Palladium Rifts is a huge system with lots of books many of which add more gear and equipment. I want to take some time to discuss the commonly used equipment based on the dozens of characters I’ve made and dozens more my party members have used. Let’s first talk about the most common books that gear comes from and then list some items with a use case idea.
Best books to equip your character with
Merc ops: This is my top-used book for equipment. It has almost every kind of equipment at very reasonable prices for low to mid leveled characters. Many books have weapons and armor, but this has less thought about stuff as well. Personal scanners, mining gear, communication options, old helicopters, aircraft, tanks, and the like were upgraded to the modern MDC variant. This is the one must-get book if you want more gear ideas.
Juicer Uprising
This book has some fantastic weapon ideas to look at for those that want a ranged and close-up option. Specifically the FIWS system. Of course, it is a must-have for Juicers that want specific gear for that class. The Icarus Flight System, as are the higher MDC armor options (which can be used on supernatural strength characters or tall races), are awesome.
Northern Gun 1
If you want to get Robots for the new era of 109PA and later, this is the go-to book. While there are other manufacturers as well NG has the widest selection of Robot and power armor types. Be it front-line assault, demon fighting, Xiticix assaults, exploration, arena combat, or other this book has so much.
Northern Gun 2
NG2 covers the power armor and grunt body armor options. In addition, it has a new clothing line that offers light MDC protection to those in cities. While MDC shirts and pants haven’t been mentioned previously this book could be used as a baseline for what could have been available to civilians years ago (using the Huntsman clothing line as a maximum MDC value).
Ruins are not as common as you would
think in Rifts. Though they could be fun
to have in most cities just because.
Arzno (techno wizard options)
This book has a lot of techno-wizard gear that is fantastic in its own right. In addition, it has some great ideas for what mage body armor can look like. While they are great options I highly suggest looking at these as ideas for making up other stuff yourself to provide to players, and for players to create their own property. My top picks from this book are discussed in my Shifter guide here.
Dimension book options: Phase World, Anvil Galaxy, Thundercloud Galaxy, 3 Galaxies, etc.
The technology from the Three Galaxies is vastly superior to that of Rifts Earth. Due to this, the arms manufacturers of Rifts Earth are of the same mind in that they are doing all they can to drive off arms dealers from other dimensions. That said, weapons and equipment from other dimensions are sometimes available though having them is a problem.
The Coalition, Northern Gun, and other manufacturers are quietly working together to rid the world of otherworldly weapons by either hunting down and confiscating if not outright attacking those with them. So if your players have equipment from Naruni Enterprises or other arms dealers, they run the risk of being run down. Some gear from off-world is more acceptable to use than others.
If you have a lower-powered game then it’s probably best to avoid the gear altogether. If it’s moderate, then perhaps an armor or weapon is fine. Most likely it’s best to stick to miscellaneous equipment like radios, clothes, etc. Things that are more easily concealed or passed off as a personal creation.
Vehicles
Improved Armored Personel Carrier-APC(Merc Ops): Fairly large transport of many people for a very reasonable cost.
Improved Hummer(Merc Ops): A bit smaller than the APC, this is better for in-town. In use, I think you’ll find the APC a better choice because it has more weapon mounts, carries more, and often you won’t be in it long.
Falcon, Apache, Black Hawk, and other aircraft(Merc Ops): It’s difficult in roleplaying games to really portray air battles accurately. The distances covered, and speeds flown all happen over vast areas (both horizontally and vertically). In addition, once you start incorporating air superiority in an RPG it changes the game dynamic a lot. This book has some really good options if you want to include them in a city’s defense or have a good idea for how to play them in a party.
Tanks, Howitzers, Artillery: “Roll initiative.” Says the game master. “What for?” the player says. “Oh too late” the GM decides. “The artillery strike took you out from 25 miles away without you seeing it. All you had time for was the 3 second whistling before it blew up.” This isn’t an exaggeration regarding long-range artillery, much less missiles or bombs. It’s not my cup of tea to include in games but if you want then this is great.
Jump Bike(Juicer Uprising): Want to feel like you’re in an anime? Play a juicer, get a laser pistol, and this bike. Ride up and down the streets shooting at the police. It’s fantastic looking and has some good capabilities.
Chopper bike(Juicer Uprising): The above bike is really fast, this bike just has the cool factor. Well, that and it has an assault cannon.
