Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill by Alien Rope Burn

"This book might come as a bit of a shock to die-hard Coalition fans, because it will not paint a very pretty picture of our boys in black."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

It's time for Palladium to innovate.


I know you're thinking it's the same every time, but look above! Now we have "war".


Because, as we know, the Rifts game line has yet to feature war, a rare element in any RPG game line.


Violence, sure, but the ongoing Germany-Gargoyle conflict? A mere scuffle. The Chi-Town vs. Quebec conflict? A dinner-table trifle. The battle against the Four Horsemen and their waves of undead minions? A gentle skirmish, at best.


It turns out it doesn't count as a real war until death camps enter the picture.



Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 1 - "This book might come as a bit of a shock to die-hard Coalition fans, because it will not paint a very pretty picture of our boys in black."

Yes, it may surprise some out there that the guys with an ideology based on Nazi fascism and who run around in vehicles with livery themed after the SS might be bad guys! Man, I bet you thought it was just all about cool uniforms, lasers, and shouting "Co-bro!" (The "Co" stands for the "Coalition", and the "bro" stands for "bro".) We're all very shocked.

So, it's time for the Coalition Wars part two, in which Siembieda and Coffin introduce us to a more x-treme, more grim Coalition. And without much preamble, we can move right into that.



A clash of Titans
_{By Kevin Siembieda and Bill Coffin}

The Coalition has gotten pretty cocky, but it's gotten rocky. The Tolkeen offensive has gotten off to a really bad start, and it's time to talk about the why. Generally speaking, the Coalition hasn't had serious opposition in a long time, and that's by design. The Coalition has usually avoided facing anybody it isn't absolutely confident it could crush. That's why it hasn't attacked Lazlo, or done an all-out attempt to crush the Federation of Magic. The leadership of the Coalition sees their position as dependent on the illusion of power and human dominance.


Is that so.

The Coalition has never faced such a prepared magical force, and the creative uses the Tolkeenites are putting their magic to are throwing predictable Coalition skullrolling tactics into disarray. Add in the fact that roughly half the forces they're using just got thrown through basic and onto the battlefield, and there's a lot going amiss for the Coalition at this point. The size of the Coalition force made it ground out somewhat once it hit serious resistance - they hadn't really planned to need long-term supply chains, while Tolkeen forces could easily resupply from local communities or by using magic. The Coalition has pretty much one core tactic - overwhelming force - and with Tolkeen refusing stand-up fights, they rarely get to apply that force well. Moreover, Coalition leadership was arrogant and figured they just needed to throw more troops at the situation rather than worrying about intelligence on the enemy. Lastly, the unpredictability and horrific nature of Tolkeen's attacks has shaken morale, particularly among the new recruits. Desertion, panic, and PTSD have been real issues. Some commanders don't even report losses out of fear that they might be punished.


_{"Wait, where is the enemy? Somewhere offscreen?"}

We get another "letter from the front" by Sergeant Deon Canton, so cue up your Ken Burnsesque sepia filters. He's gotten grimmer and tougher, and has now gone from "kill all the D-Bees and wizards" to "kill anybody who might conceivably be on Tolkeen's side". That's character development! Also he has a bionic hand now after losing his original hand, so he can crush every beer can.

So the initial shock is wearing off, and Deon is supposed to be emblematic of the hardening the Coalition troops are undergoing, and their increasing fanaticism. Though the Tolkeen defense surprised them, the horrific nature of it and the death of their fellows supports their existing fears and loathing of magic. Murder of enemy civilians - human or otherwise - is now commonplace. Some Coalition soldiers have even taken D-Bee children as "pets" of a sort to torment, but this is generally viewed very dimly by leadership - not out of any moral stance, but just the suspicion that they might act as spies or saboteurs. In general, prisoners are only taken for the interests of intelligence.


_{"I still can't see the enemy! They're sneakily hiding outside the frame!"}

We're told that "25-30%" of the Coalition soldiers haven't gotten in on the genocidal murder craze, and some might allow civilians to escape or show prisoners moments of kindness. However, showing a D-Bee or wizard kindness (much less escape) is a punishable offense, and Coalition culture also backs that up with mockery even if the individual isn't officially sanctioned. Those who show "traitorous" tendencies may be forced to do awful shit to D-Bees to prove their loyalty to the cause.





_{"Aaaaaaa, it's the enemy!"}

Next: Badder guys.

"Young Ghille hated his father for deserting them, the D-Bee bitch who lured him away and everything associated with them, including their D-Bee gang and their exploits."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 2 - "Young Ghille hated his father for deserting them, the D-Bee bitch who lured him away and everything associated with them, including their D-Bee gang and their exploits."

A Rising Evil


Yes, we're going to get a parade of psychopaths, Coalition officers who now have an opportunity to indulge their ridiculously evil ways. And there's a problem with this I'll address right off the bat: presenting genocide as only something damaged, mentally disordered people might jump to is a disservice. This is doubly true when presenting it as an analogue for the Holocaust. The horror of the Nazi regime isn't that of psychopaths getting ahold of the wheel, but that ordinary people can easily slip into excusing or participating in such horrors.

Also, the Coalition was already engaged in genocide anyway, just in an less organized and deliberate fashion. So acting like this is some journey beyond the pale seems odd, at best.


_{"Excuse me- have you considered there are some very fine people on both sides?!"}

That out of the way, there's two new operations put forth as part of this initiative: Operation Hardball, which is the extermination of Tolkeen's populace, and Operation Spoilsport, which is stepping up covert operations. It's explained here that the notion of just nuking Tolkeen after the first failed attempt has been discarded, and trying to create "anti-D-Bee" viruses is considered too unreliable and dangerous to seriously consider.

We're reminded that there is a serious element of the Coalition military that is handwringing over these issues, thinking they should maintain a moral high ground... which, uh, doesn't hold a lot of water, given they're the invaders. This is a serious argument that there is a civilized way to commit genocide. Hint: there isn't.





_{"If your alignment is Principled, don't worry about pulling the trigger, the others will take care of it for you."}

Emperor Karl Prosek doesn't care for this extremist faction. Not that he has any scruples regarding genocide, but thinks the actions taken by them appear desperate and runs the risk of a PR disaster at home. However, with the war going badly, he's willing to see if their plans bear fruit. While many Coalition officers despise this new movement, there isn't any openly vocal opposition to them.


This, at least, I agree with.


_{"Ugh, do I have that tiny skull stuck to my head again?"}

So, the main villain behind the Second Wave is General Micander Drogue, the son of a wealthy Coalition family that turned out to be associated with outside saboteurs. Though their status kept them from execution, they were reduced in citizenship level to the "dregs".


