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This sounds awesome man! I really hope there are some rules in there to even the playing field between tech based heroes and power based ones.... Can't wait for this book!

Greg Diaczyk wrote:Mediapig71

This sounds awesome man! I really hope there are some rules in there to even the playing field between tech based heroes and power based ones.... Can't wait for this book!

I've played in a couple of games where the tech based character got shafted, was always fixing gear or having it destroyed by the villain and never got anything really new, where as the mutants in the group kept getting more and more powerful.

So definitely yes.

If you liked what I did in Rifter #37 with the Expanded Mega-Heroes, there will be a lot more things like that, including rules on how to "level up" tech based characters, to keep them on the same power level as the ever increasing powers of a mutant, experiment or wizard.

Greg Diaczyk wrote:Mediapig71 wrote

Can you give us any hints of what the book will contain?

At the moment it is still in the very early stages of development, but what I pitched to Kevin was the following:

Hardware Unlimited™
A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™
The much anticipated accessories book for any crime fighter, vigilante and super hero. A comprehensive catalogue of the standard fair of super hero gear from grappling hooks, super sleuthing gear, to body armor, weapons and accessories only a super hero would need. Not to be outdone by the gear they produce the heroes behind their concepts rise to feature their talents to the super hero community, battling with their evil competitor Fabricator Inc. by outfitting heroes with the latest gear, accessories, costumes and hero paraphernalia.

• New Hardware Power Categories: Hacker, Driver, Mad Scientist, Chemical Genius, Robotics Genius and Robotic Swarm Master.
• An as un yet named Hardware Organization that builds custom costumes, gear, technologically gear that upgrades super powers, vehicles and Hero Headquarters (a good guy version of Fabricator Inc.)
• A huge catalogue of useful low tech and high tech gear for every type of super hero, from the normal human vigilante to the power packed mutant. All accessories to be “timeline appropriate” and easily adjusted whether you want to run a game in 1980 or 2080.
• New Bionics and Robotic Systems
• Custom Vehicle Creation Rules for Land, Sea and Air Vehicles.
• Advice on how to run equipment based games and hero dependency on gadgets (instead of powers)
• Expanded Mega-Heroes (An updated version of my Rifter # 37 article)
• Secret Base Creation Rules (An updated version of my Rifter #37 article)
• New Skill programs to reflect "non-Hardware" characters trying to be Hardware Characters such as a Mutant with Telemechanics or Mechano-Link.

Mediapig71 wrote:This probably falls into the category of pestering, so I apologize, but just figured I'd pipe up and see if there was any update of Hardware Unlimited?

The ideas Greg discussed sound so awesome, I really can't wait for this book!

Witchcraft wrote:Why doesn't Ninja Division start working on Hardware Unlimited so Kevin can get to RIFTS BILOXI BLUES?!?!

Greg Diaczyk wrote:So I finally finished off the manuscript for Rifts New Navy and just sent it off to Kevin.

You can officially start hounding him to get the book published now!

Heck point out it would go really well with the Pacific Rim movie that's slated for release in July 2013 (and everyone on the boards is cheering about).

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming

Greg Diaczyk wrote:Hardware Unlimited™
A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™
The much anticipated accessories book for any crime fighter, vigilante and super hero. A comprehensive catalogue of the standard fair of super hero gear from grappling hooks, super sleuthing gear, to body armor, weapons and accessories only a super hero would need. Not to be outdone by the gear they produce the heroes behind their concepts rise to feature their talents to the super hero community, battling with their evil competitor Fabricator Inc. by outfitting heroes with the latest gear, accessories, costumes and hero paraphernalia.

• New Hardware Power Categories: Hacker, Driver, Mad Scientist, Chemical Genius, Robotics Genius and Robotic Swarm Master.
• An as un yet named Hardware Organization that builds custom costumes, gear, technologically gear that upgrades super powers, vehicles and Hero Headquarters (a good guy version of Fabricator Inc.)
• A huge catalogue of useful low tech and high tech gear for every type of super hero, from the normal human vigilante to the power packed mutant. All accessories to be “timeline appropriate” and easily adjusted whether you want to run a game in 1980 or 2080.
• New Bionics and Robotic Systems
• Custom Vehicle Creation Rules for Land, Sea and Air Vehicles.
• Advice on how to run equipment based games and hero dependency on gadgets (instead of powers)
• Expanded Mega-Heroes (An updated version of my Rifter # 37 article)
• Secret Base Creation Rules (An updated version of my Rifter #37 article)
• New Skill programs to reflect "non-Hardware" characters trying to be Hardware Characters such as a Mutant with Telemechanics or Mechano-Link.

