I love this setting and am stoked to write for it. As I have often said, I think that the stories to come out of this "era" and this game have the potential to be the best that Palladium has ever put out. That's not to even mention the great role-playing possibilities. It's living through the end of the world. It doesn't get much sweeter than that.
I have an extensive basic outline for a finite number of books that I want to write that I feel would more or less completely fill out the setting. Obviously you can write an infinite number of books about places, but I only really plan to do a couple of those. Mostly I feel that it's important to flesh out the world as it stands over the first few years after the Coming of the Rifts and just leave it at that, letting players and Game Masters live it all out on their own.
In an effort to make Chaos Earth as real as possible, and to capture the elements of the world at the time of the 12-22, my first book is called First Responders. Here is the blurb as it has appeared in the releases:
Chaos Earth™ Sourcebook:
First Responders – Coming Soon
The Great Cataclysm has devastated civilization, but humanity fights for survival. The struggles of civilian law enforcement, fire and rescue, and everyday men and women are some of the most epic tales to be told in a world gone to hell. They fight monsters, aliens, the paranormal, the elements, and each other, all with the hope of reclaiming their lives from the Chaos.
New D-Bees and monsters from the Rifts.
New "average citizen" Occupational Character Classes (O.C.C.s).
New equipment for NEMA "Roscoes" and other emergency personnel.
Source information and stats for common Golden Age technology (weapons, vehicles, medical tech, etc.).
Apocalypse Plagues brought from other worlds to Chaos Earth.
Adventure ideas and more.
Written by Jason Richards.
Final size not yet determined; 64-96 pages – $11.95 or 14.95 retail.
Coming Summer or Fall 2007.
See that "coming soon" date? Ouch. Again, that's on me, but I am rectifying it. The manuscript will be turned in by Gen Con (and I'm hoping significantly sooner than that).
That blurb does sum it up nicely, however. The final size for the book should be the same size as the first two sourcebooks; I'm planning on sticking to that size for all of these books if I can. I think it's a good size for the sizes of the "chunks" of subject matter I will tackle at a time.
First Responders is going to be different than what you are perhaps accustomed to. Be ready to go (relatively) low-tech with your characters while not facing any sort of handicap from the world. For First Responders characters, the search for clean water and shelter in which to hide from wandering monsters is pretty likely to be more important than crewing a Super Mastiff. There will be plenty in it to flesh out the world for gun-toting NEMA recon squads and such as well, so don't sweat that; it will just have a different feel, but one that will make the world very real.
I won't get into exactly what is next on the list or try to put a timeline on it. I've mentioned Brothers in Arms, which is my book about the Golden Age military (not NEMA) of the NAA. People have also asked me about Psychic Storm. The next book could be either of those. However, I intend for Chaos Earth to get good support in the Rifter and hopefully online as well. This is the only game line that I plan to write for, at least for the time being. In the end I'm hoping to be able to knock out one Chaos Earth book a year, hopefully squeezing in an extra one here and there, plus other support material as I have mentioned. This is all assuming, of course, that y'all like my stuff and Kevin continues to want to print it.
I'm looking forward into finishing up the book and diving back into writing. Y'all can all help by beaming me your thoughts and prayers as I take this exam on April 11, because I sure don't want to take it again in October (effectively derailing all of my plans except I would probably still get First Responders out).
I'll take questions if y'all want to ask them here or by PM or by email. I'll be slow to respond for the next week, but don't let that stop you. If anyone is interested I could probably schedule a time to chat as well, sometime in the future. I want to drum up more support for this incredible game that I know has a ton of fans that are itching for more material.
One thing I ask, though, is that you not make specific suggestions about putting in this or that. That sort of thing just can cause legal troubles because the last thing I want is a big legal or personal fight over whose idea came up first, etc.
Wow this has run long. Fire away if you care to and I'll be thrilled to chat about it.
Peace,
Jason
