Rifts World Book 10: Juicer Uprising

Rifts World Books #10

by C.J. Carella, Kevin Siembieda

Book by Carella, C. J.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Games, Gaming, Science Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

C.J. discovered his obsession with making up crap and writing it down at the age of 6, when he wrote his first short story, back in the days when the Cold War was still on and the only mobile devices were the wrist watch and the walkie-talkie. He's been making up crap and writing it down for fun and profit ever since.

Reviews

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the apocolypse, we have magic, psychic powers and power armor... and Juicers. a chemically induced super-soldiers. The first Juicers were developed in Pre-Rifts Germany, during the tense period that preceded the Great Cataclysm. The search for the perfect super-soldier became a new type of "arms race" as dozens of researchers worked feverishly on one of the many avenues of research that might lead to a superior warrior. It works, granting an equivalent to superpowers.
The catch? You die after 7 years in the throes of a drug-induced bio-overdrive.

Juicers are a strange and unique group. Some are people who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of power, others are unwitting or unwilling victims, and many are desperate or driven people who do not care about the consequences of their actions.

Naturally, any country or insurgency that wants to gain a short term edge against their opponents and not care about the survival of their troops produces them in mass. They show up a lot anywhere with a black market, or where humans don't have enough of a technological edge to keep themselves safe.

Then there's the counterculture that sprung up (everyone loves a tragic hero) even with its own cheap knockoffs. Designer drugs meant to simulate to varying degrees the effects of the more elaborate drug harness system worn by actual Juicers. As well as stats for the effects of the drug, the section also describes the symptoms of withdrawal, and the effects of addiction.
(The section is headed by a Don't Do This Cool Thing disclaimer.)

The main campaign involves a the autocratic Coalition trying to convince them they had a cure for the degenerative Juicer augmentation process. Many Juicers would do just about anything to double their life span... only for them to find out and rebel en masse.
You have an entire army of super-powered fatalists who realized they've been tricked. Great plot-hook.

[Gonzalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juicers are (one of the most) unique characters found in the Rifts Core Rulebook, and "Juicer Uprising" is the expansion these nihilist heroes deserve. To a certain degree, the new classes will not add a whole lot to your game if you are not planning to run a Juicer-centered campaign: do you really need a Juicer that is stronger than other Juicers, but not as fast, or viceversa? Probably not. Here is the thing, though. After reading the section abot the uprising proper, conveniently located at the end of the book, you are going to want your players to choose Psycho-Stalkers (the predictable Juicer-Psy-stalker multiclass), and not just Psy-Stalkers, Delphi-juicers, and not just psychics...It is not that the Juicer Uprsing is the most incredible story ever told. Indeed, as written it might feel more like a background story the characters witness, one around which they play mostly combat scenes, than events the characters are actually part of, and of which they can alter their outome. However, unlike most World books I have read thus far, this one comes with "proper" descriptions on the places where the events take place, and actual scenario ideas. In many ways, it is what one could expect of a Rifts campaign: here is a cool story, now it is your job as GM to make your players part of it. If I were to run the Juicer Uprising as part of my campaign, I would try to introduce many of the elements of this books: Newtown, the Juicer Army of Liberation, rumors about CS Juicers or the Prometheus Treatment, etc. long before the uprising proper.

As I don't see myself as a powergamer--people at my table might disagree--I am not particularly interested in long lists of new equipment. Because of that, I appreciated they are not a big part of this book. An extra point in their favor is that a good portion of them are not devoted to tools favored by Juicers--even if you certainly have those--but on weapons to deal with them. Yes dear reader, even if you hate Juicers, there is something in this book for you too.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An inessential addition to the "Rifts" roleplaying setting, this book takes the series "Juicers" and attempts to build a whole sourcebook around them.

In the original rulebook, Juicers were roided-up wild men with a "live fast, die young" ethos. The concept is a solid one, but it's not that really begs for expansion. Creators C.J. Carella and Kevin Siembieda have a whole sourcebook to fill, though, so they try as many many angles as possible. Strong juicers! Fast juicers! Zombie juicers! Juicers who are dragons, sort of? They also delve into Juicer culture, Juicer sports and Juicer wannabes, all things that are interesting enough but seem unlikely to actually be used in any kind of roleplaying.

Perhaps sensing this, the book devotes a good deal of space to a campaign organized around the idea of a Juicer "cure" (the conversion process that gives Juicers their superpowers is fatal if not reversed) as well as a Juicer uprising. It's decent enough but also extremely broad and doesn't add much that's notable, a typical issue with role-playing expansions. On the whole, "Juicer Uprising" shuffles around some existing pieces rather than offering much that feels new, but it's respectably packaged and conceived.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book ends up referencing one of the least interesting aspects of the book. The actual juicer uprising was okay but the new options for characters and the new equipment were more interesting. The rules for sports were interesting and could be a welcome break from the often life and death adventures that happen in a rifts game.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing book full of adventure hooks and enhanced warriors. I even found a few physical skills that Kiril is missing. Go figure.

[Ben Krutko · Rating 3 out of 5]

What did I just read?

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

good rpg book for the juicer of rifts from palladium games!