calls itself the Shadow Agency. These guys are a far cry from the Super Friends, but at least they are good guys. They tend to operate in two teams and all the members are fully detailed for use in your own game. This is followed up with a series of adventure ideas for use with "hero teams".
Then comes a fun read of what seems to be a transcription of the events that happen at a science convention. Except that this one takes place on the world of Rifts and the topic of the day is the evolution of dragons. This is intended to be a small bit of source material for forming your own theories about how dragon society works and might interact with the others who live on their world. I liked it just because it was a very interesting read.
The last bit of game stuff is also for Rifts and details the global mega corporation know as Tyrell Industries. These guys manufacture everything from bullets to tanks to guns to giant robots and everything has a price. Here you will find the specs on dozens of vehicles, weapons and robots that have yet to see print anywhere else. This is the place to go looking if you want to get something that the GM isn't quite ready to handle. For you GMs, this might be the source of what is needed to give a little challenge back to your players.
The only real problem that I had with this issue was that it was a little "light" on the stuff is should have. Over half this issue was consumed with ads and Palladium boasting about upcoming releases and the items that had recently hit the shelves. Granted, I know they need to advertise, but doing so much of it in The Rifter is preaching to the choir! The people who buy this on a regular basis already KNOW how great the various Palladium games are. How about returning to the more bang per buck theory that started this series?
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