10-17-2007, 08:34 PM
Rifts Dimension Book 6
ERIC RIDLEY looks at this Phase World Source Book, from Palladium Books, by Carl Gleba ...
THE RIFTS books have always been, to my mind, a good way to present a roleplaying world. Each book examines a different part of the planet/setting and gives all relevant info and some adventure ideas. With the success of the Phase World setting for Rifts it comes as no great surprise that this latest book has been released. It aims to inform the reader about the variety of planetary systems within the three galaxies, namely the Thundercloud Galaxy, the Corkscrew Galaxy and the Anvil Galaxy. Each system is presented with a brief outline of the planets within it and any other notable elements that could be a source of adventure. Each planet is given enough space to present enough information to give the GM some mental meat to chew on, but not so much dry material as to bore the extra large prescription pants off him.
The book opens, strangely enough, by throwing you into an eight page rules set on how to construct your own space station. This is good information and the rules are useful, but it seems strange to immediately, and seemingly without much reason, hurl the reader into new a new rule system. After that opening salvo the pressure is let off considerably as we are taken on a pleasant jaunt through the galaxies. It is pleasurable reading, includes some new rules here and there (for instance the strength and damage causing ability of ion storms) and has plenty of Hook, Line and Sinker ideas.
After that sight-seeing tour, we head into the crunchy bits of the book. There are 16 new OCCs and RCCs (classes and races), which range from Ground Trooper to Skaa serpent warrior. All of these are good stuff, and most are supported by illustrations.
From there we move into the creatures and weapons section. A portion of the creatures seem to be rip offs from the Star Wars universe, but it has some cool new ideas too, like a planet that eats other planets. Each of the creatures is realised quite completely with plenty of information about each. Sometimes, however, the physical description can be a bit lacking.
The weapons section is great: lots of cool new guns and lots of illustrations for them. It is quite incredible that after tens and tens of Rifts books they are still coming up with cool new gadgets and guns. If you are into that type of thing then this section is one of the highlights of the book.
The book rounds off with information about starships found in the Three Galaxies. Each one is fairly distinct with lots of background info about each. They also have a full list of stats and crew rundowns. The book even includes a very large chart for randomly determining what is in the hold of any given ship, which is nice.
When I started reading this book, I was not expecting anything great, but it far exceeds my expectations in every department: it has a lovely approach and is as light or heavy reading as you want it to be. Each section is broken down into digestible chunks and can be read at a relaxed pace. If I were to level some criticisms at it (which I am about to) they would be as follows... The books quite often mentions material that came up in other books, so it would be quite nice to have some kind of book and page reference for those who can't memorise the contents of other books. The cover art is by John Zeleznick: I usually love his work, but this picture is uninspiring and leaves me a bit cold. It almost looks like it is part of a larger picture which Palladium has cut up and enlarged in order to get more covers from the one painting. But apart from those minor niggles this books is great. It is great value for money and provides plenty of ideas for use in any sci-fi campaign. It even includes some scientific data, distilled for those of us who don't have a PhD in astro-physics, an addition that is really nice and helps you understand more about the subject matter. Finally the book fires the imagination, which after all is what you bought it for: a snip at twice the price.
ERIC RIDLEY looks at this Phase World Source Book, from Palladium Books, by Carl Gleba ...
THE RIFTS books have always been, to my mind, a good way to present a roleplaying world. Each book examines a different part of the planet/setting and gives all relevant info and some adventure ideas. With the success of the Phase World setting for Rifts it comes as no great surprise that this latest book has been released. It aims to inform the reader about the variety of planetary systems within the three galaxies, namely the Thundercloud Galaxy, the Corkscrew Galaxy and the Anvil Galaxy. Each system is presented with a brief outline of the planets within it and any other notable elements that could be a source of adventure. Each planet is given enough space to present enough information to give the GM some mental meat to chew on, but not so much dry material as to bore the extra large prescription pants off him.
The book opens, strangely enough, by throwing you into an eight page rules set on how to construct your own space station. This is good information and the rules are useful, but it seems strange to immediately, and seemingly without much reason, hurl the reader into new a new rule system. After that opening salvo the pressure is let off considerably as we are taken on a pleasant jaunt through the galaxies. It is pleasurable reading, includes some new rules here and there (for instance the strength and damage causing ability of ion storms) and has plenty of Hook, Line and Sinker ideas.
After that sight-seeing tour, we head into the crunchy bits of the book. There are 16 new OCCs and RCCs (classes and races), which range from Ground Trooper to Skaa serpent warrior. All of these are good stuff, and most are supported by illustrations.
From there we move into the creatures and weapons section. A portion of the creatures seem to be rip offs from the Star Wars universe, but it has some cool new ideas too, like a planet that eats other planets. Each of the creatures is realised quite completely with plenty of information about each. Sometimes, however, the physical description can be a bit lacking.
The weapons section is great: lots of cool new guns and lots of illustrations for them. It is quite incredible that after tens and tens of Rifts books they are still coming up with cool new gadgets and guns. If you are into that type of thing then this section is one of the highlights of the book.
The book rounds off with information about starships found in the Three Galaxies. Each one is fairly distinct with lots of background info about each. They also have a full list of stats and crew rundowns. The book even includes a very large chart for randomly determining what is in the hold of any given ship, which is nice.
When I started reading this book, I was not expecting anything great, but it far exceeds my expectations in every department: it has a lovely approach and is as light or heavy reading as you want it to be. Each section is broken down into digestible chunks and can be read at a relaxed pace. If I were to level some criticisms at it (which I am about to) they would be as follows... The books quite often mentions material that came up in other books, so it would be quite nice to have some kind of book and page reference for those who can't memorise the contents of other books. The cover art is by John Zeleznick: I usually love his work, but this picture is uninspiring and leaves me a bit cold. It almost looks like it is part of a larger picture which Palladium has cut up and enlarged in order to get more covers from the one painting. But apart from those minor niggles this books is great. It is great value for money and provides plenty of ideas for use in any sci-fi campaign. It even includes some scientific data, distilled for those of us who don't have a PhD in astro-physics, an addition that is really nice and helps you understand more about the subject matter. Finally the book fires the imagination, which after all is what you bought it for: a snip at twice the price.
Eric Ridley
2004-12-06
2004-12-06