RIFTS Manhunter - A Dimension Book or Part of Phase World??

[Devjannz]

I was just wondering if anyone has incorporated RIFTS Manhunter into their games as either it's own Dimension (as presented even though it does not say so) or did you make it part of the Phase World setting and just change some names of places (Mainly Earth)??

I used it as part of a Phase World campaign in so far as I let someone play a Smoker Battle Mage and just said that they were from the UWW. I never had a chance to really run a game fully in that setting, it was usually just something to use as ideas for what I was running.

[taalismn]

I used it as part of a Phase World campaign in so far as I let someone play a Smoker Battle Mage and just said that they were from the UWW. I never had a chance to really run a game fully in that setting, it was usually just something to use as ideas for what I was running.

This. I freely loot the setting as its own dimension with parallel development of concepts, or rifted concepts/technologies reverse-engineered/adapted by other.

[Warshield73]

I used it as part of a Phase World campaign in so far as I let someone play a Smoker Battle Mage and just said that they were from the UWW. I never had a chance to really run a game fully in that setting, it was usually just something to use as ideas for what I was running.

This. I freely loot the setting as its own dimension with parallel development of concepts, or rifted concepts/technologies reverse-engineered/adapted by other.

Same, for the most part. In my original player group for PW a player wanted to run an OCC (I think a bloodletter or something) from Manhunter so I had it as a separate dimension. When he switched to a Wolfen Quatoria I just started using it for species and the robots.

It never felt right to just make it part of PW, but then again I did use the races from Aliens Unlimited so probably wouldn't have hurt too much.

[Sambot]

I use it as part of the Phase World or Aliens Unlimited or all together.

[Jockitch74]

I user it for Phase World and/or Robotech, Sentinels era and colonies

[Jefffar]

Complete - as a dimension book.

Piecemeal - shows up in just about any setting I feel the urge to

[RockJock]

I've never had the chance to play IN Manhunter, but I've always used it as as a flavoring in Rifts and PW. Great when you want an alien/culture cross over that isn't tied into anything else.I do similar with Splicers and Scraypers, even NB. They are probably all their own dimension in my game, but have crossovers.

[NMI]

hmmm... Mechanoids team up with the Manhunters... that could work!

[taalismn]

hmmm... Mechanoids team up with the Manhunters... that could work!

Why not....not in their home dimension the Mechanoids teamed up with giant wasps.
I imagine in the Three Galaxies the Mechanoids would find the StarHunters good allies as well. Possibly the StarWasps.
Sprklits? Maybe.
Machine People? Might be too humanoid for the Mechanoids to consider entirely trustworthy.

[taalismn]

Critical Commentary on Manhunter Universe OCCs

Blatant Editing Oops:
The Manhunter Mrk II described in its stats as having legs, while the art shows it as having none.
The swapped full-page art for the wanted posters for Iktari-Ka;ivaw’nta and Alun Bik Hitrata

Missing Skills:
Lore: Robots
Pilot: Hovertank
W.P. Depression Gun

OCCs:
Bloodletter
Ancient weapons(specifically blades). The HTH bonuses are welcome, but not spectacular, and physical skill-wise, these guys suffer in comparison to the Martial Dragons. With the progression of books, I’d give them the Fencing skill and allow an updated version of these folks to take a non-mystic blade-oriented martial art like those in Ninjas and Superspies or Rifts Japan.

Cannibal
For hardened criminals, these guys lack any Rogue skills, either as integral to the OCC, or mandatory as electives, though they do get big bonuses to them. I’d expect them to have to require at least one Rogue skill. Technically, I imagine it’s possible to be a hardened criminal without having any rogue skills, like if you’re an out-and-out murderer, but that could be any of the other OCCs.
Though Manhunter predates Rifts BlackMarket, the Cannibal is one OCC that would benefit enormously from being able to take a few of the Black Market talents/perks.
In a more heavily redone format, in keeping with the origin story of the OCC, I’d give the class the option of BM perks or limited spellcasting abilities.

Charlatan
These folks actually come off looking more professionally criminal than the Cannibals. If I were to update this OCC, I’d give them an MA bonus.

Choirboy
Boy, the authors really love the Bloodhood and it shows. These folks are the closest one gets to a Cyberknight in terms of honor and integrity and lots of skills.

Chrome Warrior
Closest one gets to a playable cyborg OCC in Manhunter, without actually becoming a robot. Oddly., they have cooking as a standard skill(either they cook stuff with their cyberarm or they infiltrated the Order of the Void through being kitchen help?), and they actually get better physical skill bonuses than the Martial Dragon. In a case off the art not matching the description, the depicted Chrome Warrior has TWO obvious cyberarms. Another omission is just how strong the Fist(s) are, despite text saying it ‘boosts their natural strength tremendously’.
I’d update this OCC by making them a bit more cybernetic/bionic, and applying some Crazy Hero options to reflect the fact that these people got into and out of the Void with the Fist(s) and a little psychological scarring.

DriveJock
Pilot OCC, though pretty much every OCC in Manhunter seems able to take spacecraft piloting skills.

Floater
This OCC’s closer to a wandering mechanic or Rifts Operator than anything else, and it’s the OCC I most often ’port over to Rifts/Three Galaxies without any problems or adjustments.

