I'm planning on making a few submissions over the course of this year, once I am able to get my hands on another printer since my old one bit the dust. I've got more projects on the back burner than all the slurry/stew pots of the army mess halls in all of Iraq and Afghanistan combined, so I'm gonna ask for your' opinion on which ones I should bring to the fore.
Mind you, I don't have a subscription to the Rifter, sadly - so if any of these have already been covered in previous submissions PLEASE tell me!
RIFTS: Weapon Maintenance, Modification & Creation Rules
This is a comprehensive series of rules that will allow a little more realism in terms of the upkeep of our ultra-tech weaponry, and also give the GM a little ammo in return so that he can't ever be considered 'monte haul' in the gear grabbed after the gunfights. This will also allow adventurers to take their weapons in (Or do so themselves, if they have the appropriate skills and materials!) and have them upgraded in terms of ranges, payloads, and damaging capabilities. (No, you cannot have the C-18 that does as much as the ATL-7 ... it just isn't gonna work, bud.) Creation rules would revolve around the technology that the character is currently in direct contact with, with some detailed notes regarding the differences between different manufacturers, the materials they use, and exactly how they function - in the sci-fi fashion, of course.
RIFTS: Currency
This is an article that deals with how currencies throughout the RIFTS Megaverse work, exchange rates, and what exactly determines how strong/weak one currency is versus another, what could cause its value to inflate or deflate over periods of time or due to some major event. Included in this are a number of electronic and hard currencies in use in North America, including a more in depth description of the CS Universal Credit, the NGMI Credit, the Black Credit, etc. - among other new currencies never before seen outside of the RRVGG game sessions.
RIFTS:The Republic of Wa-Daisho
This article is a preview of an upcoming double whammy World Book and Sourcebook manuscript submission I'm planning for sometime later this year. Sometime in the middle of the previous century a mysterious warrior was rescued from the waves of the Pacific by fishermen from a modern indian community on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. After a period of recooperation, he donned his armor, his peculiar twin swords, and began a coast to coast trek that brought him against tyrants, monsters, and villains alike. For twenty years he traveled North America, with cyber-knights and other heroes rallying to his cause and banner, righting wrongs, defending the weak, caring for the ill, and laying low those who would threaten any innocent. Then one day he and his followers simply disappeared into the west. About fifteen years after this mysterious event, traveling warriors wearing the same style of armor and swords as the enigmatic warrior of decades before began to emerge among the Colorado Baronies. They gradually spread far and wide, seen as far south as Houstown and as far East as Old Bones. Around the same time as they emerged, whispers began to emerge of a Shangri-La in the West, beyond the Barrier Mountains, where magic users and technocrats as well as D-Bees and Humans are welcome alike. At first few paid attention to the tales, but then as more stories were told, the desperate, the hopeful, and the brave among free cities and among burbite communities began to pick up and head west in the hopes of finding a better life far from the turbulence and politics of the Central Powers Region. Few made it further than the Colorado Baronies, those that dared to travel further west, were seldom seen or heard from again. Then all at once, everyone in the East became aware of a power in the West, when dignitaries escorted by the peculiarly armed and armored men described previously, arrived on May 1st, 108PA in many Free Nations in the East, identifying themselves as Ambassadors of the Republic of Wa-Daisho. This article is meant to provide a sneak peak at what exactly Wa-Daisho is, who their leaders are, their goals, intentions, troubles they face, and their grand plans for the future.
RIFTS: The Ronin Saga
In conjunction with the above Republic of Wa-Daisho submission, I have considered submitting chapters of the story, retelling the tales of the mysterious warrior that was pulled from the Pacific in the middle of the previous century, leading up to the founding of the Republic of Wa-Daisho. Including an in-depth perspective on who this hero is, how he came to be in North America, why he did the deeds he did, and why he decided to found a nation.