Rolling Thunder(Juicer Uprising): For cars, this one has a fun picture. The specs on it also make it fairly decent to use over many terrains as well.
Mammoth (Northern Gun 2): Both a cargo truck and armored personnel carrier. This vehicle is rather large though so it’s not a cheap purchase. It is a great choice for mid to large mercenary outfits though.
Echelon Hovertank (Northern Gun 2): This tank has some serious hitting power and the added benefit of being able to hover. It can be used to traverse nearly any terrain. Its hover system also makes it much faster than regular tanks with tracks. This is a quick response vehicle almost, even able to deal serious damage to Robots.
Armor
Peacekeeper(Merc Ops): built-in radio and other goodies. Light MDC with extra plates for higher values.
Stalker Suit(Merc Ops): Skin-tight clothing that gives the wearer a thermal reduction option. Fantastic option to use as a flight suit within a power armor, or regular body armor. Combine it with other sensor-reducing additions and you can become really difficult to spot.
Combat mage armor and wraith suit(Merc Ops): These 2 technowizard mage armors are great examples of what can be done. They work as they are, or as a template to base other magic armor on. In several places, it suggests only allowing 3 or 4 spells, and I tend to agree.
Titan Plate armor(Juicer Uprising): I love this armor, as it’s fantastic to use for characters 8-10 or so feet tall. It’s used primarily by the Titan Juicer but I like the idea of putting it on many other classes or races too.
Juicer Spiked Armor(Juicer Uprising): This armor looks awesome. Its primary use tends to be for juicer sports but whatever, take it for what it is.
Construction
Vibro cutters, Chainsaws, nail guns, Torch, etc (Merc Ops): Ever wondered how things get built in Rifts? Well no longer, now you have a list of items as a basis for what all cities use.
Explosives(Merc Ops): Many other books list missiles and grenades, but very few lists normal things like dynamite for stump removal. Much less those used in construction like blasting caps, cutting charges, and other things.
EOD removal(Merc Ops): Where there are explosives, it makes sense to have a list of ways for individuals to find and remove them. Well, here you go.
Ogre (Northern Gun 1): This robot’s primary purpose is of exploration and labor. It can lift and move extreme loads, plus it has weapons and defensive missile chaff making it a great option when setting up a defensive location while under fire.
Cargo Walker (Northern Gun 2): Its namesake says it all really. It picks up cargo and moves it around.
Ultra builder (Northern Gun 2): This robot is totally designed to build stuff. It has very few combat capabilities for good reason. This builder should really be well defended at the very least, if not in a nearly entirely safe location to perform at its best.
Fortification
Wires(Merc Ops): Ever wanted to make a fence around your base but not sure what barbed wire costs? Well, now you know. Ever wanted to know how much it costs to create an MDC building with concrete?
Megacrete(Merc Ops): This stuff will help you create powerful fortifications if you can afford the cost per bag. The Coalition is making a supercity with tons of this stuff. Try figuring out the cost.
Armor Plating(Merc Ops): Whether it’s for trenches or buildings this can be used to enhance the protection after the concrete is poured.
Robots
Bigfoot(Northern Gun1): Guns, guns, and more guns. This robot is a heavy hitter, though not in the most fantastic range. It has some missile options for longer-range strikes, but those are limited making them better used situationally for defense (in my view anyway).
Blocker, Bruiser, and Buffalo(Northern Gun 1): These are all really great frontline, rearguard, or defensive bots. You could easily combine them with the Bigfoot to create a devastating mobile wall of destruction while shrugging a lot of return fire off.
Gunbot(Northern Gun 1): Throw in a gunbot to the mix and you can start causing serious havoc to other robots. Its intended use is against monsters and robots making it a major threat when assaulting, especially if combined with the above.
Grizzly(Northern GUn 1): The Grizz is extremely tough with such a variety of weapon options its hard not to put it on this list. It can have rail guns, ion cannons, missiles, and many more.
Hunter Mobile Gun(Northern Gun 1): This is one of the iconic robots for Rifts. It’s been around for many years, and this book gives it an upgrade package. Even without it, the range on it is matched by very few other options. It’s artillery-style main gun can pound fortifications, monsters, and robots alike from a long way off. While I don’t much like the look of it, it’s hard to not have one in your robot squad.
Centipede (Northern Gun 2): Any serious outfit will require at least one of these. One of the only mobile transport and robot recovery vehicles I know of. They come equipped with full repair bays to fix up robots and put them back in action.