Drogue turned to crimes, becoming a city rat known as "Scrape". He worked in stealing cybernetics (violently), but eventually he was caught. Though normally he might be executed for this, it turns out his half-assed xenophobic ranting caught the attention of the police officer overseeing his case, who thought:

"Man, officer material."

So he was put into training and worked as a grunt patrolling the 'Burbs and beating its inhabitants and occasionally his peers, his record was "otherwise spotless" and what's a little physical abuse between soldiers? He turned out to be a fanatic - not for the Coalition government, but for the idea of Coalition purity in general. He rose up the ranks because... um... it doesn't say, but the Coalition seems to reward sociopathy. He's worked to alienate any merciful soldiers under his command and instead has put together a group of like-minded fanatics who he abuses on the regular. However, he's supposed to be "brilliant" and a "natural leader" who has a photographic memory. Ah, yes, a natural leader that psychologically (and physically) tortures his men. "Wow, sir, I sure feel naturally led after you beat me to an inch of my life! Inspiring, sir! *spits out tooth*"

We also get some of his goons:

• Lt. Gen. Kira Moss: A fanatic human supremacist, she's... schizophrenic and manic-depressive, the kind of things that catapult you right to the higher ranks of the military. It seems Drogue saw this and was like:
  
  "Man, general material."
  
  In the kind of nuanced treatment we've seen of mental illness in this game, she's a "Black Widow" who seduces men. When she tires of them, she transfers them to the most hazardous duty she can find. Despite being known for this, she always seems to find "fresh meat". Also she ♥s Drogue and if he asked her to stab herself in the eye with an icepick she'd be "which socket?" Despite this she's supposed to be a competent, uber-fanatical ice queen. This writeup is just singularly and inexcuably awful.
  
• Lt. General Ian Shrike: A generic bad seed and general Starscream, Shrike murdered his baby brother when he was 6 and has gone on to see how many murders he can get away with since then. He's murdered a dozen people because he's felt like it, and his background as a serial killer was apparently perfect training for intelligence services. Apparently, Coalition intelligence never found out about his crimes or never cared. More interestingly, he's obsessed with using his position to become a wizard, seeking to either join the Vanguard (the mysterious pro-Coalition mages mentioned in the previous book) or by seizing Tolkeen's mystical wisdom. He's very much the René Belloq sort, plus serial murdering, in case Belloq wasn't evil enough for you.
  
• Mercenary Major Ghillie Cordoba: A child of the Chi-Town 'Burbs, his father abandoned him for a D-Bee "bitch" (their word) and became a gang leader. (No idea what his mom's situation was, of course.) He hated his dad and wanted him brought to justice, but their gang fled to Tolkeen. Ghillie became a Rogue Scientist, but was caught by the Coalition, and now works for them as a... mercenary that runs Drogue's Rift Control Study Group? How does that work? Wouldn't they just bring him on? In any case, he wants to kill his dad and help his General with genocide in about that order. Also he has a Intelligence of 29, which isn't possible in character creation, and also the writeup gives him a higher skill bonus than that provides, but... details!

_{"... we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away."}

We also get very brief summaries of Cordoba's science team, but none are particularly notable.

On the other side of the coin - or, more like the rough little edge, really - is General Jericho Holmes. Holmes is supposed to be the honorable serious dude who kicks all the asses. There's a story where he fights off 300 bandits at a Coalition outpost after the rest of his men run.


He's become the poster boy for Coalition badassery. He's also a human supremacist, but can be merciful and would rather just drive D-Bees out than murder them. It's not that he's that nice of a guy, but sees wanton slaughter as just inspiring victims to seek revenge and escalating matters. But he'll still kill if he "has to".

He's an author darling, and it shows.


_{yes this is a guy that will have an impact on the war in case you're wondering}

Oh, and let's recap some shit because it's bothering me:


Gender issues, huh? But wait, there's one decent writeup of a woman:


See, there, balance! Wait, how the fuck do you stay Unprincipled with this pack of openly genocidal-



Next: Super Dirty Dozen 250% Plus Alpha.

"Destroying Tolkeen is a kind of personal jihad (holy war) for him, and he will not rest until the entire world is purged entirely of D-Bees ("the D stands for 'degenerate,' you know") and magic-using scum."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 3 - "Destroying Tolkeen is a kind of personal jihad (holy war) for him, and he will not rest until the entire world is purged entirely of D-Bees ("the D stands for 'degenerate,' you know") and magic-using scum."

Let's recap something from the corebook:


It'll be relevant shortly. (Also, man, did he ever actually watch Death Wish?)

The Dirty Thirty
_{By Bill Coffin
Additional text by Siembieda}

So, this are supposed to be a ultra-ruthless Coalition Special Forces unit that is perfectly willing to wipe out civilian targets.




whut

No, you can't say people are "good" because they can justify the evil they're doing. The ability to justify evil is what makes them fucking evil! Dammit. Anyway, they're monsters, no matter what alignment ended up on their character sheet. YOU CAN'T PLEAD IGNORANCE WHEN GENOCIDE IS HAPPENING IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE, IT'S A CHILD'S EMPTY VERSION OF MORAL RELATIVITY, YOU VAPID HACK-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw91RJ_m_7g

Okay, okay. Let's, I'm gonna calm down while I have this chocolate-almond bar. Look. I get that Siembieda really, really, really doesn't want you to consider the Coalition just targets to shoot at, to consider their human situations. And that's fair. It's become popular to just wish death on the intolerant and hateful, but it's not really something I say. I'm probably overly optimistic in the potential of people to change. Not every modern Nazi has to forever be a Nazi. Mind, I'm not so much of a pollyanna as to expect it.

That being said, if somebody is complicit in genocide, they're doing evil, and the fact that the book wants to both-sides things at that point is a intense failure of writing. It's exacerbated by the fact that Palladium has clear, strict rules for their alignments that make proper behavior for good alignments clear-cut.


_{Remember this face.}

Moving on, their leader is the subtly code-named Capt. Murray "Carnage" Carruthers (Alignment: Aberrant). He's yet another Coalition party hardliner who believes that anything is justified under their national cause, and seeks out rulebreakers to recruit under the notion such "wild men" are more ethically flexible. Yet, despite recruiting people based on their ability to difficulty to control, he's a "military genius" who engages in "barbarity".


Do you bring an extra APC just to load with heads, Captain? Did you take an extra several days to clean the corpses and pull out the bones? How does a unit given to atrocities remain "steady and stable", as this section claims? Well, it almost certainly wouldn't, but the author wants him to be the kind of person that puts literal heads on literal pikes, and yet maintains some level of military decorum? Sure, okay.

