When Rifts was released to the general public, Palladium Books hit on a gold mine. Within the massive volume of the Base Rules book rested the ability for any Game Master with time and imagination to create almost any kind of adventure he/she desired. However, the game world is so large that many players found it difficult to find a place to start! Add to that the fact that there were many dozens of rules that were not quite clear and the result was that Palladium became flooded with fan mail asking for further details on a large range of topics. The answer to this dilemma was the Rifts Sourcebook.
The volume is little more than a forum for Kevin Siembieda to answer some of the most often asked questions, give details about certain things, and add some new material to the game itself. Kevin started off the volume with a FAQ about the Rifts game in general. This rather extensive list covers subjects from the Mega Damage weapons and armor to the new O.C.C.s to robots and cyborgs.
After that, a good deal of text is spent giving greater detail on the world as it has survived in the game. Kevin goes to the trouble to define many terms (for instance a "town" must have industry and services or it's just a large group of people who happen to live in the same area).
One of the major nations of the Rifts games world is the Coalition States. Although it is not an evil nation in itself, the people who are in charge of the government have become very corrupt over time. In the first book, these evil leaders were faceless, nameless beings who were behind the scenes and passing out the orders to be followed by the brain washed military they control. In this volume, these men and women are fleshed out with names, faces, duties and locations as well as what plans they hope to carry out over time.
One of the major differences in the Rifts world as opposed to the one we live in is the abundant use of robots. There are robot soldiers, workers, scouts, just about every possible use you can think of. The companies that create these robots for public use are discussed in detail and many new versions of the mechanical devices are listed for the Rifts game.
There is also a whole slew of new weapons, armor and various items of equipment that the players (or the bad guys) can use in the game.
But the most valuable section of information is the mysterious company known as the Cyberworks Network, creators of the all-powerful Titan Series of robots. Who are they? Where are these robots produced? How are they produced? Although merchants are all over the known world who deal in these machines, nobody really knows where they come from. The truth will shock and amaze you, but it just so happens that the robots are built in a complex that was on Earth before the Rifts came into being hundreds of years ago. And the facility is still being operated by the same being that was born so long ago!
As if that wasn't enough, we are given a small adventure that allows a group of players to reach this vast complex. The bad thing about it is that the story stops there, leaving any further development up to the GM. But a large range of new robots are listed as part of this section as well, so it’s not all bad.
As an added bonus, there are rules on how to create any type of robot you want for use in the game. With these charts and tables, a GM can make all new toys to throw at his players without having to worry about whether or not they have read some GM sections of the rules. These new rules can even be used to create Player Characters, if the GM wants to allow such an option.
Of course, Palladium Books would never dream of publishing a new book without tossing in a few new monsters as well. This time around, the guys concentrate on demon like creatures from beyond the Rifts who have managed to find their way to Earth and cause untold troubles. Since these beasts are from other universes, they can be used pretty much at will or not at all.
This book has been out for a very long time, over a decade now, and some of the information and story lines that were begun here have been further developed in later volumes. Some have ended, while others are still active threads in the massive series of books that make up the game of Rifts. No matter how far along the story has progressed (in some cases it has moved ahead far enough to make parts of this information null and void); this is still a highly valuable rules book to have for Rifts. After all, you can always go back to the beginning of a story and play from there.
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