In April 2019 Pinnacle Entertainment Group, creators of Savage Worlds, launched Rifts® for Savage Worlds: American Armageddon an ambitious Kickstarter with the goal of simultaneously releasing three new world books. This is the first of three reviews of Arcana & Mysticism, Blood & Banes, and Empires of Humanity each of which savagely expand the available lore of Rifts® for Savage Worlds.

You can get Savage Rifts® Arcana and Mysticism (SWADE Edition) on DrivethruRpg.com

Phenomenal Cosmic Powers, Itty Bitty Living Space

I’m a long time Rifts® fan, unlike most people who started out with fantasy I cut my teeth on T.M.N.T., which lead to Robotech, which ended with Rifts®. I haven’t looked back since. I won’t put dates cause that would be admitting how old I am but I think I recently told a kid to get off my lawn…I can’t remember. I think it’s fair to say that I love this setting. I love it even more playing with the elegant Savage Worlds system. However, as soon as the first books hit I had a problem: a vast Megaverse™ of lore that didn’t fit into the new system! We constantly had players on our site asking, “Can I play a…” We hacked our way through it but it was some tough going. The arrival of Arcana & Mysticism really helps solve this problem! 

What’s in This Book?

This is going to sound weird but just read pages 7-8 of Arcana & Mysticism. This introductory section gives a chapter-by-chapter overview of what’s in the book. It also includes a list of source material from Palladium Rifts® used in writing the text. It’s a perfect overview! Honestly, I wish I could get permission to reprint it for you here. As a narrative table of contents, I am not sure how much added value it provides to the overall work but it sure would make a nice handout or review blog.

The first quarter of the book is similar to the Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide focusing on Iconic Frameworks, Races, Edges, Arcane Backgrounds, and Gear. The rest is taken up with an amazing amount of world information and a detailed Plot Point Campaign. 

Characters

Arcana and Mysticism adds a lot of new character options to the Savage Rifts® Megaverse™. There are four new Iconic Frameworks, nine new MARS Packages, and sixteen new Edges all primarily dedicated to magic users and psychics.

Iconic Frameworks

• Dragon Juicer: These mystic warriors are pumped up with a concoction of dragon’s blood and alchemical elements instead of hormones and steroids. When I saw the early preview of the Dragon Juicer I was aghast. It simply piled more stuff on top of the existing Juicer framework. I was very concerned that these new books would be power creep on a scale as to make the Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide obsolete. Fortunately, a lengthy and professional feedback process helped this framework land well.
• Elemental Fusionist: It was fun to see this in here. The Elemental Fusionist made its appearance on the Rifts Promise of Power video game on the Nokia nGage (ever heard of it?) and found its way onto the table top when RIfts Ultimate Edition was published. These heroes draw their power from primordial elements like earth, air, fire and water. Usually fusing two of them together in a dualistic fashion. There Fusion trapping is a great ability but seems to be missing some descriptive detail
• Nega-Psychic: These psychics specialize in using dispel to shut down arcane powers. I liked how this was done. It’s a really fun and challenging framework. Be a great nemesis to an arcane based group too.
• Zapper: Essentially electrical versions of the Burster. A fan favourite given at long last.

MARS Packages

So many packages! Rather than detail them all I will say some popular favourites from original Rifts® made the grade including: psi-slinger, battle magus, and totem warrior. I really love that the authors were able to use MARS to capture a wide variety of occupations from Palladium without creating multiple frameworks. However, we see something here that carries into the other new books: adding Hindrances as part of the package to help offset the benefits creating a sort of a mini-Iconic Framework. I do think it helps capture flavour but it is a departure from the Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide. Related to this departure is that, to me, the new MARS packages are a little too locked in with the Edges. Leaving a couple of the edge and/or skill slots open to choice would improve the customization of the packages.

Overall, super happy with the various Iconic Frameworks and MARS Packages. Brings a lot of classic Rifts® lore to the Savage Worlds version.

Races

We get six new races/mutants to build from: Cactus People, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Psi-Ghost, and the Vronwor. Cactus People are very weird and can only communicate telepathically. An interesting challenge for an experienced player. Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs aren’t your garden variety from Savage Worlds core, they are built with the racial traits and flavour from the Rifts/Palladium mythos. These races are common in the original setting and have a slightly different take than other products. The Psi-Ghost is the real gem here, it is well done and playable. If you’re a Rifts® fan but have never heard of the Vronwor they are a race of four-armed giant humanoids from another dimension (cough Rahu-Men) who are apparently the victims of licensing vagaries.

Edges

Again, a lot of new material here. Most of these Edges augment magic and psionic users. We see new background edges, perhaps what the TLPG calls “faction edges” , related to being from Psyscape or Dwemor. Like the MARS packages above they add abilities and hindrances, almost like selecting a quasi-race. I like the flavour they add but after race, framework, normal selections, and background edges a player is going to have a lot of additional Hindrances.

Two Edges on Item Creation scratch the itch for magic magic items that are not Techno-Wizardy. They’re a little clunky but get the job done and have some nice differentiation from TW.

Adept makes a comeback here, which is great news for martial magic types. It allows one power per rank to be designated as innate but limited to self-only. There is also a great Weird Edge called One with Magic that offers unique possibilities as a character advances.

Gear

The gear section greatly expands the inventory of magical equipment including more Techno-Wizardry weapons and armor (even TW power armor!) from Arzno (a magic kingdom in Arizona), giant Automatons, along with some excellent magical weapons like the Spirit Bow and Deathbringer Blade. The section also contains a great sidebar talking about introducing magic versions of various items that really opens up possibilities for basic magic gear without a lot of cumbersome rules.

World Information

If you haven’t read the world information in Arcana & Mysticism it is highly recommended. One great thing about all three new books is how well they summarize and cover the highlights from original lore.  They do a fantastic job of covering a lot of lore territory in a fairly small number of pages. Honestly, the summary of so many older books into one text is extremely handy and almost worth the price alone. If someone is new to the Rifts® world this section opens up many of the major hot spots and story lines with in-character vignettes and organized text. This half of the book also contains a short section for the Game Master including updated encounter tables for the new areas and mission types. 

Souls of Darkness Plot Point Campaign

No spoilers here. The main plot line centers arend the city of Psyscape and its eternal battle with the evil Soul Harvester. This is a great series of adventures and, if you’re familiar with the original material, deals with a very significant cosmic level threat – a regular Tuesday morning for the heroes of the Tomorrow Legion. On a more general note, I love how all three new books contain a large interconnected adventure like this because it brings all the new material immediately to the table, great for GMs and players alike.

Conclusion

I like this book a lot. The condensed world information, artwork, and new mechanics add a lot of flavour. The structure of new crunch, new info, and new adventures scratches the main itches for different types of gamers. A great addition to the Megaverse™!