I'll be noting characters' alignments, just so you can get an idea of the whiplash going on in this section.


_{I could insert a Nazi parody of a famous '80s TV theme, but let's not.}

With all of its squads named after letters, we start with the A-Team...

... who is led by Lt. Maxwell Selig (Alignment: Anarchist). These guys are the scouts and rangers of the group. Max really, really hates Tolkeen and is happy to murder any he can, but also loves nature and peace. Isn't that deep characterization? I won't cover every member of the squad, but here's a few:

• Otto Orsi (Diabolic): He loves to send war souvenirs home, like casings, ruined e-clips, or... the ears of "small Tolkeenite children".
  
• Jed Churl (Miscreant): A thug who likes torturing people, sometimes to death.
  
• Chaucer (Scrupulous): A funny dog boy who likes jokes and dirty limericks. Is fanatically well-loved by his unit. Somehow is scrupulous, "Did you ever hear about the girl from nantuck- OH NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN AAAAA-"

_{"This is a smile, right? I haven't done it in awhile."}

B-Team is their armor and air unit, relying on cyborgs and power armor. Its leader is Sgt. Mark Thresher (Alignment: Aberrant), who is a confident "master chess player" who was placed as the squad leader without serving on a single combat patrol. Presumably that means literal chess and not figurative chess, given his FNG status. Yet, somehow he's a 7th level SAMAS Pilot. Maybe they mean he hasn't had a single combat patrol with the unit? In any case, the squad resents him and wants him gone. They won't overtly disobey him, but might "ignore" him.


_{"Look, we can't be hip-deep in skulls all the time."}

A few of their members:

• Roger Lewis (Miscreant): A... sigh, "sadist" who likes strafing civilians and has disobeyed evacuations to kill some more unarmed victims. He's been able to cover for this (somehow), but Carruthers may kill him if he finds out- for disobedience, of course, not his bloodthirst.
  
• Wendy Holland (Miscreant): A cyborg who hates D-Bees. It's rumored her cybernetic conversion is due to a disease she got as a child she blames on nonhumans.
  
• Hiroshi Yoshioka (Scrupulous): A master SAMAS pilot who considers his armor "lucky" and gets special bonuses when using in in the sort of unique bonus only NPCs can get. Somehow is scrupulous, "Let's have another good mission, achieve our objectives professionally- OH NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN AAAAA-"

_{The noblest neckbeard.}

Sabotage and demolitions is handled by C-Team, who is led by Lt. Raul Auerbach (Alignment: Principled), who is troubled by Carruthers' and his peers' methods, and worries that his conscience makes him "impure" and that the rest of the unit might single them out if they find out. Despite his alignment, he goes along with this and is a "strident and self-righteous human supremacist", so, let's do it again. "Remember, just because they're inhuman filth, doesn't mean we have to worry about killing every- OH NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN AAAAA-"


_{"I was trained in reverse medicine. It's like healing people, only you kill them."}

• Laughing Boy (Miscreant): A juicer with "some kind of mental condition that makes him shriek with high-pitched, girlish laughter whenever he feels his life is in danger". He imposes a special penalty on initiative for all foes unless they have a Mental Endurance of 22+. He's become a boogeyman amongst the Coalition defenders.
  
• Squire Gannon (Miscreant): A demolitions expert obsessed with the number 13, and believes that he has to mark every bomb he makes with a 13 or it won't go off. "He is both crazy and evil."
  
• Fargo (Miscreant): A dog boy who's getting a taste for humans, and it's a coin-flip whether or not Carruthers will have him put down if he finds out... or promote him for "that kind of predatory spirit".

Dirty Thirty Hook, Line, and Sinkers
_{By Bill Coffin & Kevin Siembieda}

So, we get some adventure hooks, since I know you are all so, so ready to include these guys in your campaign.

• The Only Good D-Bee ...: The PCs are guarding D-Bee refugees along with some Tolkeen-loyal mercenaries, but then the Dirty Thirty tries to ambush them! Despite being the first adventure hook with them, it assumes the PCs know who they are. If the PCs ignore the Dirty Thirty's slaughter of unarmed civilians, they may get attacked instead if they have a rep. And then the GM shouts "And that's what you get!"
  
• Kill 'Em All: Like the above, only the PCs are protecting a Tolkeenite unit's retreat instead. And the Dirty Thirty will want revenge if they're stopped, because they're led by a military genius! And there's nothing more genius than seeking revenge. It's the geniusiest.
  
• Rear Echelon: An investigator is placed with the Dirty Thirty to find out if the rumors about their war crimes are true, and confirms the rumors pretty quickly. He flees, runs into the PCs, and tries to hire them to provide a safe journey back to Chi-Town. The twist is that the Dirty Thirty gives no shits, knowing that the higher-ups sanction their actions. As such, the Dirty Thirty may try and claim him, and he'll likely try to goad the PCs into a fight with them. But they're not actually that worried about his investigation, only his disappearance on their watch. Whadda tweest!
  
• Not One Step Backward: Tolkeen forces have the Dirty Thirty cornered, and the PCs are presumed to be helping them. But it turns out the Tolkeen soldiers are just as ruthless and bloodthirsty, and torture the Dirty Thirty. "ask). Characters of good alignment will not be able to stand by silently — not even the Dirty Thirty deserve this sort of sadistic punishment." If the PCs bother rescuing the Dirty Thirty, they kill all of their Tolkeen tormentors in a later unskippable cutscene. Alternately, it suggests you might have the Dirty Thirty somehow blackmail PCs with hostages, imaginary or otherwise. Look, you're gonna help war criminals or we shoot this dog!
  
• Smoke Screen: The Dirty Thirty is going to attack a Tolkeen wizard training camp, and try and capture a most-wanted mage for interrogation. There are several possibilities presented: that this mission is so risky is there might be an opportunity to exploit dissension with his troops, that they can capture members of the unit, or... maybe just are trying to save lives. Or it seriously suggests you might be hired to help by Carruthers for Raid on Hogwarts here.
  
• Hello, My Name's Laughing Boy: The player characters befriend a "wild and zany" juicer while drinking who turns out to be Laughing Boy, above. They can try and capture him (since he's drunk), follow him to track down the Dirty Thirty (to attack or... ugh, join), or try and use his drunkenness to squeeze information out of him... but then have to stop him when he goes wandering to murder a D-Bee.

Yeah, this whole section is gross. Like, they're straightforward psychopathic villains, and that's dull but fine. But when it goes "actually some of the aren't so bad" or hints the PCs might work with them that the whole section goes from "meh" to "mafuck?"

