Which World Books Do I Need?

[Father Goose]

I am planning a new Rifts game that will take the players from Lazlo to a town called Hug (built on the ruins of Hugoton, Kansas, and the modern day route is along this highway. I want to make sure I'm not missing any canon details about locations, creatures, and people who would be along this route, or in the surrounding areas should the crew decide to deviate somewhat. What all books should I be referencing to ensure I don't miss something important? I have most of the books available, but I would like help narrowing down the list that is most applicable to the game I am prepping.

[torjones]

I am planning a new Rifts game that will take the players from Lazlo to a town called Hug (built on the ruins of Hugoton, Kansas, and the modern day route is along this highway. I want to make sure I'm not missing any canon details about locations, creatures, and people who would be along this route, or in the surrounding areas should the crew decide to deviate somewhat. What all books should I be referencing to ensure I don't miss something important? I have most of the books available, but I would like help narrowing down the list that is most applicable to the game I am prepping.

I'm pretty sure that unless you're deliberately driving them right through the heart of CS territory, they're going to want to take another route. Southern Michigan is CS Occupied Territory, and Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri are all CS States, and that road takes you right past the capital cities of Chi-Town and "New Chillicothe." Admittedly, New Chillicothe is not the massive fortress that Chi-Town is, but they do have a major military base, that canonically contains a full battalion of SAMAS, a company of Spider Skull Walkers, and a score of UARs. Also, don't forget that even the largest of highways did not survive the Chaos, so taking a specific road from one place to another is not happening. (unless said road is Post Apocalypse)

I would recommend RUE, GMG, BoM, D-Bees of North America, and Sourcebook 1, as always, but you may find Mercenaries, Merctown, and Mercenary Adventures useful. Kingsdale is a bit south of that road, but may also be incorporated or just referenced, and it can be found in Juicer Uprising and Bionics Sourcebook. Lastly, check New West since Kansas is part of the range of the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry.

Sadly, CS Missouri really isn't covered in detail anywhere, and neither is Lazlo. (you'd think that with how important such places are to the Rifts Storyline, and how often they get mentioned, that there would be a book...)

Frankly, I'd give the players the job of figuring out how to get from Lazlo to Hug. (which now that I look at it again, Hug is going to be in the Simvan Range as well as 1st Cav. so you might want to add all the West books, Lonestar, New West, and Spirit West) If they take your route, they're going to be fighting Chi-Town's military, a lot, and then they'll enter the New West (but since that's their destination, that's always going to be true.) If they go south, you might want Psyscape and The Federation of Magic in addition to Juicer Uprising and Mercenaries because they will likely go through/past Whykin and Kingsdale. (mages of course will not want to travel through Whykin as it's the CS Base in the south, but Kingsdale will be nice and friendly.) I think a good path might be Lazlo to New Lazlo, then south to Dweomer, south west to Dunscon, west to Kingsdale, and then to Hug. If they go for a Northern Route, they basically get to go through the heart of Iron Heart and it's military might, mostly Tanks and Navy, supported by Chi-town & the CS Navy if they are anywhere near the great lakes, and of course they also get to go through Xiticix territory. Iron Heart (and Golden Age Weaponsmiths) is covered mostly in Mercenaries, and Canada also covers the Xiticix, but a lot more of their info can be found in Xiticix Invasion. If they go due west from Lazlo, they'll go through NG & Manistique and Tolkeen (or it's remains depending on when in the timeline you're running you game). Details are in Coalition War Campaign and the seven Coalition Wars books.

[Father Goose]

Thanks! I'm aware of the hazards of travel through CS territory, and I'm not forcing a route. I just wanted to make sure I was accounting for the relevant books to make sure I don't miss anything once they decide on a route. The map picture was more to show territory between locations, not travel plans.

[ShadowLogan]

Which books you'd need probably also depends on the route they take from Michigan to Kansas. (the route as shown takes them straight into CS/Chi-Town territory, so a detour would seem to be sensible)

Common books regardless of the route would be RUE/RMB (obviously), along with WB30 DBoNA and WB14 New West (Spirit West might be useful I don't know as I don't have the book). The mercenary books and Book of Magic as appropriate. WB11 CWC could also be useful if they enter CS territory.

If the detour route they choose includes:
-the Great Lakes (or Gulf of Mexico), you'll need Source Book 4 Coalition Navy. There will still be a land component of the journey.
-a northern swing through Canada (swing north and then come down): WB20 Canada and WB23 Xitic Invasion.
-a southern swing would include Psyscape and Fed of Magic, might even include parts of Dinosaur Swamp

[Shorty Lickens]

ALL OF THEM!!!

But mostly WB 11, 13, 16, 22, and 28.

[Father Goose]

ALL OF THEM!!!

But mostly WB 11, 13, 16, 22, and 28.

Indeed, and I do have access to all. I just wanted to make sure I was focusing first on the most relevant.

[glitterboy2098]

New West and Spirit West for the area around the town comes to mind. possibly CWC as well since that would likely have the CS's side of things for that area.

[dreicunan]

Whether or not the group would face a ton of combat moving through CS Territory would depend on how many people in the group would ping for Dog Boys and Psi-stalkers and who also lack any ability to cover that up.

[Pencroff357]

Okay, I've got a secondary question that's linked to the original one: are there physical books in English that you can get in Greece? The thing is that I'm planning to buy IRL one of these houses in Greece for the holidays... and who says holidays says games! Of course, I can order stuff from Anglo countries, but I've had issues with the cheaper delivery options, and going for the more expensive ones mean you'll spend more on shipping than on the item you're buying, which is BS.

[Mr. Jays]

@Pencroff357: I don't have an answer for you, but if you PM Hendrik, he might be able to tell you. He lives in German and is the closest person to Greece that I know.

[Pencroff357]

Great, thanks!