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The Juicer character class for RIFTS, to put it mildly, is sick. Really. I mean, anyone who bothers choosing a character that is guaranteed to die within three to five years of its creation from constant drug and chemical implants is choosing to play something twisted. I also liked the concept of the character class, if not the mechanics, just because it seemed cool. Psychotic speed-freak/steroid user warrior? Yeah, it's a little one-dimensional. But it still seemed cool.

RIFTS World Book 10: The Juicer Uprising takes the one-dimensional cool character and fleshes it out. A lot. Suddenly, there's a dozen new varieties of juicer character classes, each one with a whole new slew of strengths and weaknesses. Some of these are fairly predictable -- the Titan Juicer, for example, specializes in chemical enhancements for physical strength, ignoring the speed and reflex bonuses that other juicers receive. There's also some fairly innoivate new juicers, though -- my favorite is the Dragon Juicer, a magical creation that feeds on enchanted dragon blood instead of drugs or chemicals. I'd love to be the GM setting up the adventure where the Dragon Juicer's fuel supply runs out, and the adventuring group has to go get new stuff straight from the source.

There's also a whole section on Juicer games and sports. Finally, a Palladium book that acknowledges cities and towns as having something else to offer besides bazaars and trading ports! The games themselves don't seem that practical -- a game of Juicer Football, for example, doesn't seem as though it would last much longer than thirty seconds before half the players were either killed or seriously maimed. There's such a wealth of information, though, that I could see using the information to flesh out a new character. Perhaps a new Juicer character is a former Murderball player, banned from the game for one reason or another. Perhaps players can get involved in betting or these sports, or collecting bets from local deadbeats. It also gives Juicer (and non-Juicer) characters a place to meet besides the trusty inn or tavern that seemes to have survived worldwide apocalypse.

Finally, a lot of attention is given to the "Juicer Uprising" itself -- a revolt of Juicers against the standard RIFTS bad guys in North America, the Coalition. One of my pet peeves with the RIFTS World Books is that there's never much attention paid to the campaign possibilities, besides a basic listing of who the local bad guys in each region are and what they want to take over. The Juicer Uprising is a timeline of a failed rebellion, and a GM can place the players into several sections of the storyline -- they can be part of the first uprisings, join the rebellion as it gathers strength, or try to escape as the Coalition retaliates in force. It's a well-crafted story that can be adapted to just about any RIFTS campaign, whether Juicer character classes are used or not.

Problems with the book? Okay, a lot of it reads like a bad post-apocalyptic Rutger Hauer movie ("The Blood of Heroes" and "The Road Warrior" readily spring to mind). A lot of material isn't terribly original. But it doesn't change the fact that the material is still pretty darn cool, and that this book can add a lot to an existing campaign. Great? No. But it's a lot of fun.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

RIFTS World Book 10: Juicer Uprising
Author: C.J. Carella Category: game Company/Publisher: Palladium Books Cost: $16.95 Page count: 160 ISBN: 0916211-92-4 Capsule Review by Mike Ferguson on 02/16/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Post-apocalypse	The Juicer character class for RIFTS, to put it mildly, is sick. Really. I mean, anyone who bothers choosing a character that is guaranteed to die within three to five years of its creation from constant drug and chemical implants is choosing to play something twisted. I also liked the concept of the character class, if not the mechanics, just because it seemed cool. Psychotic speed-freak/steroid user warrior? Yeah, it's a little one-dimensional. But it still seemed cool. RIFTS World Book 10: The Juicer Uprising takes the one-dimensional cool character and fleshes it out. A lot. Suddenly, there's a dozen new varieties of juicer character classes, each one with a whole new slew of strengths and weaknesses. Some of these are fairly predictable -- the Titan Juicer, for example, specializes in chemical enhancements for physical strength, ignoring the speed and reflex bonuses that other juicers receive. There's also some fairly innoivate new juicers, though -- my favorite is the Dragon Juicer, a magical creation that feeds on enchanted dragon blood instead of drugs or chemicals. I'd love to be the GM setting up the adventure where the Dragon Juicer's fuel supply runs out, and the adventuring group has to go get new stuff straight from the source. There's also a whole section on Juicer games and sports. Finally, a Palladium book that acknowledges cities and towns as having something else to offer besides bazaars and trading ports! The games themselves don't seem that practical -- a game of Juicer Football, for example, doesn't seem as though it would last much longer than thirty seconds before half the players were either killed or seriously maimed. There's such a wealth of information, though, that I could see using the information to flesh out a new character. Perhaps a new Juicer character is a former Murderball player, banned from the game for one reason or another. Perhaps players can get involved in betting or these sports, or collecting bets from local deadbeats. It also gives Juicer (and non-Juicer) characters a place to meet besides the trusty inn or tavern that seemes to have survived worldwide apocalypse. Finally, a lot of attention is given to the "Juicer Uprising" itself -- a revolt of Juicers against the standard RIFTS bad guys in North America, the Coalition. One of my pet peeves with the RIFTS World Books is that there's never much attention paid to the campaign possibilities, besides a basic listing of who the local bad guys in each region are and what they want to take over. The Juicer Uprising is a timeline of a failed rebellion, and a GM can place the players into several sections of the storyline -- they can be part of the first uprisings, join the rebellion as it gathers strength, or try to escape as the Coalition retaliates in force. It's a well-crafted story that can be adapted to just about any RIFTS campaign, whether Juicer character classes are used or not. Problems with the book? Okay, a lot of it reads like a bad post-apocalyptic Rutger Hauer movie ("The Blood of Heroes" and "The Road Warrior" readily spring to mind). A lot of material isn't terribly original. But it doesn't change the fact that the material is still pretty darn cool, and that this book can add a lot to an existing campaign. Great? No. But it's a lot of fun. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

RIFTS World Book 10: Juicer Uprising