This is followed by a Typical Combat O.C.C.s, and apparently the average Coalition soldier is 4th level despite the fact the Coalition went out of their way to do new recruitments for about half their force. Yes, it says they should be 2nd to 6th level. I guess the greenhorns are constantly on piss break when the players show up. Many have attributes that are well beyond what's likely for PCs, as well.

Next: Freelance Fascism.

"Speaking of which, he knows his current girlfriend and gang member, Sweet Sue, is a worthless, gold-diggin' hanger-on, but he doesn't care because he's having fun with her."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 4 - "Speaking of which, he knows his current girlfriend and gang member, Sweet Sue, is a worthless, gold-diggin' hanger-on, but he doesn't care because he's having fun with her."

Coalition Bounty Hunters & Mercenary Agents
_{By Kevin Siembieda}

So, it's possible to freelance for the Coalition, getting paid on assignment or for bounties. There are several jobs one can work as, all detailed here. Mercenary scouts and soldiers are paid monthly, with occasional bonuses for outstanding achievements. Raiders basically just get privateer-style treatment in exchange for staying out of the Coalition's way, though sometimes the Coalition will offer to buy (or just directly claim) major scores. Bounty hunters are paid by the head for eliminating monsters, or capturing Tolkeenities / Cyber-Knights / magic items. The top Coalition "Dead or Alive" list is, in order: King Robert Creed, Warlord Corin Scard, The Riparian (the ruling dragon of Freehold, to be forgotten and not mentioned much again), each member of Tolkeen's Circle of Twelve, The Great Purple Mage, and Erin Tarn.


_{"To me, my 卐--Men!"}

Notable Mercs & Bounty Hunters

It turns out over 90-95% of mercenaries would rather be involved with the Quebec vs. Coalition conflict, for whatever reason. Still, that means there are hundreds of "Bounty Hunters and mercenary bands" working the Tolkeen conflict. Juicers have generally gone to the Tolkeen side, who has worked to treat them well thankfully. There are also gunfighters and mercenaries arriving from the west, so you can make more use of New West - most for Tolkeen because of their frontier spirit or something something. Psi-Stalkers are mostly fighting for the Coalition due to the Coalition's acceptance of the mutants, though they're seen on both sides.

Then we get Little Bobby & Big Drew, a gunfighter and bounty hunter (respectively) who work for the Coalition as villainous hit men along with their gang. And, as author darlings, they get five pages of detail, much of which is taken up by Little Bobby mugging for the camera as we're told what a badass he is.

That's just a choice selection of the sample brags on display, it just goes on and on and on. He believes he's the best gunslinger in history, but is only really 6th level, and is just an amoral braggart who goes around murdering folks for money. But he won't gun down an unarmed person (magic or enhancements count as armed) - generally, he prefers to goad his targets to make the first move. He has ridiculous, unrollable attributes, including that 1 in 1000 or so Physical Prowess of 24. Granted, even though his combat bonuses are great, he's stuck using pistols as a gunslinger, meaning his damage output is trash and limiting his in-game badassery. However, he gets a special Horror Factor of 15 as a unique NPC power because he's apparently that infuriating. More like... Annoying Factor? And that seems to be in addition to his Horror Factor of 12 as a gunslinger...

I know he's supposed to be insufferable, and the writing really backs that up... because it's insufferable, too.

Big Drew is Bobby's partner, and serves as the Silent Bob to Bobby's Jay. He washed out as a Justice Ranger for indeterminate reasons and became a Bounty Hunter before taking Bobby under his wing because he has "spunk". Gross, Drew. Mostly, he's in it for amoral adventure and is the brains of the operation since he's a "natural leader" and presumably has those magic leader genes like every other unhinged murderer in this book. Granted, he's having some pangs of conscience via the medium of bad dreams, but is trying to ignore it. Despite his natural leaderness, he only speaks when necessary. He's an 8th level Bounty Hunter with unrollable attributes.

We get the current members of the gang:

• Swing-Man: A guy with special magic swords that let him cast armor of ithan. As such, he likes to go around in his undies and then fight people who think they can mega-damage him easily. Mind, he hides the swords when they speak to their Coalition employers. No word if he meets them in his undies.
  
• Speedy Morales: "4th level Juicer babe with, as she is fond of saying, 'a body to die for' — and many have. Maria Morales is a slick, cunning, streetwise girl who uses seduction and her Juicer speed and reflexes to lay her opponents low." "Worse yet, she's smart (I.Q. 14) and knows how to trick, cheat and manipulate others, particularly men (Maria has a P.B. of 21 and uses it to her advantage)."
  
• Sweet Sue: "2nd level psychic Burster and Little Bobby's paramour (i.e. his current girl friend). She is innocent and attractive (P.B. 15) in a sweet, wholesome kind of way, but is really a wild cat who has little regard for anybody but herself. Even Little Bobby is just a meal-ticket and good for excitement."
  
• Stanley "Flick" Polanski: He's a Crazy who flicks things "like some deranged movie gangster from pre-Rifts Earth" and "has the I.Q. of a child". He likes to run into fights and just flip around like crazy to avoid attacks; he gets a unique NPC power where he gets +6 to automatic dodge when he spends all of his actions just to defend. Wait, do crazies even get an automatic dodge?... no, no they don't. So he gets a bonus to a benefit he doesn't have RAW. Also he's a "maniac" in the pre-Bugs sense of Daffy Duck, so have... fun with him hooting around. Whee.

_{Remember that face? This version forgot to shave.}

Ike Flint is another bounty hunter and cyborg, this time of the "crusty" variety that is too old for this shit and hates kids these days. He hates necromancers and shifters for mystery reasons, and occasionally employs trackers or extra guns in the form of psi-stalkers, headhunters, or... crazies? Also he'll just burn down a school or church to flush out a target because he's that ruthless. "He just exudes danger and power." Okay. He's a 12th level Bounty Hunter with minor psychic powers he uses to charge his techno-wizard weapons, which apparently the Coalition lets him have despite their explicit ban on such technology because-



His art is the same as that of Carruthers, the head of the Dirty Thirty, only somebody scribbled a beard and more wrinkles on top of the art. This isn't the first time we've seen this - a Kevin Long picture of a Juicer got a haircut via Siembieda to appear in another book, but doing this within the same book is... well, he'd have been better off just not having art for the guy, in my opinion.


_{The infamous Battle for the World's Shittiest Fence.}

The Crimson Wing is a group of mysterious mercenaries that claim to be from Iron Heart and worked both sides of the war.


