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Rifts World Books #18
Rifts World Book 18: Mystic Russia
Rifts Russia is the exciting companion to Warlords of Russia, and is filled with magic, supernatural creatures from other worlds and a horde of monsters, demons and ancient gods from Russian mythology. New types of magic, including the Mystic Kuznya, Gypsies and others. Plus more on the Sovietski and world information.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Siembieda
206 books52 followersKevin Siembieda (born April 2, 1956) is an American artist, writer, designer, and publisher of role-playing games, as well as being the founder and president of Palladium Books.
Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.
Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).
Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).
Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.
Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).
Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 13, 2024
Another continuation of the RIFTS saga in Russia, focusing on the magic half of things.
Good lore, still a bit of an overcomplicated dice-system.
Good lore, still a bit of an overcomplicated dice-system.
February 13, 2016
Even though the Palladium role-playing system is not the one I use in my games the source books are fantastic. Tons of great ideas and characters are scattered throughout the books. Very recommended for any gamer.
December 12, 2023
In case you did not know, "World book 17" comes before "World book 18", which means you might want to read "Warlords of Russia" before you read this one. I didn't, so it made for an awkward read, because it starts with monsters, follows with OCCs, and end up with tanks. Crunchy material for the powergamer and the cruel GM, always looking to outbid each other, with very little fluff or favor...but that would be a very superficial read of this book.
Mystic Russia might be just a collections of magical creatures, and magic-inclined characters, but it is a great source of inspiration, not only for Rift players. Since it pretty much only shows the magic side of Russia, it will be useful for players of other fantasy RPGs interested in giving their campaigns a more "slavic flavor". Since I know virtually nothing about eastern European folklore, I cannot comment on the accuracy of any depiction, but it feels right, somewhere between The Witcher and Ravenloft (and if I was looking for historical accuracy, I would not be looking at Rifts, right?).
There were some creatures with which I was vagely familiar: Leshii, Rusalka, the firebird. And one that has finally solved a question I had for years: where do liches come from? Koshchei, the deadless one! Which means that I need to see the Firebird ballet ASAP.
There are powerful new OCCs like the Mystic Smith (I have been told it is supposed to be Kuznetz, not Kuznya), which would be the delight of those wanting to have hammer-weldign hero. Even if the smith woudl be my first pick if I were to play in this setting, where the book really shines is with the least munchkin classes: nature oriented Old-Believers (yup, sorry my Orthodox friends), witches, and, if you take it with a ton of salt (it is a 90's book), the different gypsy OCCs. You could easily run a relatively low fantasy setting, full of not-so-powerful heroes, protecting villages from evil forces set on ruinning their crops. On a very different note, the Necromancer is also great, if as a GM you are willing to spend some time developing the perfect NPC.
Really entertaining read, particularly taking into that it is mostly a colection of listicles.
Mystic Russia might be just a collections of magical creatures, and magic-inclined characters, but it is a great source of inspiration, not only for Rift players. Since it pretty much only shows the magic side of Russia, it will be useful for players of other fantasy RPGs interested in giving their campaigns a more "slavic flavor". Since I know virtually nothing about eastern European folklore, I cannot comment on the accuracy of any depiction, but it feels right, somewhere between The Witcher and Ravenloft (and if I was looking for historical accuracy, I would not be looking at Rifts, right?).
There were some creatures with which I was vagely familiar: Leshii, Rusalka, the firebird. And one that has finally solved a question I had for years: where do liches come from? Koshchei, the deadless one! Which means that I need to see the Firebird ballet ASAP.
There are powerful new OCCs like the Mystic Smith (I have been told it is supposed to be Kuznetz, not Kuznya), which would be the delight of those wanting to have hammer-weldign hero. Even if the smith woudl be my first pick if I were to play in this setting, where the book really shines is with the least munchkin classes: nature oriented Old-Believers (yup, sorry my Orthodox friends), witches, and, if you take it with a ton of salt (it is a 90's book), the different gypsy OCCs. You could easily run a relatively low fantasy setting, full of not-so-powerful heroes, protecting villages from evil forces set on ruinning their crops. On a very different note, the Necromancer is also great, if as a GM you are willing to spend some time developing the perfect NPC.
Really entertaining read, particularly taking into that it is mostly a colection of listicles.
March 31, 2010
Fascinating glimpse into mystical classes and monsters of Russia. Very good reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews