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It's a collector's item, you should keep it & read all of it. Great stuff in there.

I used some stuff out of it back in college, but I would always throw something from whatever new book I'd gotten at my group before they could read it, just to throw them a curve or two. I never got around to throwing the Mulka at them, though.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I love it, which is pretty obvious from my website I think...

I just now checked out your website...

update your blog man!

BookWyrm wrote:It's a collector's item, you should keep it & read all of it. Great stuff in there.

Great stuff, but many flaws...Use carefully...

scotthutcheon wrote:Hey, would anyone know of anyone who would know if this RPG was based on/inspired by a Dragon Magazine article I wrote when I was 15 years old called "Cold Steel"? It was written for the Gamma World setting (James Ward vetted it); the article introduced the Manhunter, Robohunter, and Cyberhunter to the game.

It was published some 25 years ago, and I just became aware of this RPG today by chance while surfing (I haven't been pnp gaming for over two decades).

Just curious is all. You can email me at scotthutcheon@gmail.com if you have any info...

I've no idea, but probably not, since it sounds like your Manhunters were part of a matched set of stuff-Hunters

The Manthunter RPG by Myrmidon Press was basically an RPG about outlaws and bounty hunters in a fairly lawless, dystopian sci-fi setting where known space is divided up between a pragmatic and bureaucratic federation of intelligent spacefaring races, a militant empire headed by a fairly typical example of th "honorable warrior race" sci-fi cliche, and a loose confederacy of corrupt and machiavellian human colonies that refused to join up with the main federation when it formed a few centuries back. The Manhunters themselves are a robot army that went rogue and refused to stand down after the end of a war they were created for, and have since fled into unexplored space to build up their numbers so the can continue their mission to contain the human race, and generally served as a sort of wild card lurking on the fringes and an eventual Big Bad rather than as day-to-day villains in the setting.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

scotthutcheon wrote:Hey, would anyone know of anyone who would know if this RPG was based on/inspired by a Dragon Magazine article I wrote when I was 15 years old called "Cold Steel"? It was written for the Gamma World setting (James Ward vetted it); the article introduced the Manhunter, Robohunter, and Cyberhunter to the game.

It was published some 25 years ago, and I just became aware of this RPG today by chance while surfing (I haven't been pnp gaming for over two decades).

Just curious is all. You can email me at scotthutcheon@gmail.com if you have any info...

It's more a blend of star trek and battlestar galactica. What if the vulcans built a robot species to destroy the federation...then later felt bad about it.

You missed the generous serve of Bladerunner on the side

Always makes a good addition to any collection! Go ahead and add it too yours. You can always add it in to other campaigns. I still make use of it!

So in your hands you have a rareity! And if it's in that good of shape, you are lucky. Mine has a used look. But use as much of it as you like. It is worth the effort. A lot of good source material.

Aramanthus wrote:So in your hands you have a rareity! And if it's in that good of shape, you are lucky. Mine has a used look. But use as much of it as you like. It is worth the effort. A lot of good source material.

Rarity my ass. It had a larger print run than a lot of entire RPGs by indy companies, and a pretty sweet distribution deal thanks to the fact that it had a fairly big name like Palladium attached to it. It's probably easier to find than the vast bulk of RPG products published in the 90s (apart from White Wolf and WotC products of course).

I don't know about that Rallan. Looking around used book stores I may have seen a copy or two since it was released. But I think that most people hold onto their copy. I know I am. It may not be as rare as what I posted previously posted would suggest, but I personally haven't seen it out there that often.

I don't think I've seen a copy in a store since I bought mine, which was back when it was first released.

It's a good book. I've got two copies of it plus I've found the original Myrmidon Press book with it's own rules. I'm planning to use it in a Robotech game that takes place in 2085.

I've got a copy of that one too Admiral Toval! It has some interesting ideas in it.

just got one from Amazon.com fer 7 bucks + shipping.

Enjoy it. 7 bucks shipping! WOW typical with the price of gas nowadays.

taalismn wrote:

BookWyrm wrote:It's a collector's item, you should keep it & read all of it. Great stuff in there.

Great stuff, but many flaws...Use carefully...

Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to use the info there. It's still a good read.

Manhunter = great concept + great art - editor & game mechanics testing.
Wonderful if you have no problems 'kit-bashing' the stuff in there into workable material for a game. But as a "leave as-is" book? Nope... doesn't work. Not on a bet.

Still with a little manipulation you can add it to whatever campaign you want to run.

Necronomicus wrote:I've always thought Manhunter was based off of Fred Saberhagen's Berserker stories.