Well, it turns out he is a Coalition officer, but no details on what he might have shoved up his "...". All of the Crimson Wing are undercover Coalition agents in place to gather intelligence through taking Tolkeen assignments or to double-cross and eliminate Tolkeen forces. Red Falcone has no discernable personality than the above, and is just a patriot and cold fish. I'll only cover a few of the unit members.

• Sigman "Siggie" Kline: The only member of the unit with a sense of humor, which makes him a favorite amongst his peers and generally on the shit list of the colonel. He flies a UTI Icarus Flight System, which... I don't know how he handles it, given it's built for Juicers and he's not a Juicer. Badly, I'd presume, despite being a "hot shot fighter pilot".
  
• Mirlt "Bad Axe" Crsii: A Coalition soldier who's been changed to look like a "Vanguard Brawler" D-Bee (from World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign) though surgery - a number of unit mumbers have had their appearance changed to make them fake D-Bees. He was given a purloined magic runic axe by his superiors to complete the disguise, but he's "falling in love" with the intelligent weapon.
  
• Multan Kaine: An 'attractive 'elf-like' female with a sunny disposition and keen insight", she's another false D-Bee that uses a cyber disguise coupled with cosmetic surgery. She flies the Flying Titan armor, the "girliest" of the corebook armors.

The Crimson Wing are all otherwise deliberately dull characters, but that, unfortunately, doesn't stop them from being actually dull. They seem like they'd be a neat reveal but there's not much to say about them otherwise. Of course, they also play into the "don't judge an NPC by their cover" theme we often see in Siembieda's writing where seeming good guys turn to be villains and vice-versa.

Next: For mature readers only.

"The thought of imprisoning thousands of innocent people and subjecting them to endless torment fills him with a child-like glee that is sickening to behold for all but the most vile and twisted individuals."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 5 - "The thought of imprisoning thousands of innocent people and subjecting them to endless torment fills him with a child-like glee that is sickening to behold for all but the most vile and twisted individuals."

If you're not down with reading about death camps, torture, and implied sexual assault, you might want to give this update a skip.


_{"I do not like this missile-filled world you have summoned me to!"}

The Twin Faces of Evil
_{By Bill Coffin
Additional text and ideas by Kevin Siembieda}

We get no less than four fiction pieces, so in brief:

• The Final Words of Pax Tyrannica: This is an internal monologue from a Tolkeen mage in a shelter under bombardment discussing how the Coalition forces are getting more ruthless, and he bemoans the Tolkeen fighters getting more "savage" in return. However, he resolves to never surrender. Then he leaves the shelter and is presumably bombed, given the title.
  
• Borrowed Time: This is a letter from a "Tolkeen Patriot" to his "dearest Scamander", but is sadly missing Ken Burns narration. He traveled across the Megaverse to find "The Mobius" (from Rifts Coalition Wars 1: Sedition), and shit-talks the Coalition for a bit. However, he reveals a peer as captured and gave up his return location, where they shot The Mobius out of his hand. He hides in a cave behind waning magic shields, resolves to never surrender, and then teleports the letter to his love. He is presumably gunned down, given his situation.
  
• Greetings from Camp Prosek!: This is a letter from a Tolkeen soldier to his "Dearest Lareesa" from a Coalition prison camp. He denounces Tolkeen as corrupt and misled while declaring the Coalition as merciful saviors. However, the start of a letter declares it has a secret message in special ink that will be revealed when held up to candlelight - and certain words are bolded to basically give the message "They're torturing us and going to kill us all, help!" It's a clever little conceit, but how would the camp soldiers miss the opening bit where he openly talks about the special ink...?
  
• A Moment of Truth: This letter is from a Coalition officer of unknown rank, who was ordered by Drogue to wipe out a civilian village on an open channel. Rather than risk getting killed by his underlings for insubordination, he has his green troops wipe out the village, an act he shortly regrets. While initially he tells himself he had no choice, quickly he realizes that was wrong. In the middle of the massacre - which includes a woman having her honor "assaulted" and kids being tortured, as his men go ape instantly - he loses his shit and starts gunning them down. They manage to restrain him, and leave him tied up in the village. Tolkeen wizards find him and torture him into a "confession" - not really necessary, with his feelings of guilt - and then hang him. Drogue covers up the circumstances of his death after Tolkeen dumps his body on them, claiming he died heroically in battle.

Really not seeing two faces of evil here. Yes, Tolkeen is ruthless, but...


_{"Do you see me wearing a bathrobe? A pointy hat? Smoking a pipe? Get lost!"}

General Drogue's "Projects"

So, there's the rare phenomenon of civilian villages turning out to have potent mages fighting back, and Drogue is using that as a pretense to declare all civilians as "potential militants". He's not looking to eliminate all civilians - though he'd like to, he sees it as a distraction that would just spur resistance. No, instead, he wants to convince Tolkeen soldiers and citizens that the Coalition will treat them fairly upon capture. This is false, of course, he has every intention of setting up literal death camps for them.

We also get new summaries of all of his current operations. While two have been mentioned - Operation Hardball, the elimination of Tolkeen's populace, and Operation Spoilsport, their sabotage effort. We also then get Operation Kingkiller, consisting of an attempt to assassinate King Creed and the Circle of Twelve, which has been a singular failure so far. We also have Operation Hailstorm, which is their main troop push towards Tolkeen.

Operation Hardball has two main efforts. One is to "dehouse" Tolkeen supporters and civilians by razing their communities to the ground. On paper, they're supposed to drive people out of town first, but on the ground, General Drogue's units rarely give them the privilege. The second consists of concentration camps. Well, they have a different name for them.


_{"When you think about it, this is really your fault, I read Tarn too."}

The initial purpose of the Coalition "Detainment Camps" is just to separate D-Bees and human mages from "ordinary" humans. In theory, the D-Bees and mages will be shipped off to death camps for extermination, while mundane humans will be enslaved in work camps to build the eventual Coalition colony atop Tolkeen's ruins. There are currently three camps in Wisconsin: Camp Prosek, which is for sorting. Camp Purity is a death camp for D-Bees and spellcasters, though executions have not begun yet. Lastly, Camp Victory is a work camp for humans, though whether or not they'll eventually undergo the same extermination process is unclear. It may happen. In general, they're holding off on mass extermination to avoid having Tolkeen soldiers just start fighting to the death; the real slaughter will begin once Tolkeen is defeated.

Many Coalition soldiers assigned to these camps find their consciences proving to be an issue, and though many may bully, outright is torture outside of "fanatical misanthropes". Granted, I always thought the horror of real-life camps was just how easily ordinary people can turn to evil, but nope, just a few bad apples doing the real damage. Otherwise, they're just doing "cruel horse-play" or "jokes on the prisoners".