Greg Diaczyk wrote:Mediapig71 wrote

Can you give us any hints of what the book will contain?

At the moment it is still in the very early stages of development, but what I pitched to Kevin was the following:

Hardware Unlimited™
A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™
The much anticipated accessories book for any crime fighter, vigilante and super hero. A comprehensive catalogue of the standard fair of super hero gear from grappling hooks, super sleuthing gear, to body armor, weapons and accessories only a super hero would need. Not to be outdone by the gear they produce the heroes behind their concepts rise to feature their talents to the super hero community, battling with their evil competitor Fabricator Inc. by outfitting heroes with the latest gear, accessories, costumes and hero paraphernalia.

• New Hardware Power Categories: Hacker, Driver, Mad Scientist, Chemical Genius, Robotics Genius and Robotic Swarm Master.
• An as un yet named Hardware Organization that builds custom costumes, gear, technologically gear that upgrades super powers, vehicles and Hero Headquarters (a good guy version of Fabricator Inc.)
• A huge catalogue of useful low tech and high tech gear for every type of super hero, from the normal human vigilante to the power packed mutant. All accessories to be “timeline appropriate” and easily adjusted whether you want to run a game in 1980 or 2080.
• New Bionics and Robotic Systems
• Custom Vehicle Creation Rules for Land, Sea and Air Vehicles.
• Advice on how to run equipment based games and hero dependency on gadgets (instead of powers)
• Expanded Mega-Heroes (An updated version of my Rifter # 37 article)
• Secret Base Creation Rules (An updated version of my Rifter #37 article)
• New Skill programs to reflect "non-Hardware" characters trying to be Hardware Characters such as a Mutant with Telemechanics or Mechano-Link.

89er wrote:Water, Water everywhere and none to drink due to the Lord of the Deep buying all of our bottled water.

BuzzardB wrote:So its New Navy a book that will exist? I see this thread is actually pretty old, did New Navy become Lemuria or something?

kaid wrote:

BuzzardB wrote:So its New Navy a book that will exist? I see this thread is actually pretty old, did New Navy become Lemuria or something?

No its more of a matter of the log jam of NG1/NG2/robotech tactics threw all their production schedule for a loop. Hopefully now that NG2 is out and robotech seems moving well we can get the megaverse in flames out the door and get the production line moving a bit more freely.

We shall see but it sounds like some of the other lines may get a bit of love in the way of some smaller source books this year.

taalismn wrote:Even a Rifter teaser with material cut from the New Navy project would be GLORIOUS.
Darn it, why do you dangle such prospective books in front of me?! It's torture, I tell you, torture in the waiting!!!

Zer0 Kay wrote:

taalismn wrote:Even a Rifter teaser with material cut from the New Navy project would be GLORIOUS.
Darn it, why do you dangle such prospective books in front of me?! It's torture, I tell you, torture in the waiting!!!

Yes torture indeed I'm going to go to my congressman and demand that book-boarding be banned from the PBI's retinue of information gathering techniques. How dare you use this dastardly technique on your fans.

Greg Diaczyk wrote:Let me preface this with any or all of this could change at the whim of the Editor… but assuming nothing changes…

glitterboy2098 wrote

what kinds of new ships and gear?

A whole bunch of New Navy ships, a bunch of independents from the Pacific Rim and custom ship creation rules.

Sonic weapons and a few other undersea weapons
New Power Armor (New Navy and AquaTech)
New Cyborg Chassis (undersea mining)
New Bio-System/Cybernetics
New and stated out old D-Bees (Kizh and Octurill where mention in Splynn Dimensional Market and they are stated out)
Millennium Coral and Clams

are the locations of the new Navy's secret cities detailed?

Yes, with a map of the surrounding locations, Kodiak Island (Alaska), Hawaii and a small island halfway between South American and Antarctica.

does it explain how the New Navy's society/government works?

Sort of, but not really, they run military style. Even their cities are essentially just places for their civilian population to live, but controlled by the Navy.

...and a few other tidbits to tease you further
New O.C.C.s
Game Master’s section on how to bring “Land Lubber” characters into an undersea campaign.
Plot ideas on how to run an epic campaign to battle the Lord of the Deep
A bunch of hook, line and sinkers,
Undersea Colony Creation Rules
Random Tropic Island Encounter Tables