An extension of the previous book adding some extra info tying in Firetown from the burbs and Tolkeen survivors. This article reviews the Rifts Sourcebook Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis.
Rifts adventure sourcebook two: Firetown and the tolkeen crisis. Tolkeen has been destroyed which has sent a flood of refugees to its burbs. In addition, angry Tolkeen defenders have come to continue the fight right on the Coalition’s doorstep. A further description of Firetown and additional adventure hooks, people, and more.
Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis Gm Material
Starting on page 7 there is a section that describes how survivors of Tolkeen are taking revenge on the Coalition. This could be a great way for the GM to generate small skirmishes the players can join in on. Alternatively, the players could be using this information to do the striking.
You could also create adventures around scavenging within the ruins of Tolkeen. This is a bit dangerous so kind of a perfect situation for GMs in that the danger is built into the activity with the Coalition patrolling the ruins after its fall.
Another threat introduced near the end of Tolkeens fall is raiding by the Splugorth. As Tolkeen was starting to fall the Splugorth came in to loot and pillage as well as take survivors as slaves. Primarily they are looking for men and beasts to sell at their trans-dimensional slave market.
Many survivors are going to Chi-Town Burbs to get away from the war at Tolkeen. Consequently, it turned into a great place to hide. There is a group of adventurers who are partly survivors and have taken the fight to the Coalition within the burbs. So this gives the players a group they could join, fight against, or alongside. Either way, the GM has many ways to use them as NPCs as adventure hooks, etc. There are some included adventure ideas listed with Hook, Line, and Sinkers.
Getting to the meat of the book is the Firetown Part Two section. This is a continuation of the adventure started in the prior Adventure Sourcebook Forbidden Knowledge.
Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis Player Material
Most of the player information was partially discussed in the GM section above. As a recap, they can get some benefit from working with or against the Revenge Squad in the Chi-Town Burbs.
Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis Story material
For the most part, you can look at Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis as an extension of the Tolkeen war. Much of this book and the prior book take place in Chi-Town Burbs, specifically in the city of Firetown. Using the map given you can use the buildings as places of conflict and adventure. People fleeing the war have come here to continue the battle with the Coalition and just about any type of survivor could be found within. Some of the survivors are also adventurers that got caught in the Tolkeen war or purposely helped defend Tolkeen. Depending on your game the players either helped or didn’t as well. So they could have a personal stake in the matter or not.
Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis originality
This is a good book, though I’m on the fence as to whether I’d say it’s a great or must-have the book. If you wanted to make a campaign-style game that spanned the Burbs and didn’t leave the area then it would be a fantastic book. If I were to give it a star rating it would be a 2.5 or so. Sure there is a great map, many NPCs, and options for adventure. However, for me, there is just something missing from the book. It doesn’t exactly have anything thing I see as a must-have. More so it’s an optional expansion to Chi-Town itself and that’s about all. There isn’t anything that’s going to majorly change the direction of Rifts North America because of what happens in this book.
Is Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis game breaking
Mmmm.. no. Firetown and the Tolkeen Crisis doesn’t have anything that breaks the game. If you want game-breaking examples then Phase World Sourcebook is a great example, especially Inglix the Mad.
How good are the occs
There are no new OCCs, RCCs or psychic classes or races added. Some of the NPCs are from other books so you may need to reference those books in order to fully understand the races and classes they are.
How well does it mix with the core book
It works just fine with the Rifts Ultimate edition and many other Rifts North America books. If you wanted to create a sort of hideout right under the noses of the Coalition then this book would actually be quite helpful using the Firetown map. Find yourself a couple of houses in the city and have basements that lead down into a cave network with an underground base for your goodies and such.
Take a look at this book to better understand how to create characters