Protip for Death Camp Employees: abuse is abuse and being the lesser abuser is not an excusable moral position.

We get a lot of precise details on the height of the walls and the weapons on guard posts and how many suits of power armor there are. Since Drogue recognizes that people might be hesitant to throw D-Bees into furnaces, he has large contingents of skelebots to pull the trigger on prisoners if necessary. Similarly, the living guards are there in case anything goes wrong with the skelebots.



_{"Ugh, is death poking me in the temple again? Dammit, death!"}

Lt. General Nikoto Galva is yet another tired "brilliant but unstable" leader who's a big aficionado of suffering, and is essentially a serial killer who uses his military power to murder towns and the like. As such, Drogue put him in charge of the death camps, the two no doubt did their big sadism secret handshake. He's about as exciting as dried puppy shits.

I am so fucking done with this section, I barely have words. The fact it has to stop and remind us that death camp guards are human, too, gosh, many don't want bad things to happen, they just deal mild abuse, it's only literal insane people that can go through this, WHICH IS A CHILD'S HACKERY, YOU EMPTY-HEADED CAR CRASH OF A WRITER-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw91RJ_m_7g

Next: Tolkeen's Tactics.

"Nobody has ever stopped the Coalition. Nobody!"

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 6 - "Nobody has ever stopped the Coalition. Nobody!"


_{Wounded in the Butt by a Wizardly Manifestation of my Own Fascist Hubris.}

Tolkeen Triumphant
_{By Kevin Siembieda and Bill Coffin}

So, despite all this, Tolkeen has so far succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. The Coalition have just tried to blitz while they've been making creative use of magic and guerrilla forces. They're not really interested in actually defeating the Coalition in a straightforward fight, but just bogging them down so much that their morale and momentum is wrecked. They often use save-or-suck spells to disrupt enemy formations or otherwise separate out units, illusions to distract them, powerful defensive spells to cause them to waste their offense, etc. They rely a lot on sudden and surprise attacks with magic to try and keep Coalition troops rattled as well, as well trying to shock them with tactics like animated Coalition corpses ("Real 'Dead Boys'"). Teleportation and ley magic lets them ambush at nearly any time, and they can use flight magic to airlift troops silently.


_{"Seriously, guys, we're with the Coalition. We don't have any brains."}

They have a "Shadows and Water" maneuver they've used several times, where when attacked, the "Water" unit falls back, creating an opportunity for hidden "Shadows" units to flank the Coalition force. Then the "Shadows" retreat and the "Water" unit advances. Then repeat, making sure to just flank relative to wherever the enemy focuses.

Similarly, they use magical force fields powered by ley lines and the like to make towns difficult to capture, requiring Coalition forces to resort to time-consuming urban pacification- and even when they succeed, sometimes Tolkeen has pushed them out again, putting up the same defenses, requiring the Coalition to do it all over again.

That doesn't mean Tolkeen doesn't have means of straight-up fighting. Using elementals or powerful spells, they can create disasters and other catastrophes. Furthermore, they have the Iron Juggernauts and powerful allies like dragons or demons. However, they have to be careful with their use of power, supplementing it with infantry forces and hitting in skirmish warfare rather than major battles. The Coalition just has greater numbers and greater skill in armored combat, so they use magic to pick their fights. Furthermore, they have the issue that most dragons won't cooperate with each other, so mass dragon formations are rare at best.


_{"Wait, the Coalition doesn't use Glitter Boys, so... who am I fighting...?"}

In addition, Tolkeen has focused on hitting the Coalition's supplies. Their reliance on magic means Tolkeen doesn't require heavy supply lines, but the Coalition has countered by raiding and stealing from local communities. In general, though, Tolkeen can rely on local communities while they remain, and mages can replenish their power with a night of smug meditation.

We also get an outline of what the other powers think of this, the majority of which is predictable or relatively irrelevant to the conflict at hand. The more notable parts follow. Ishpeming and the Manistique Imperium are starting to question their alliance with the Coalition given that things aren't going so well. Increased bandit activity doesn't really affect Lone Star, but El Dorado is having an more direct war against emboldened outlaws that they're winning. Vampires are starting to cross the Rio Grande, thanks to the Cyber-Knights and other heroes being distracted by the Tolkeen conflict. And lastly, though the Federation of Magic is still remaining out of it, occasional "rogue" groups under Dunscon have been striking against the Coalition.


_{"Oh yeah, you can totally play Heil of Duty on this."}


As if the Coalition doesn't count as a "real villain or monster" at this point...

Next: Cyberdemons.

"The tiny minority (10%) who opt for only one TW Weapon Arm (unless they get TW legs) are considered fools or cowards."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 7 - "The tiny minority (10%) who opt for only one TW Weapon Arm (unless they get TW legs) are considered fools or cowards."

The Daemonix
_{By Kevin Siembieda
Inspired by the art of Kent Burles}

The Daemonix are a new force being fielded by Tolkeen. It's unknown how Tolkeen came across them, but apparently they were liberated from "some hellish dimension" where they had been enslaved by "true" demons. In return for freedom, they were asked fight for Tolkeen. They were apparently shocked that they were asked instead of told, this being alien to them, and agreed, apparently won over by even the slightest bit of respect towards them.

They're believed to be some kind of proto-demons, and "real" demons look down upon them. Part of this is that though the Daemonix are rich in magical energy, they don't have much ability to tap into it, nor do they usually have the mindset to master magic. However, Tolkeen has found a way to overcome this by giving the Techno-Wizard (abbreviated to TW hereafter) appendages to channel their magic through. Supposedly they can have these bionic devices attached because they're mere "sub-demons" like Brodkil or Gargoyles, and don't have regeneration that would otherwise interfere with implantation. They're so thrilled with this that some have even self-multilated to try and encourage more attachments.


However, while they are ridiculously grateful to Tolkeen, they're still demons, and don't have much regard for humanoids not allied with Tolkeen. In addition, they're rivals with Brodkil and Gargoyles, and will attempt to bully them if not stopped. They particularly hate proper demons, and it's easily for them to be goaded into a rage by their former masters. They also don't like other supernatural beings in general, and such is the main point of concern for Tolkeen in trying to control them. There's also the matter of what to do with them after the war, but that's a different issue.

Another serious issue presented by the demons is that the Psi-Stalkers for whatever reason see them as natural enemies. Wait, natural? Don't they come from different worlds? Well, in any case, the majority of the Psi-Stalkers working for Tolkeen desert the war effort (granted, that's only like 200 or so of them), and are rallying their tribes to defeat the Daemonix should they venture outside of Tolkeen's borders, or if they show signs of "unwarranted brutality or torture" against humanoids.

