Any chance for a Rifts Space Book?

[gaby]

Do you think ther a Chance for a Rifts Space Book?
To update the info of Mutants in Orbit.

[Lao Tzume]

I wish. Mutants in Orbit was sort of disappointing. I'd love to see one though.

[rifter72]

One day in long and distant future, but we still have hope.

[DhAkael]

-Le sigh-
It seems as if Kevin Siembiada is pathelogicaly terrified of opening up THAT can of worms. One of the reasons Mutants in Orbit (which was a half & half split between Rifts & After-le-bombe) hasn't been reprinted. Damn shame really; so much potential, so many adventures to take place in the Milkyway and NOT Phaseworld but *shrug*
I'm still waiting for the Mechanoids RPG which was promissed in like, '99 or something like that.

[Subjugator]

We have Mutants in Orbit and the Three Galaxies. Are you looking for stuff in our solar system, or?

[Shadow Wyrm]

Rifter 56 has some stuff for Rift's space. Hero's Unlimited Galaxy Guide and Aliens Unlimited can all be converted for use in Rift's.

[Tor]

I consider MiO the 'space' book but I'd be all for books expanding on some things we have limited info about.

Like "Rifts Moon" and "Rifts Mars".

Nothing else really jumps out. I guess each colony could get its own book.

It's troubled since it might also be considered an AtB sourcebook.

[Library Ogre]

I think a solar system book would be interesting, as games set in the "Solar-system-minus Earth" tend to have a far different feel than the higher-tech Phase World style space opera. More Firefly, less Star Trek.

[Kagashi]

Id love for a Rifts Space book. South America 2 tried to beef up the Rifts Space story line with the Arkhon invasion(s), but its really lost traction. The best we have is in the Adventure Guide of some adventure ideas which might or might not even be canon. Likewise, Aftermath sorta covered it, but was nothing more than a recap of MiO. There is so much we can explore with this setting. Its a shame the vastness of Rifts Space only got half of a very thin sourcebook. Source book wise, there is plenty to cover, like actually statting out some of the mentioned gear, like German exoskeletons and such. And now that we have a clearer picture of the past with Chaos Earth, we can explore more of the original political super powers whos governments survived in part since the Flash/Great Cataclysm. Heck, Dino Swamp mentions KLS being based in Florida, experimenting with Gateway technology. WHo is to say that the schematics are not in Freedom Station's data bases and they end up accidentally activating the Gateway project that bring them to the Time Holes in Florida...or worse, in the Gateway project in Lonestar...

[Tor]

The satellites need damage-beefing since MiO, I don't think there is enough and I don't find them dangerous enough to guarantee containment from the various things on the ground.

[Slight001]

The satellites need damage-beefing since MiO, I don't think there is enough and I don't find them dangerous enough to guarantee containment from the various things on the ground.

That's X attacks per melee... how many melee's does it take to get into orbit? No seriously how many?

[Kagashi]

Tor is right. The source material from Rifts far exceeds the material in MiO in terms of power creep over the past 15 years. Simply put, unless there is a confirmed canon reason why nobody can get into space, the containment of Earth would not be sustained by the orbital communities. For example, Naruni sells a space fighter right here on Earth capable of breaching the Earth's atmosphere and nobody has even attempted it? And that fighter is better than any "small shuttle" built by the colonies. Furthermore, the Splugorth know of space travel, and have not once attempted it? If they did, the ships in Fleets of the Three Galaxies would stomp the pitiful fleets of the orbital communities. Even the tech from the first Atlantis book is superior than the orbital communities.

In terms of Power Creep, Space really needs a face lift.

In the campaign I am currently running, I explain it by the dimensional anomaly theory. In our game, the Earth is enveloped by a world-wide rift. Those looking from Earth to the skies are actually seeing a sky from Earth's past (Which is why nobody has been able to observe the space stations). Likewise, those from Space looking down to Earth see an Earth from Earth's past. In my game, they do not see Atlantis nor any of the different things happening on Rifts Earth. It looks baron and void of human influence. They assume everything was wiped out in The Flash. If anything attempts to transverse this rift, they are transported to an Earth (parallel dimension) in the past. However, radio transmissions still breech the rift and can be intercepted by either party, which is how ARCHIE III knows ARCHIE seven is still operational.

Those ships and monsters that come up through the atmosphere are coming through the rift of the parallel dimension, and are not from the actual planet they orbit. These ships from the parallel dimension are from an inferior tech level than that of MiO, which is why they have been able to successfully contain Earth. They don't know it, but they are actually defending Rifts Earth dimension from alien/dimensional incursions.

In short, unless a shifter knows to target Rifts Space directly, the forces residing in 109 PA Rifts Earth will never physically meet up with the orbital communities of Rifts Space of 109 PA. Thus the power creep issue is not really an issue.

[Sureshot]

Add another vote as well. Beyond updating damage and MDC values. I'm also interested in seeing some of the background information move forward as well. With the Rifts stuff getting it's own book. The TMNT stuff it's own.