RIFTS: The Kingdom of Desert Star
This article is a preview of an upcoming double-triple whammy World Book and dual Sourcebook manuscript submissions, probably emerging sometime next year on the desk of Mr. Siembieda. (Yes, Mr. Siembieda I intend to keep you very busy!
) During the cataclysm a number of areas were quaranteened and held as strongholds for humanity against the onslaught of monsters and demons the likes of which were only known in nightmares prior to the cataclysm. One such enclave was a reclusive community that formed near old Salt Lake City that kept it's presence secret for centuries - until a long range CS Patrol discovered it nestled between two mountain ranges. Here, was a relatively small community, with apparent high technology available to them that was unfamiliar to the CS Scouts. Soon after the CS Covertly led an expedition to overtake the city's few remaining active defenses. It was only through the endeavors of a slimy underworld figure getting what would later become the benefactor to the Republic of Wa-Daisho involved, that got the Coalition States out of this small community. This article will give a brief synopsis of what happened in the aftermath, how the slimy underworld figure managed to place himself upon a throne, create an exodus among people to the East to come to his new Kingdom, and claim the technological marvels of this community solely his own property only to begin exploiting it through a new arms industry pumping out technological marvels not seen since before the cataclysm.RIFTS: Ancient Ancestors of the Steppes
The Native Americans were not the only peoples protected by their deities when their way of life was in imminent danger. A new power has emerged and is now coming face to face with the Cossacks and the Warlords of Russia on the steppes of the Ukraine. Horsemen of unparalleled skill and combat prowess, accompanied by shamans of great power, have caused incredible upheaval for all in the region. Some see them as a plague and others as saviors. What this will mean for the political dynamic for the region in the future is as of yet undetermined. This article will deal with the emergence of the Rhoxolani, a tribe of Sarmatians that disappeared during the Hunnish invasions. Some say they were obliterated. Others say they joined them. Still others say that they fled westward. None but you will know the true tale of deific intervention and the Rhoxolani's new purpose in this changed world. (Possibly a sourcebook, if well received, since attention has been turned away from Russia for quite a while.)
RIFTS: Black Market Unearthed!
This is an article that I've been playing with for years, to help spice up that handy but vague skill we all know and love called Streetwise. I would be including important factions and NPCs in power, activities they are involved in, what groups and gangs they finance, dissention within the Black Market factions, as well as what "pies" they have their fingers stuck into throughout North America.
RIFTS: Culture Series
Another series of articles that I have written notes here and there on are descriptions of the differing cultures in the RIFTS World. With the influx of D-Bee populations, the effects of the cataclysm on the human psyche as a whole, over a span of 300 years of relative separation and isolation, cultures can evolve dramatically. I would like to do a series of articles involving the cultures and customs of major places throughout the RIFTS world, such as Lazlo, the Coalition States, Northern Gun, Old Bones, Kingsdale, Dweomer, El Paso, the Colorado Baronies, as well as many civilized hubs throughout the RIFTS world beyond North America. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, give me a shout!
RIFTS: Air to Air Combat Revisited: Natural Fliers
My Air to Air Combat article, found amidst the pages of Rifter 33, did a great deal to illuminate combat between flying vehicles, but did nothing to describe how these would compare to 'natural fliers' - essentially flying creatures or mages flying through mystical means. I would like to revisit that article to cover this oversight.
RIFTS: Power Armor & Robot Vehicle Creation Rules
Before I introduced our group's power armor and robot vehicle creation rules, we had a huge problem with secondary GMs creating man-sized suits of power armor that would make a Glitterboy weep with envy. (I recall one GM allowing a South American player character to patch a pair of ATL-7s into his Glitterboy's nuclear power supply.
) I soon eliminated these problems by instituting a series of power armor and robot vehicle creation rules. It is a complicated matter to create them - but believe me when I say that any campaign that involves these wonders of technology would benefit greatly by introducing this system to the game world as a whole.Anyway, there are a few of my ideas for articles - which ones would you like to see in the upcoming year or two?
Regards,
Edward A. May
