The time has come to do a review of Rifts dimension book 1 wormwood. I really enjoy books with an Erin Tarn introduction, the story description for me is really fun. Wormwood on the whole is an intriguing book though its isolation keeps it from being used a whole lot. Most I talk to prefer to bring things from it to other settings.
Fight evil on a living planet. Commune with the planet to get what you need to survive.
GM material
Rifts dimension book 1 wormwood doesn’t have a ton added for a GM to work with. The book offers a new planet, NPCs, and a demon conflict between humans. That isn’t really anything new, especially if you take into account that things from Wormwood cant leave the planet.
The most notable options to use in the book are NPCs. The Unholy is a really epic level demon fight due to his massive MDC value. The guy has a rather gimmicky get-out jail-free card in the form of imprisoning people in a dimensional pocket.
Player material
I think there is more for players from this book than GMs. Players have access to quite a few classes, armor, gear, and new gem options. The magic gems and stones are a really fun way to boost a character’s resources and options. In addition, the parasite options add depth to the setting also.
For players that really like an MDC setting then this is great as all native races are MDC here. It’s not a super high-tech area so there won’t be long combats unless you really work at it.
Rifts dimension book 1 Wormwood story material
Rifts Wormwood is a very unique location. The planet itself is living and seems to have been designed specifically for human habitation. No insects or animal life exist on the planet but the “vegetation” can be molded into buildings for shelter.
The conflict on the planet is straightforward in that evil supernatural forces invaded the planet centuries ago. They are at war with the human inhabitants and taking over city after city.
The planet’s inhabitants are familiar with Rifts Earth, though it’s been over 3k years since some from Earth visited. Psionics is not prominent in human inhabitants which is a notable difference from the standard human born elsewhere.
Food, water, air, and other needs to sustain life are provided by the planet at locations built to house people. Ruins exist that are empty after the Forces of Darkness came through and slaughtered or enslaved the people. The planet then healed the buildings leaving no trace of war ever occurring save for the lack of people.
What’s the tech level?
No high-tech manufacturing is done on Wormwood. The only kind of manufacturing is 15th century Earth stuff like tools, pots, basic weapons, artists, etc, at about the.
Magic is the main type of technology on Wormwood. Magic produces many items of similar power to high technology like flaming swords, robot-like zombies, energy weapons, body armor, and even giant robots. Techno-wizardry is one of the most popular magic O.C.C.s on wormwood. No ley line walkers exist since there are no ley lines. Random walkers may find themselves planted in Wormwood from a freak Rift accident, such as what happened to Erin Tarn.
Story options are quite plentiful with the setting itself and all the locations listed. In addition, there is a location of permanent and temporary rifts a GM could use to incorporate things from outside Wormwood. 4 permanent Rifts connect directly to Rifts Earth.
Originality
Wormwoods living planet idea is quite originally done I think. The classes, gear, and such are also a different approach. If it weren’t for how little there is to do other than combat I’d give this category a 5 gazer rating. Fighting demons may be heroic, but it’s a very common theme throughout many genres, particularly with Palladium.
The trouble with this theme is that it doesn’t lend to a lot of intrigues, character depth, clever plots, or any other human-like activity. You fight and kill demons, fight and kill… that’s it. No cool loot to be had from demons. This means many players will prioritize other activities since demons have nothing of interest.
All those native to Wormwood are MDC so it’s a bit tougher an environment than other games which is a neat twist.
Game breaking?
Given that nothing can leave Wormwood I have to say it’s not game-breaking at all. The tech level of the place is so low that the skyscraper-sized robots won’t pose much of a difficulty to the GM. Even if each player has one, they won’t impact the forces of darkness that much.
The gem powers for psionics and magic would be a great idea to incorporate into the rest of Rifts. Not precisely the same mind you but something similar. The option for mages or psychics to imbue a gem and add it to armor and equipment would be awesome. The diversity and distinction it would allow players would add a lot.
How good are the OCCs(classes)?
Rifts dimension book 1 wormwood introduces some really fun classes. Wanna be super tough, play a Holy Terror, and shoot lightning bolts, laser beams, and other stuff. Are you the type that likes a bunch of odd powers, then play a Symbiotic Warrior. Or commune with the planet by playing a Wormspeaker, and then build cool little towns or cities.
The Apok has a mask that increases his strength while it’s worn. Something that we’ve done in our games is making our own versions of masks with magic powers. You can do this with any items, rings, belts, gloves, etc. Essentially they are a means we use to give players extra options, durability, etc. We find it really helpful especially when you only have 1 or 2 players.
How well does Rifts dimension book 1 Wormwood mix with the core Rifts game?
While one can rift to and from Wormwood that’s about where it ends. Trading has been done by the inhabitants of Wormwood with those of Rifts, but it’s been a long time. The OCCs and unique objects native to Wormwood do not maintain powers for long after leaving the living planet.
Something I think could be fun to do with the book is to build a dimensional traveling campaign. The end goal of going to Wormwood and defeating the Unholy. Spice it up more if each player character is an Atlantean, making them able to activate giant robots of Wormwood. Characters that create things could build an arsenal of gear for an army of mercs, allies, or summons.
Check out this review of Rifts Dimension Book Manhunter