Rifts Dimension Book 8: Naruni Wave 2

From: Palladium Books
Reviewed by: Ron McClung & Tracie Ellis

Rifts Dimension Book 8: Naruni Wave 2 is a new sourcebook from Palladium Books.

Disclaimer:  I am not a Rifts player.  I am not a Rifts GM.  I am not a Rifts fan.  I would not say that I am the best judge of what a good Rifts product would be.  However, I’ve recruited help with this Rifts review – a  long time Rifts GM and player, Tracie Ellis.  Hopefully, between my overview of the products and her comments of the good and the bad, you will get a worthwhile review out of this.

From the back cover: “ Naruni Enterprises … have returned to Rifts Earth.”

Naruni Wave 2 is a weapons and equipment supplement for Rifts and Phase World role playing games.  It is inspired by other work done by Patrick Nowak in Rifts Merctown soucrcebook.  Naruni Enterprises, one of the largest arms dealers “in the Three Galaxies” has returned to Rift’s Earth to make us a deal.

Tracie says: This is #2, which indicates the Naruni have been to Rifts Earth before. If you bother with the back story in the opening pages, they have been here before and got kicked off the planet at one point by Coalition States forces. They appear to be back, smarter in their dealings with humans and have plenty of pretty toys for your armament needs.

The book opens with a long 12+ page background to the Naruni with sections on ways they do business, who they do business with, who their suppliers are, who their enemies are, and their ethics, society and factions.  It references two particularly loyal races – the Uteni Shifters (where they direct you to Dimensions Book 5 for their stats) and the Molock Enforcers. The latter is described with game stats and background. The opening section ends with an NPC, Shulkh – the Manager for Special Operations on Rifts Earth.

Tracie says: This book is presented catalog style, which is a unique approach for a sourcebook and one I’ve seen only once before, by the writers who brought us Shadowrun’s Street Samurai.  There’s plenty of detailed information on arms, armor, robots and transports. However, a drawback is the ‘favorite back stock’ – a listing of weaponry and vehicles that only lists the name, ‘market value,’ and where to find the rest of the pertinent information (damage codes, ROF, etc) in other Rifts books. Useful marketing tool, Palladium.

From the back cover: “ A sourcebook filled with high-tech weapons, body armor, power armor, robots, vehicles and background on the Naruni.”

As  Tracie says, the book is presented in Catalog format, starting with the Favorite Back Stock and continuing on with six pages of weapons of all kinds, five pages of armor and armor related equipment,  twelve pages of powered armor and robots, ten pages of vehicles, and four pages of mines and explosives.

There is one melee weapon listed, followed by a new line of weapons called Slim-Line, which are smaller, more concealable plasma weapons.  This is followed by a series of different weapons including several assault rifles like the Triple Threat Laser Rifle and the Spitfire Mercenary Multi-Rifle. 

Tracie says: Classic Earth series handguns are covered nicely I think – but I’m not a gun buff, so I will be the first to admit I could be wrong here.  It includes some old west models, the Beretta, Police Special, Colt .45 and others, but something nags at me as being missing.  What about the models from the gangster era? 1950s Chicago?

The stats are there to convert lead throwers to MDC plasma weapons, along with corollary information on what happens to such weakly built pieces when they heat up.  As with the favorite stock, though, there was not much information on the Naruni themselves. Guess we have to go searching for them, too. However, it does include the Manager of Special Operations NPC, so there’s something at least. Who are the Uteni, though? My only suggestion, if you are interested in this book, you should buy Rifts Mercenaries as well. 

Following the weapons, there is armor, starting with a new line of armor called the Thermo-Kinetic armor line.  This line of armor converts part of thermal and kinetic energy attacks into harmless energy.  There are four different suits of armor in this line, from a basic Stalker Partial Body Armor to the Super-Solder Heavy Battle Armor.  Armor equipment includes a Backpack and Servo-Arm (A la Aliens Smart Gun) as well as a Grav Pack and Jet Pack.

Power armor includes things line the Earth Angel Military Assault Suit and the Space Angel Power Armor/Multi-Flight system.  Robots include the Hammer Super Combat Robot (that reminds me of a larger version of an Ed-209 from the Robocop  movies) to a particularly nasty looking Reaper Assault Robot (a robot for anyone looking to “strike fear of god into their enemies”). The vehicles section has a wide variety including hover and ground cycles, SUVs, all-terrain RVs, and hover tanks. There are also several aircraft including transport and fighter aircraft.

In conclusion, although there are quite a few interesting items in the book, there is a sense that this is meant to be more a marketing tool for Palladium.  But for the price, I can understand it.  For roleplaying games, Palladium is one of the few publishers that have reasonable prices for their books.  And so for the money, I’d say this book is worth it if you are looking for new weapons and armor to mix into your Rifts game. 

For more details on Palladium Books and their new sourcebook “Rifts Dimension Book 8: Naruni Wave 2” check them out at their website http://www.palladiumbooks.com and at all of your local game stores.

Rifts Dimension Book 8: Naruni Wave 2
From: Palladium Books
Type of Game: RPG Sourcebook
Written by: Carmen Bellaire, Julius Resenstein, & Kevin Siembieda
Contributing Authors: Patrick Nowak
Game Design by: Palladium Books
Cover Art by: Freddie Williams II
Additional Art by: Drunken Style Studios, Brandon C. Clark, Mark Dudley, Mike Majestic, Chuck Walton, Apollo Okamura, Michael Wilson
Number of Pages: 96
Game Components Included: One softcover book
Game Components Not Included: Rifts or Phase World core  rulebook
Retail Price: $ 13.95
Item Number: 860
ISBN: 157457-102-8
Email: go to web site
Website: www.palladiumbooks.com

Reviewed by: Ron McClung & Tracie Ellis