Ultimately, the Daemonix are part of Tolkeen's "Phase Two", trying to remain unpredictable and throw the Coalition off their game.

The Daemonix Revealed

The Daemonix are aquatic and nocturnal in nature, and are tougher and stronger in water or at night. As such, they're often engage in naval ambushes. They're resistant to lightning and cold, but vulnerable to fire and heat. In general, they have solid to great M.D.C. values, but like a lot of high-HP supernatural monsters, they don't have any real way to dish out damage other than claws and bites - most of which don't do significant damage. They have basic sensitive psychic powers, as well. Were it not for their techno-wizard additions, they'd be singularly dull monsters. After all, they're mostly thugs with high strength and toughness, but middling mental attributes. M.D.C. values here are averaged.


_{"Watch where you're going, you big galoot!"}

Flatulence (230 M.D.C.) supposedly means "he who is most foul and cunning", these are the smallest of the Daemonix. And by small, I mean about two dozen feet long and four tons. They have belly tentacles, TW legs that leave no sound or tracks, a right arm that casts light and fear spells, a left arm that fires lightning or a variety of "status effect" or mind control spells. They're supposed to be the sneaky ones.


_{Attack of the Terrible Toad Man.}

The Manslayers (450 M.D.C.), aka "he who battles", are the generic born warriors of the Daemonix. They chose the sword instead of the ball, presumably. They have natural sunglass eyelids so they can stare at the sun, and super-eyes that can see a broader range of light. They have a choice between three arms: a "Wind and Fury" TW arm that shoots air and lightning spells, a "Battle" TW arm that shoots a variety of magical energies, or lastly a "Lance" stabbing arm that increases their melee damage modestly. Many have "Crown of Defense" that gives bonuses against psionics and lets them cast a number of defensive spells. A few have unnamed TW legs that give them enhanced speed and leaps. Generic fighty 18' cyberdemons.


_{When all you have is a skewer, everything looks like kebab.}

Immolators (765 M.D.C.), or "he who destroys", are really, really excited to wreck it. They're all about destroying stuff because that's what it says in the description. They're the physically strongest of the Daemonix in this book, and are "natural born warriors". Ah, I see more that picked the sword, and not the ball. They're generally given TW Legs to improve their speed, a right arm that can case wind spells or magic net, a left arm that gives them anti-magic tricks and save-or-suck (wait, why, what you doing, you dumb wizards), and rods of power on their back that let them cast a bunch of random but powerful magic. I'm not sure why they're giving so much potential to the Daemonix that just want to burn it all down, but I suppose adding any power to these guys is a questionable decision in the first place.


_{giddy yup}

The Hangdogs (450 M.D.C.), "he who serves", are treated as a shitty beasts of burden even by other Daemonix. They are constant complainers, though other Daemonix are familiar and generally ignore it. They actually do enjoy being used as beasts of war, though, since it's a break from the usual hard labor they're put to. Though they make for nice color, stat-wise, they're just generic monsters save for their increased carrying capacity.


_{The Spineless Ones.}

Lastly, we have the Basil (1125 M.D.C.), the "Overmasters" of the Daemonix. They look like a torso with eyes and arms, and as such, had only one request as far as TW limbs go: legs. They are powerful psychics, so they avoid other TW geegaws, focusing on telepathic and kinetic "super" psionic powers. Though this gives them powerful save-or-slump powers, it means they're huge damage sponges with no strong offense. They're supposed to be sneaky schemers, though what schemes they have are left entirely vague.

Honestly, the Daemonix at least have some neat ideas to dig into and some rad art. I dread the time they break free and become another Generic Threat - I feel like you could take them in interesting directions rather than just having them be Tolkeen's Big Mistake.

<sub>CORRECTION: I'm sorry, the actual name of the first Daemonix is "Feculence". We here at FATAL & Friends deeply regret this error.

CORRECTION: It was previously stated that there was regret involved in accidentally misnaming the Feculence. This was also in error.

CORRECTION: It was previously stated that the Feculence was "accidentally" misnamed. This turns out to have not been accidental at all, but a deliberate error.

CORRECTION: It turns out the Basal was also misnamed as "Basil". Our deepest regrets in regards to this mistake.

CORRECTION: We stated there was regret in renaming the Basal. This turns out this too was a bunch of bullshit.

CORRECTION: You cut and pasted to read this far. Admit it.</sub>

Next: SHE WAS ALIVE I FELT IT NOOOOOOOO

"She, like the 3,000 other people of this sleepy, peaceful town, had all died (mostly in their sleep) from the Coalition's pre-dawn raid."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill, part 8 - "She, like the 3,000 other people of this sleepy, peaceful town, had all died (mostly in their sleep) from the Coalition's pre-dawn raid."

That's a weird parenthetical note. Is it meant to imply they didn't suffer? If so, why? This book hasn't exactly flinched from other Coalition-driven suffering. It feels like a Siembiedan addition, but maybe he throught the original text was unclear?


No, that's not it either. Dammit, this is going to bug me. Not as much as the ability of Rifts dolphins to track flying saucers, or the complete plot absence of Charles Baxter Reed, the top general of the Coalition army, but... what... why...?

Adventures
_{By Bill Coffin
Additional text & ideas by Kevin Siembieda}


Actually, it only contains one escapade. Also, "less than honorable" is a weird euphemism for "genocidal".


Just the one. It's only one.

And that one adventure is Asher's Revenge. See, the Coalition have the CAF-1, a new bombing aircraft modeled after the Spruce Moose and the Antonov AN-225 Mriya. On its first service run, it bombed a civilian town known as Sorville, annihilating it. The only survivor was Asher Grey, who had been shopping in the next town over before returning to a crater. His wife died in the conflagration, and so he looks to the sky and swears vengeaaaance.

Then he fucks completely off and reveals his dragon form as Aurelor the Magnificent.

It turns out Aurelor was a good guy dragon who got tired of fighting and retired as a human. He found love and settled down like Unforgiven but with a dragon, hoping Tolkeen nearby would help keep things peaceful. Irony! The dragons of Freehold then stopped by, and were like "Hey you should cut this human crap out and be a rad dragon." and he was like "Nah, I'm cool." And they were like "Foolish fool, you will regret this foolishness foolishly!" and fucked off. Then the Coalition bombed his wife, and he turned to them for vengeaaaance. But they were like "We told you you would regret it, we told you you so, fuck off!" So he made a phone call to other dimensions or something to summon his old buds Nikoden Shodai (a Japanese dragon) and Corrigal of the Nine (a Greek dragon). Also he looked for mortal adventurers to aid him, promising treasure and also favors.

