The long-awaited Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski review. Sovietski comes to Rifts fans 20 years after Rifts Russia was first described to us. Better late than never I say! It brings a lot of really cool art and information about the 3rd major faction we’ve all heard and read about but didn’t know the details on, now we do.
World Book 36 includes information about the inner workings of the Sovietski including their OCCs(occupational character classes), skills, special forces, unique cyborgs, bionics, machinery, and more.
The Sovietski faces danger from the high-tech but savage and ruthless Warlords of Russia, the expanding Brodkil invasion sponsored by Mindwerks and the Angel of Death, Werewolves in the north, Gargoyles spilling in from the west, and the coming of the Minion War.
Gm Material Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski
An uneasy state of affairs is where the Sovietski find themselves which makes a GM’s life easy. At least when it comes to creating adventures in the area based on combat. If you want a place where combat is happening daily then this is the place to put your players. Not just the Brodkil are attacking but with other books, you’re aware of other fights going on with the NGR(New German Republic), the Gargoyle Empire, and more.
For setting purposes, this book is great at creating a hotbed of activity for players to get their feet wet. Rifts North America has more established factions that have mostly finished up their battles coming into 109 PA. So things there are still tense and lots of hate, especially towards the Coalition States, but daily war isn’t happening.
Now GMs can also get other stuff from this book like a Bunker Roll table. Old missile silos from pre-Rifts are still being found. Most of them are submerged but still intact, often without missles of course. They are great places to use as bases, research places, grow food, etc. There is another rolling table too.
The 2nd roll table is a “dead zone” table. Which simply means places aren’t usable for humans to live in. Many various reasons are given in the table and the effects occurring that make it uninhabitable.
A third table worth mentioning exists that’s “Chance Encounters”. This table is meant to show how interconnected the towns are and how small life really is in Russia. Even though things are spread out, people have a chance of knowing each other. Use this table to figure out those connections.
Player Material Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski
If you are a fan of Bursters or Zappers and always wanted a cold-based Psychic class then here you go. Players get access to the “Cold Born”, a cold-based psychic that has some fun abilities and fits right in. I personally think this character class should be allowed in any cold-related environment but that’s up to you.
The most exciting things for players, in my opinion, are the revisions (and additional) to some skills and the equipment section. Some of the stuff in Sovietski is really a no-brainer to me as being in other regions as well.
This book has one of the largest power armor, cyborg, tank, weapons, and other equipment lists for players to pursue. In our current day, Russia has long been known for its tank divisions, so it’s no surprise that that was kept within the Sovietski.
Story material Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski
The story material given regarding the Sovietski involves some Russian Warlords and the Brodkil. The Angles of Death and Vengeance from Mindwerks would like to take a city from the Sovietski and have sent some Brodkil in to do that.
In the Summer of 109 PA the Sovietski find themselves under siege by the Brodkil. Luckily the summer will bring thawing ocean waters allowing assistance to come to them, or at least the ability to gain resources from the oceans nearby.
In addition to this going on, there is some infighting that is occurring between the Warlords. I’m sure you aren’t surprised by this. This is kind of the norm with Warlords, however, some of them have a deal going on with the Sovietski which has increased tensions between them and the other Warlords.
This is the general setup of the Sovietski going into the end of 109 PA where things will start heating up due to the Minion War.
Check Megaverse In Flames to see how the Minion War starts on Rifts Earth.
The originality of Rifts World Book 36
Much like the Gargoyle empire, Brodkil is often not seen as an empire unto itself. Both of these races are sub-demons and are treated with disdain at best by other demons. So the ability for them to have their own kingdom here on Rifts Earth makes for a different setting.
The tensions that it brings to the humans living nearby aren’t really any different than other demons would though. Since they are being used essentially as a bad guy force or checks and balances to the humanoids in Russia, Germany, and other areas I kind of give this story a “Meh” rating. It’s neither good nor bad.
Is World Book 36 game breaking
No, i don’t really think this book is game-breaking at all. I think some of the stuff within it was long needed. Some things like the Cyborg Birds of Prey are things that I have thought would be elsewhere for years. If there are all these high-tech weapons and power armor why wouldn’t you make a small, fast-flying cyborg or at least an unmanned drone? From a military perspective, it would make a lot of sense to help reduce human casualties, especially given the deadly threat level that is Rifts Earth.
How good are the occs in Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski
To me, the OCCs in Sovietski is long overdue not in a bad way though. The Police Officer, Soldier, and some others are great revisions that I use in other areas as well. That said most of the region-specific OCCs are very well done from the point of view that they fit the culture described. Plus, they are rather beefy when you look at the Cyborg options. All in All, I think this World Book was fantastically done.
How well does Rifts World Book 36 Sovietski mix with the core book
Eh, there’s no real connection between the Sovietski and Rifts North America. They do some talking with different factions or Regions but for the most part, the Sovietski have their hands totally full with the Warlords of Russia and Brodkil threats in their territory. They have some similar views on D-bees, magic and the supernatural as the Coalition does though not as extreme. Take a look yourself through to find out their relations with others.