What is it about cowboys that excite us so? Today’s review of rifts world book 14 new west is all about the romanticized old west from myth and legend that some of Rifts Earth have taken to heart to create the New West.
The New West covers the western half of Rifts North America and includes over 20 OCCs and RCCs. Some of the OCCs include the Gunfighter, Saddle Tramp, Gambler, and many more. It also includes techno-wizard options and describes Bandito Arms, notable bandits, towns, and “lawmen” of the west.
At last, the Western Wilderness (a no man’s zone forbidden to citizens of the CS) is outlined and explored.
Gm Material from world book 14
So much from the setting information can be used to create adventures. When you go through the information you’ll find that about half of the old states in the west are basically uninhabited. That’s an interesting thing to note from a player’s perspective.
Where can you as players go to set up bases, and mining places, find old treasure, seek out old pre-rifts facilities, etc, and more?
Player Material in New West
Players get access to a lot of OCC options, gear from Bandito Arms, techno-wizard options, and other gear. As stated above there are rumors about these wilderness areas where treasures abound and could be sought out. What kind of wonders could you find? Also, you may get in over your head.. one such group hiding their treasure was killed by 200 Grigleapers (that’s a lot).
Our recommendations of the best Rifts books for a Minion War game.
Some of the cooler gear options I think are the wild west-styled body armors and the robot animals. You can get a robot horse or dog for example. Each has its own capabilities, storage compartments don’t tire like normal animals would, or eat. etc. Plus they can have a voice for multiple reasons. Wilks, and northern gun also have a short section of equipment to select from to round things out.
Story material from Rifts New West
There aren’t a lot of story elements mostly what’s given is a lot of cityscapes and area knowledge. Some cities have things going on in them, like Silvereno and the mayor with her arrangement with a master vampire. Most of what is going on is just a bunch of small cities, and towns that have people trying to survive day to day.
I say that the majority of the adventure ideas I’ve come up with regarding the New West involve the ruins of areas like Utah, the Grand Canyon, and other places with possible treasures. Outfitting a group to explore through some of these areas to discover the vast numbers of Grigleapers and Leatherwings could pose a significant deterrent. How can they deal with them to get to the goods? I think it would be fun to figure out a method through to clear out large areas and set up a new large settlement.
There are some crossover storylines like demons and vampires that you could include. The Coalition also could get involved depending on what you say they have learned about the areas. Overall though most of what’s going on in the New West is unknown, or vaguely known about, and just not cared for currently.
Originality of World Book 14
The new west is extremely expansive and covers a lot of states. It includes information on many old cities and their current condition on Rifts Earth. This is a very well done, descriptive, and highly original book in my opinion.
Is Rifts World Book 14 New West game breaking
Nothing particularly stands out as game-breaking at all. The closest to that Id get is the Sky Knights Cloud magic being harder to resist simply because it’s not well known. Remember, New West is essentially the Wild West only with the occasional MDC weapons and armor. So really it’s just like an old rancher, farmers-type lifestyle chilling at a saloon after long hours of work.
How good are New West occs
The OCCs are extremely good I think. Many are support classes like the Sheriff’s Deputy, Cowboy, and mining borg, but they fit in so well. Prior to this book, we didn’t really have a defined description for many classes for citizens. We made due but having them clearly described is a really handy option to be able to turn to. Particularly when you want to fully detail a handful of NPCs.
How well does it mix with the core book
This book is just great overall. It adds a lot of flavor to the lawless lands, especially near the Mexico border as well as other areas.