If you ever wondered what happened to Manhattan wonder no more! Rifts world book 29 Madhavan describes the city in detail and it’s the book for review next.
Few places on Rifts Earth cause as much dread in people as the mention of Madhaven does. The book fully explains the city and its curse. There are a lot of people that live around it though they are a bit twisted all being some kind of mutant. Other things we get from the book are more techno-wizard equipment, bone weapons, a magical rose, and white knights.
The ruins of Manhattan – better known as Madhaven – are a place of madness, ghosts and monsters. For some the ruins offer the promise of ancient secrets, power or treasure. For the mutants who inhabit the shattered landscape, it is truly a haven. For the Knights of the White Rose it is a hiding place. For many others, however, Madhaven is their doom.
Gm Material from Rifts World Book 29
The GM(game master) gets to look forward to a new set of dread and terror for those that enter. Well, really it’s a city that had millions die and is now covered in an oppressive aura. Specifically, this book will describe to you the ruins of Manhattan with background info as well. New villains, mutant humans able to tolerate the effects of Madhaven or optional player characters.
This setting has thousands upon thousands of ghosts, and entities to deal with. This is a setting that is very different and few players I know of truly know how to deal with it. In addition, some good guy outposts are described so you can set up adventures throughout it.
Rifts World Book 29 Madhaven player material
Players may go to Madhaven specifically in search of the White Rose, the most powerful healing plant on Rifts Earth. It’s mostly a myth, with few believing it actually exists, and fewer know where. Besides that you can look into some new variations on the Mystic Knight which is usually evil. Techno-wizard gear, bone weapons, and more.
If you want a good book about techno-wizard gear check out World Book 28 Arzno Vampire Incursion
Story material from World Book 29 Madhaven
Madhaven is one of those books that you read through and go “There are some great options for adventure here, but the very environment is so tragic and horrible I’m not sure how”. New York is a highly populated city even now, yet in the time just before the Rifts, it would have had millions more people. At the time of the rifts, millions of people died quickly and horribly.
These deaths left an imprint on the very land itself that affects almost everyone that visits the area. It is so bad that it affects people within days and eventually drives them mad if you stay long enough.
However, a group has moved into an area to use the place as cover. The Order of The White Rose. It is a group of Mystic Knights that were tired of the killing they did purely for money. After a chance encounter with a rare flower (white rose), they found a cause to break away.
World Book 29 originality
Alright, I have to say that this book is very original. When I first started playing Rifts and began reading more and more of the books, I was totally unprepared for this kind of setting. It will cause you to have to come up with entirely new approaches for dealing with problems within it. How can you go into Madhaven for extended periods of time and get things done without being there yourself? How can you have others go in for you? What can you create to deal with the effects of Madhaven?
How game-breaking is Rifts World Book 29 Madhaven
I don’t find anything to be outright game-breaking from Madhaven. More than anything I find the setting itself to be a super foreboding environment that would be difficult to get anyone of sane mind to venture into. Something like “Why go there when we can pursue power, loot, and adventure in these other places with far less risk”.
That said I’m not saying you shouldn’t create a series of adventures or campaign for it. In fact, I heartily say “Go for it”. I’d love to hear about how you put together a series of games with the book.
In terms of the value of the White Rose, it could be game-breaking to your economy, depending on how you distribute credits. Also, its powers are awesome, but none of the really good ones are guaranteed. There is always room for the resurrection of the dead not to work, or for the removal of phobias not to help.
That being said if you don’t want them to be an issue to the balance of your game, don’t introduce them. This statement goes for everything about roleplaying. There’s no reason you need to allow players to have access to equipment, gear, spells, items, races, classes, etc that are outside the scope of the game you are trying to create.
How good are Rifts World Book 29s OCCs
There are some really interesting changes with the Mystic Knight OCC(occupational character class) within this book. The original knight is basically a gun for hire, part mage part psychic that doesn’t question and will kill just about anyone or anything. Within a certain part of Madhaven, a new order of knights has risen that protect some secrets and have made changes to their knight’s training.
These new variations of the class are neat but not super to me. The gateway knight gets the ability to teleport but is still a mystic. This means he can’t learn spells or make spells of his own. You can get this power with minimal work within a game, even start with it if picking certain other classes. They are essential to the setting information and invaluable tools for a GM to use. To be direct about the OCCs I would say they are Ok.
How well does World Book 29 mix with the core book
Madhaven works very well with the main book, though its setting is not one many people choose to explore. It’s a foreboding place to visit with many threats and challenges that almost no one can withstand. The madness that occurs to nearly everyone that enters can be a threat many choose never to deal with.