Integrity Guard
The Integrity Guard and the Justice Ranger are virtually identical. For volunteers fighting human clones, the bladerunners/IG actually seem better trained than the JR, who I’d think would have the greater combat experience fighting a wider variety of opponents.
The IG also suffers from the worst case of art not matching the stats. The Integrity Guard is shown (presumably) with their signature weapon which is a BFG with a power cable that looks capable of punching through a mountain, let alone several SIMs. In reality, it’s quite small, and one of the weaker weapons in the book with only a five-shot payload, 800 ft range, and 4d6 MD damage for a total weight of 18 lbs.(yep, your 5-lb NG-45LP blows this thing away, let alone your old NG-P7). And next to its range stat, its range is in ft and kms, rather than (m). A man portable particle beam able to shoot 244 km? I know it’s a typo, but if it were true I’d go metric, forgive the IG PA cannon its other failings and go sniping at people on mountain tops or in low orbit.

Justice Ranger
The JR suffers by being so close in the worldbook to the entry on the integrity Guard. These guys should be Texas Rangers in space, but they wind up looking more like Barney Fife, Space Ranger.
Though this OCC gets Robot Combat Basic, for an OCC to who a specific power armor is all-important and standard equipment, they lack the skill in piloting it.

Martial Dragon
Good in that it’s thorough in presenting a variety of species-specific martial arts forms. The physical skills could get more bonuses though.

M.U.T.T.
Manhunter’s version of a Glitterboy Pilot and Headhunter Robot Pilot rolled into one; one of the better OCCs and one that has its OCC-specific/critical piece of equipment statted out. Again, though, as with the Justice Ranger, Piloting Power Armor/Robots is left out of the basic skills for the class. Also curious is that they’re shortchanged on access to additional military skills, seemingly limited to only demolitions skills, when these guys are supposed to be military elites.

Netstalker
Odd that the hacker OCC doesn’t have computer programming as a required skill.

Nuke
Demolitions(disposal) expert. Their signature Nukesuit isn’t all that impressive, but then most Manhunter armor isn’t much either.

Scottie
Manhunter version of a Rifts Operator. No complaints here because they’re skill-heavy support.

Seeker
Manhunter’s version of a Rifts Mystic. No real complaints, given how magic is currently a back burner issue in the Manhunter universe.

Smoker
Combat Mage. The basis is simple enough that I used it as the base for my Smiter mage. No real complaints.

TRASHman
An intriguing OCC let down somewhat by the poor editing rife throughout the book. After stressing how these people are assigned the all-powerful Depression Gun, no Depression Gun is actually delivered(instead we get a rocket launcher).

Widowmaker
Strange that the ranged weapons specialists don’t have at least one ranged weapon(modern or otherwise) as standard, only a general choice of any four weapons.

Wolfhound
Pretty much a skiptracer/wilderness scout combo. Nothing glaringly wrong with them, but I’d add an initiative or perception bonus to reflect how in tune with their surroundings they are.

Zone Boy
Manhunter’s version of a TransGalactic Empire Imperial Guardsman; professionally heavily skilled and superpowered. No real complaints here because it’s so easily abused.


Overall, the theme in the OCCs seems to be that the PCs will be cosmopolitan characters who get around relatively fine on their own, talking to lots of people, and skilled at one or more modes of personal transportation, especially spacecraft, which comes in handy if your party doesn’t have a convenient Drivejock handy. The specialist OCCs, however, tend to get shortchanged on skills they SHOULD have, or at least have easy access to.
Part of this, I get the impression, is from the generally poor editing in the book…lots of typos, and probably efforts to cram material into limited space, resulting in a good deal of stuff winding up on the cutting room floor. I passed on the chance to get a copy of Myrmidon Press’s original Manhunter book, leaving me now wondering what, if any, of the missing material I’ve noted above was in the original book and failed to make the transfer.

[glitterboy2098]

as written, it is explicitly a dimension book.. it is specifically stated in the prologue that rifts and dimensional portals (which had been unheard of before in the manhunter dimension) were what linked it to the wider megaverse, and the framework of the book as far as the palladium megaverse is concerned is set up as "this is a newly found part of the megaverse that the dimensional travellers, traders, powers, and refugees have just started exploring and exploiting."

the foreward offers using it as a different galaxy or as part of the three galaxies as alternate options. which i compare to the Alien Unlimited book, which is explicitly part of the HU universe, but the Phase World books suggest as a resource for the three galaxies setting, with the option of just dropping the entire AU political entities into the three galaxies.

[Devjannz]

Bloodletter
Ancient weapons(specifically blades). The HTH bonuses are welcome, but not spectacular, and physical skill-wise, these guys suffer in comparison to the Martial Dragons. With the progression of books, I’d give them the Fencing skill and allow an updated version of these folks to take a non-mystic blade-oriented martial art like those in Ninjas and Superspies or Rifts Japan.

Good idea for this one. I loved the inclusion of the Bloodletter as a Space Swordsman. It kind of makes sense given the reasoning for the class. It is like in the show Babylon 5. They use PPGs (Plasma Projectile Guns) instead of slug throwers or lasers. The in-universe reason is to have a weapon that can be used to stop most living beings without being able to actually cause mass damage to stations and ships. It loses heat too quickly to damage those things unless the fire is concentrated on an area.

[drewkitty ~..~]

I've only used the Rifts Manhunter Crossover gamebook as a place to source races & equipment to play in the PB games.