Never even heard of the Berserker stuff. I figured it was a mishmash from various sources, some of them rather spectacularly obvious (the bits that were "inspired" by Bladerunner aren't all that well disguised, for example).

You should check out those novels. (Beserker novels) I think the earlier ones are better than the later ones. But that is just my opinion.

There are a lot of books out there to draw upon as things to generate ideas. A lot of people around here are really awesomely well read. They can draw upon many sources to create some truly stunning creations!

Good book.
Had some flaws that would drive you crazy if ya thought about it too much, but overall-
pretty cool.

There is no perfect game system, they each have their little flaws. Flaws is what give it character. We like our flaws!

OK, OK

I'm all for Serum X, Subtonics, and Tachyon Accelerators just as much as the next guy--

I knew someone would kick out of that!

Why can the reprint Rifts: Manhunter? I would order 3 for my group.

runebeo wrote:Why can the reprint Rifts: Manhunter? I would order 3 for my group.

Legal stuff from what I've heard.
Last time I checked, Amazon.com had a couple for 10 bucks ea.

Chad wrote:

runebeo wrote:Why can the reprint Rifts: Manhunter? I would order 3 for my group.

Legal stuff from what I've heard.
Last time I checked, Amazon.com had a couple for 10 bucks ea.

Not to be picky I want mine to be revised and updated. I'm silly that way.

And you can always check the local used book store. Some of those have the ability to order things from other used book stores. I'd say check there too.

runebeo wrote:

Chad wrote:

runebeo wrote:Why can the reprint Rifts: Manhunter? I would order 3 for my group.

Legal stuff from what I've heard.
Last time I checked, Amazon.com had a couple for 10 bucks ea.

Not to be picky I want mine to be revised and updated. I'm silly that way.

I liked it better before you edited it.

It be nice if it was updated. People could always work on it themselves and then ask around and see if anyone was interested in a copy of their work.

Manhunter is a great book. I use most of the info in there in a Game I am currently running. I did however have to modify much of the space ships because all of their speeds for the FTL was measured in AU with no time reference as in AU/hr or whatnot.

Aramanthus wrote:You should check out those novels. (Beserker novels) I think the earlier ones are better than the later ones. But that is just my opinion.

Haven't read his Beserker stuff yet, but I loved the Sword series.

Now that is a series I need to read someday. (Sword Series.) One thing is to remember an AU is the measure of the distance from the earth to the sun. Which equals 93,000,000 miles.

Aramanthus wrote:Now that is a series I need to read someday. (Sword Series.) One thing is to remember an AU is the measure of the distance from the earth to the sun. Which equals 93,000,000 miles.

its a very good series. I have had a couple of ideas of doing a Palladium version of the Swords but usually hit a snag somewhere. but as to the AU thing: I am aware of the distance it is. but when they list a space ships speed as X AU with no time frame it kinda makes you go huh???.

That is the reason to ignore that part of the book and either use Rifts or Robotech or else use KItsune's adjusted rules. I use his rules, they correct the certain problems you have run into.

yeah I just modified the speeds to be more inline with the setting that I am using. (Modified Palladium Space setting including all of the Space set stuff they have put out that I currently own)

Check out these rules! http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Rifts/Rifts-Rules.htm You might lioke them.

runebeo wrote:Why can the reprint Rifts: Manhunter? I would order 3 for my group.

The book was a one-off collaboration between Palladium Books and Myrmidon Press, the folks who wrote the Manhunter RPG in the first place (and who'd later go on to publish C. J. Carella's "Witchcraft" RPG). For reasons that are totally lost in the mists of time, Palladium and Myrmidon didn't see eye to eye or something, and no reprints or other collaborations were ever done. And I'm not sure if Myrmidon Press exists any more, which makes a reprint even less likely.

It was a shame that the two of them had their falling out. There was a lot of potential in the coopewration of those two.

NineDragons wrote:This thread has multiple references to 'flaws' in this book, but the only one mentioned was related to space ship speed.
Are we talking a series of typos here or more meaningful issues; broken mechanics, contradictory fluff or tables?

Anyone have any examples?

The stats for pretty much everything is just... off. It's almost all underpowered compared to typical Rifts fare, and the only exceptions to the rule are so overpowered that they can easily dominate a campaign in the Rifts Manhunter setting. The unbalanced stats aren't quite as silly as Wormwood's "Everything is MDC" approach, but you can tell that nobody who was familiar with Palladium had a look at 'em before the book was printed.

I think that as time goes on and tech improves I think even those Typos will become a thing of the past.