[jaymz]

Might be better to look at maybe getting 48 page splat books for space. One for Rifts Space one for each colony maybe,,,,

[Kagashi]

- Rifts Space 109 PA (World Book) Details life in space, streamlines rules to RUE standards, space skills, and chapters for Mars, Asteroid Belt, and the Moon. Common space monsters. New alien races. New mutant powers. Space magic. What is in the Graveyard.
- Fleets and Stations of the Orbital Communities (source book) Stats out the stations and specifically made ships on par with the ship creation rules. Updated numbers for defensive units per station. Updated populations. List and detail of significant Independents and their affiliation to the main stations. Stats out the mentioned, but never stated out gear, like the German energy weapons, rail guns, exoskeletons, and experimental bots (plus new gear). Opens the door to expand upon other Rifts aspects, like more British Psi devices (Caliber X for example). In game nods to Pre-Rifts corporations like Ubertech (advanced Juicers), Achilles Project (south American mutant animals) Psinetics (Advanced Crazies), Triax (German War Machine), Mindwerks (Advanced Crazies, Cyborgs), KLS (Glitter Boys/Chromium Guardsmen), Cyberworks (AI), TexAm Complex (mutant animals) and so on.
- The Arkhon Wars (Adventure Book) 104-109 PA. Adds Arkhon ships. Details the timeline on the road to war between the CAN Republic and Freedom Station, interrupted by the Arkhon attack in 104 PA. Impacts of the Minion War.

[Glistam]

- Rifts Space 109 PA (World Book) Details life in space, streamlines rules to RUE standards, space skills, and chapters for Mars, Asteroid Belt, and the Moon. Common space monsters. New alien races. New mutant powers. Space magic. What is in the Graveyard.
- Fleets and Stations of the Orbital Communities (source book) Stats out the stations and specifically made ships on par with the ship creation rules. Updated numbers for defensive units per station. Updated populations. List and detail of significant Independents and their affiliation to the main stations. Stats out the mentioned, but never stated out gear, like the German energy weapons, rail guns, exoskeletons, and experimental bots (plus new gear). Opens the door to expand upon other Rifts aspects, like more British Psi devices (Caliber X for example). In game nods to Pre-Rifts corporations like Ubertech (advanced Juicers), Achilles Project (south American mutant animals) Psinetics (Advanced Crazies), Triax (German War Machine), Mindwerks (Advanced Crazies, Cyborgs), KLS (Glitter Boys/Chromium Guardsmen), Cyberworks (AI), TexAm Complex (mutant animals) and so on.
- The Arkhon Wars (Adventure Book) 104-109 PA. Adds Arkhon ships. Details the timeline on the road to war between the CAN Republic and Freedom Station, interrupted by the Arkhon attack in 104 PA. Impacts of the Minion War.

I would buy every one of those books.

[Tor]

The Splugorth might not find it profitable to attempt, they might actually benefit from keeping the barrier in place since it makes the planet's population easier to manage. That'd be an interesting explanation, Mach-speed Kittani pods helping to shoot down people trying to get into space.

Perhaps that's how that Cosmo-Knight died attempting it?

[eliakon]

Tor is right. The source material from Rifts far exceeds the material in MiO in terms of power creep over the past 15 years. Simply put, unless there is a confirmed canon reason why nobody can get into space, the containment of Earth would not be sustained by the orbital communities. For example, Naruni sells a space fighter right here on Earth capable of breaching the Earth's atmosphere and nobody has even attempted it? And that fighter is better than any "small shuttle" built by the colonies. Furthermore, the Splugorth know of space travel, and have not once attempted it? If they did, the ships in Fleets of the Three Galaxies would stomp the pitiful fleets of the orbital communities. Even the tech from the first Atlantis book is superior than the orbital communities.

In terms of Power Creep, Space really needs a face lift.

In the campaign I am currently running, I explain it by the dimensional anomaly theory. In our game, the Earth is enveloped by a world-wide rift. Those looking from Earth to the skies are actually seeing a sky from Earth's past (Which is why nobody has been able to observe the space stations). Likewise, those from Space looking down to Earth see an Earth from Earth's past. In my game, they do not see Atlantis nor any of the different things happening on Rifts Earth. It looks baron and void of human influence. They assume everything was wiped out in The Flash. If anything attempts to transverse this rift, they are transported to an Earth (parallel dimension) in the past. However, radio transmissions still breech the rift and can be intercepted by either party, which is how ARCHIE III knows ARCHIE seven is still operational.

Those ships and monsters that come up through the atmosphere are coming through the rift of the parallel dimension, and are not from the actual planet they orbit. These ships from the parallel dimension are from an inferior tech level than that of MiO, which is why they have been able to successfully contain Earth. They don't know it, but they are actually defending Rifts Earth dimension from alien/dimensional incursions.

In short, unless a shifter knows to target Rifts Space directly, the forces residing in 109 PA Rifts Earth will never physically meet up with the orbital communities of Rifts Space of 109 PA. Thus the power creep issue is not really an issue.

This is an awesome idea. I love it. Consider it stoleeeerrrr borrowed

[glitterboy2098]

personally i just assume there are additional layers of defenses the book didn't mention. like say, swarms of 200 kiloton laser induced thermonuclear nuclear devices on mobile micro-sats.. when they detect a ship has passed through the CODF, they alter their orbit to intercept, then detonate near the hull.
such devices could be built enmass, would be about the size of a LRM (and easily mistaken for debris because of their low power signature), and would make it pretty darn hard to survive.

plus the very bright light would make it obvious to the orbitals to build another batch and dump them into orbit.

they'd also make it seem like the killsats (which by comparison are much more visible) have some truly impressive weapons.. explaining why some of the people on the ground discount the CODF and think that if they hijack a killsat they can nuke things on earth's surface..