Power armor
Sky Power Armor(Merc Ops): As far as power armor goes, this is incredibly cheap. Some standard body armors are almost as much as this. Light power armor, but could be a great starting option to take a purely ground-based party to flight-capable for short periods.
Icarus Flight suit(Juicer Uprising): This could be put into a few categories. I like to think of it as a fancy jet pack. Missles, lasers, super fast, automated drone.. what else can you ask for.
Juicer Killer (Juicer Uprising): This armor has so many attacks available. Though one may wonder how it doesn’t topple over looking as if it’s really top heavy. That aside, it’s a very iconic power armor for being exceedingly capable of letting normal people stand close to toe to toe with a juicer.
In Rifts you can have any kind of adventure you can think of.
Medical
Robots (Northern Gun 1): Several robots have medical bays to treat the injured, or are fully designed as a med bot. My personal preference would be to have a super explorer that has a med bay within, rather than a robot designed solely for medical treatment. That said, they are more mobile and well-defended than the following.
“Coffin” Medical Automation Unit (Northern Gun 2): This power armor looks much like a coffin (hence its nickname) and is a doctor on wheels. It can function as a mobile surgery bay with a digital readout. The great thing about it is that’s about 6 feet long. Its size makes it ideal for the back of a truck, a spare room, etc. You can easily take it with you, unlike the robot options.
Weapons
JA-12 Laser Rifle(Juicer Uprising): This is the upgraded version of the JA-9 and 11. It has some slightly different capabilities but is really common among juicers (hence the book it’s in).
Forearm grenade launcher(Juicer Uprising): If you want to catch someone off guard with an explosive, why not this? Seriously though they can be really helpful in a pinch.
FIWS system(Juicer Uprising): Short-range high-powered lasers plus vibro claws, what else do you need? The answer is nothing really. These do a crazy amount of damage and can be duel-wielded making them even more deadly. The downside is they are 500-foot range or less, so anyone with even a standard laser rifle may be able to keep you at bay.
Ion Pulse Rifle(Juicer Uprising): This weapon is a great option if you want something that can do high damage, even if it does chew threw eclips. It’s also a good option when trying to have a backup that can be used against certain resistances.
Particle Beam Cannon (Northern Gun 1): Looks a bit like the Glitter Boy cannon but is designed for combat cyborgs or anyone with high strength. It makes you a bit less agile so shooting from cover is essential.
Phase Weapons (Phase World): If you get your hands on these weapons feel lucky. However, you will be limited on ammunition for them unless you can travel back and forth to Phase World. One thing to note is that these weapons bypass armor, so you will be able to defeat many foes quickly. Unfortunately, that will make you a target for any survivors, or others seeing you with these weapons.
The sun sets on us all…
Communication
Field radios(Merc Ops): Wilks has several types of field radios that are awesome to consider for a party. You could purchase the large truck-sized one and have it at a field base with hired mercenaries when you need backup. Then outfit platoons with smaller versions to talk with each other and one backpack version to connect with the field base.
Miscellaneous
Specialized clothing(Merc Ops): Guillie suits, camouflage jumpsuits, consumable armor vests(TakcVest), Flight suits, and other clothing options are incredibly helpful for standard equipment purchases.
Specialized weapons(Merc Ops): Neural dusters(good for nonlethal fights), Garrottes(assassin weapons for your bad guys), and others really help fill out the weapon options, especially for cities where MD weapons are illegal.
Field Rations(Merc Ops): from basic MREs to meal bars there is a list of many options for players and game masters to use.
Sensor Jammers(Juicer Uprising): Get yourself some light MDC armor, and a stalker suit and you become a near ghost to sensors. If you don’t allow them to combine in that manner then they are great on their own too.
Rocket Boots(Juicer Uprising): Get your kicks in after being all acrobatic and jumping 60 feet in the air. Even Air Jordan can’t do that.
Labor Drones (Northern Gun 2): I think that for the Rifts setting it makes sense that almost all resource gathering has at least a large portion of robots doing the work. A few people managing robots to gather stuff is much safer and more efficient. Plus, the population is so low as it is, how do all the required jobs get done that we are used to having?
Robosistant (Northern Gun 2): These robots make life so much easier for those that can afford them. With one or more of these guys and a dozen labor drones, you could automate just about any job. It makes sense to start with the more dangerous jobs like mining and lumber harvesting in dangerous areas. What else can you think of though?