 Goto [ Index ] |
In a nutshell…. On a world that may or may not be Earth, the human race built a giant AI named N.E.X.U.S. to run everything. And different groups of humans, being the spoiled and resourceful lot they are, managed to program NEXUS with conflicting orders. So NEXUS goes insane, develops multiple personalities, and starts killing every human on the planet. The greatest weapon NEXUS develops is the nanobot plague, a global collection of nanites that turn any piece of metal touched by a mammal into a killing machine. Humanity manages to survive long enough however to develop the splicer technology, a biotechnology based on combining local and alien DNA into useful tools and devices. The greatest of which are the biosuits. The human race has been able to use this technology to great effect; some quarter of a million people have built a “safe” kingdom in the middle of swamp, free from NEXUS’ machines. And the war between man and machine, which has raged for generations and generations, rages on. This is the basic setting of Splicers.
From there we are given details on the nanobot plague, a broad overview of terrain types unique to the setting, a breakdown of the different personalities of NEXUS (some of which aren’t hostile to man, and one may actually care for man’s welfare), some of the robots and weapons of NEXUS, a very brief look at the Human Resistance and the Great House of the Barren Marsh, a small handful of human NPCs, and then the meat of the book: splicer technology.
For about 30 pages, the book covers splicer enhancements. Basically, each Occupational Character Class (OCC) starts with a varying amount of Bio-E points. Bio-E points are used to purchase enhancements to the charaters bioarmor, his mount, his “hounds”, and/or the character himself. Enhancements are broken into categories like Eyes & Vision Enhancement, Legs & Feet, Anatomical & Physiological Features, and so on. While there is some randomization in how many Bio-E points a character has to play with, the actual choices are entirely up to the character; there are no “random enhancement tables” to roll on. The point is stressed that this technology is not built, but rather grown, and Bio-E invested in something is lost if the technology dies. After covering bioenhacements and bioarmor, the book then covers other types of splicer technology. Tanks, helicopters, and so forth are all created as splicer technology, again combining normal and alien DNA to make monsters that fill those roles. Personal splicer technology comes next, but is focused on things like bioguns and light bioarmor. As an interesting side note: the currency of the human resistance is plastic data chips, color coded for the type of data they store. The humans can’t actually access the data on the chips, but they hope to someday be able to and use it to rebuild their world.
Following all the things you can make and do with splicer technology are the Splicer OCCs. Archangels have armor with enhanced flight capability, Biotics are condemned criminals rebuilt as biotech cyborgs. Dreadguard have the very powerful Host Armor and follow a strict Code of Duty detailed in the book. Outriders share a limited bond with a spliced mount, while Packmasters share a similar bond but to a pack of augmented dogs. Roughnecks are the frontline troops of the human resistance. Saints are those humans who have chosen to merge with a Gene-Pool, source of all splicer technology, and have developed great healing powers at the eventual cost of their humanity. Scarecrows are those humans who have devoted themselves to a chemical addiction and service to a Librarian (the leaders of humanity), in return for a greatly enhanced physique. Skinjobs have had the flesh replaced with alien skins, to make them the ultimate stealth experts. And finally there are Technojackers, those humans who are not only immune to the Nanobot plague, but filled with their own “strain” of helpful nanites. Notes are then given on adding magic, psychic, and tech characters from other settings to the Splicers world. The quick version: don’t go to the Splicers world; it’ll drain your health, it’ll drain your powers, or it’ll turn all your tech against you.
The next 60 pages or so covers the basics of the Palladium system, how combat works, the difference between MDC and SDC, and so on. Some optional table for robot combat damage seemed new, but nothing all that exciting.
Honestly, the game shows promise. But it’s in desperate need of a rewrite or something, as it is filled with dozens of nagging problems. For example, the Scarecrow OCC. They’re portrayed as some sort of elite commandos, not needing Host Armor to get a job done, and thus need lots of experience to level to reflect their great power. Meanwhile, the Dreadguard’s Host Armor can start slightly more powerful, grow to become substantially more powerful yet, and it costs him a little less experience to advance. The Scarecrow should live up to the hype a little better, but he doesn’t.
Another example would be how the different NEXUS personalities are presented. The Eve personality is listed as an “eighth-level artificial intelligence” with a 40 mile area of effect. We are later told that any of the personalities can merge with any machine in a 800 mile radius. Is it 40 miles or 800, and what’s the difference between an 8th level AI and 7th or a 15th?
And another problem is with the nanobot plague. When humans touch metal it attacks them in varying ways. Why is is that if an unarmored human touches an old staple the staple turns into a giant robot monster doing SDC damage, but if a Dreadguard touches the same staple it suddenly does megadamage? Why does the plague make a distinction, and why doesn’t it just always do mega damage?
The biggest problem I had though is one of campaign scale. We’re told that there’s 20 to 30 “Robot Repositories”, each filled with “millions upon millions of robots, drones and weapons”. Meanwhile the greatest human victory is essentially a “NEXUS dead zone” with about 250,000 people. There’s no way the human race should have a chance. Yes the splicers are cool and all, but they’re usually doing good to win a one-on-one fight against the robots; a 100-on-one fight is a lost cause. This isn’t a game where you wonder if the humans will win the war, but whether or not NEXUS will lose it.
In terms of Style I’ll give it a high 2. It’s not hideous, and it gets its points across legibly. The artwork is good, but in some cases feels like the game was made for the cool art instead of the art being made for the game. It loses marks for a lot of recycling art from within the same book. The layout could have been better, as mechanics are introduced -after- setting, OCCs, technology, etc. It might have helped new players if they were told what MDC was before they were told how much of it a robot could take. It could have also used another proof edit for spelling and grammar, but that could be said of any game any more.
For Substance I’ll give it a “depends”. For fans of the Palladium system I’d say it’s a low 4 or high 3. The new robots are okay, but the section on splicer enhancement and technology is excellent. Beyond that and there isn’t much there in terms of setting or adventure ideas presented. For people who are looking for an idea mine for other games, I’ll give it a low 2. I found that the game stimulated me with questions about what this new alien technology was doing to the nature of humanity, and adventures ideas I had for campaigns focused on human-vs.-human conflicts really got me going; but the book itself just barely touches on such concepts.
Who would I recommend this to: Fans of Palladium and those looking for a new Rifts world would probably like Splicers.
Who I would NOT recommend this to: People who hate Palladium, Palladium fans who like detailed settings, and people just curious about Palladium style games. If this game ever got more support, I’d be inclined to change my mind on the last two though.
Final Recommendation: If you want more robots and biotech ideas for your Rifts game pick up Splicers. If you want to try a Palladium game pick up either Nightbane for its detailed setting and crazy character customizations or Systems Failure for its action and presentation. If you want a game about humans fighting a war against robots pick up GURPS: Reign of Steel.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