Player characters, that's your cue, enter stage left.


_{"I'm gonna strangle you right in the sealed armor- wait."}

Then Aurelor sends a message via magic pigeons to a number of Coalition general and Emperor Prosek to be like "I'm gonna smash your stupid plane and the stupid commander that sent it and if you get in my way I'll smash you too." And the Coalition is like "Well, time to kill a dragon!" Then they get on opposite sides of the screen and it's heaven or hell let's rock.

We get stats for Aurelor the Magnificent (14th Level Great Horned Dragon, 8,500 M.D.C.), Nikiden Shodai (12th level Kumo-Mi Dragon, 8,100 M.D.C.), and Corrigal of the Nine (12th level Hydra, 8,000 M.D.C.). Nikiden, or "Niki the Just", is generically honorable and benevolent (being a Japanese dragon) and is here because of a debt, but also wants to try and talk Aurelor down or at least curb his bloodthirst. Corrigal of the Nine is a doof, but was saved by Aurelor once and owes him a life debt. He's a good guy with two bonus heads who likes to fight.

The adventure presumes the PCs have joined with Aurelor, either for Tolkeen, against the Coalition, or for goodies, fame, or favors. They really have two options: try and sneak into the base or try and intercept the CAF-1 on its next mission. The base plan has the big issue that if the PCs fail their sneaking and fail to quickly eliminate anybody that spots them, they're in for a fight the game system simply cannot process. The base has over 200 soldiers and skelebots as well as naval support. Granted, even if they intercept in the sky, we're dealing with 32 Super SAMAS, 8 Warbird Rocket Cycles, and 4 Shrike Interceptor jets to track in addition to the CAS-1, not to mention the three dragons and the PCs. The system breaks in any scenario other than sneaking, even with optional rules to make the CAS-1's gunfire mostly just "dramatic" and likely to miss the PCs more often than not.

Supposing the GM finds some way to run this combat without a marathon of miserable dice rolling, the CAF-1 will presumably be brought down.


This is just the feel-good book of 2000, isn't it? It also suggest it might explode, or they could salvage weapons from it, but that the Coalition will try and take it out with cruise missiles if they realize it's down. Of course, you spend 150+ million on a plane, just blow it up. It's disposable, right? Either way, Aurelor will be sure to reward the PCs.

Afterwards, Aurelor will go after Lt. General Zachary Kael, the guy who ordered the attack on his town, though he may die in the battle, as he's piloting one of the escorts, as Lt. Generals do. After that, Aurelor will possibly be finished- or he'll go after Drogue, but... well. It wouldn't be a Bill Coffin adventure without Siembieda shouting "You can't take away my toys, Coffin, they're my toys, miiiine, it's not fair, give them back!"


Yeah, a 10,000 year old dragon can't outwit a 49 year old human that's only about half as smart as he is. Not with his shapechanging, invisibility, and multiple means of teleportation. Yes, the Coalition has psychics and Dog Boys, but all Aurelor really needs is an accurate location, and then he can just teleport right up and give Drogue the business. Think about your statblocks, Kevin!... but I guess an ancient old dragon is dumb enough to go charging in against 20,000 troops. Makes you wonder how he survived that long, huh? This can't be the first time he's lost a love. What a lucky duck he's been.

Out of nowhere during the aftermath, it gives the possibility that maybe the PCs were in it to defend the CAF-1, which makes sense if the PCs love skulls, genocide, and being war criminals. You'll get all sorts of commendations! If it survives, it'll go on saturation-bombing soft-targets until Tolkeen eventually brings it down to make sure that decision branch is closed.


No one would weep if they were.

A more interesting suggestion is to allow the players to run the dragons on their bit of vengeance as a side story during a regular Siege on Tolkeen, and then have the outcome influence your campaign.

Naturally, we get stats for the CAF-1 Leviathan (5,000 M.D.C.), if not art, and it turns out to be yet another one of Drogue's "Special Projects". It was originally a design mothballed as requiring too much risk and too much upkeep, but Drogue liked the idea of a big fuckoff plane and here we are. It can land on air or water, go 550 MPH, carry several companies of troops, has more rail guns and missiles than any GM should have to deal with, bombs, etc. It can't carry as many bombs as one might expect, mainly because the Coalition hasn't developed a bomb delivery system large enough for it.


_{Now, here in Tolkeen... the spell is broken. And we live again!}

Conclusion

Well, got a new candidate to compete with Africa, Spirit West, or Index 2 for worst Rifts book. The Daemonix part isn't bad, but a lot of the rest of the book is just miserable, and the sad fact is that it's just a matter of degrees. If the new Coalition offensive was presented purely for what it is - a monstrous crime against humanity and D-Beery, that'd be ham-handed as fuck, and possibly in poor taste. But it'd have been in line with the setting and grim, but not quite as poisonous as it ends up being.

Instead, it tries to desperately try and humanize mass murdering war criminals by peppering in the occasional Principled character, even though there's no way a character like that could remain functional at that alignment. It keeps also just trying to "both-sides" things, pretending that Tolkeen is somehow just as bad, and it just... doesn't work so far. It's disastrously mishandled. They want to introduce shades of grey for Tolkeen with the Iron Juggernauts or Daemonix... but in both cases the exact ramifications of both forces are unknown. Yeah, maybe the Iron Juggernauts are created using some type of living sacrifice, but they're willing for all we know. The Daemonix are evil, we're told, but mostly just seem to be strangely sympathetic, like puppy dogs that followed some wizards home. Meanwhile, death camps? Those are purely, unambiguously evil, and that's impossible to wiggle around. And the worst part is that it tries. It tries to excuse JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS BULLSHIT AROUND ACTUAL GENOCIDE, OH WERE YOU JUST IGNORANT THE CHILD HAD FEELINGS I GUESS IT'S OKAY YOU SHOT THEM MAJOR WHAT THE UNFUCK SIEM-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw91RJ_m_7g

_wooosahhh

When I was a kid, I had a toy, his name was Lord Dread. Lord Dread was a cyborg who believed that the future of mankind was in being converted into a digital form, after which they would be eventually uploaded to immortal, emotionless "perfect" robot bodies. But there were parallels in terms of color schemes and logos with the "Bio-Dread" forces deliberately similar to Nazism, with the extermination of humanity deliberately played as similar to the extermination of the Jews. Hell, they even had a "Dread Youth" organization. And they were, frankly, mostly successful- the grand majority of the world's population had already been "digitized" by Dread. And you could play with him. As a toy. As a child.

Lord Dread wasn't unique. My Stormtrooper toys were modeled off of, well, stormtroopers. While Cobra diverged pretty heavily from straightforward Nazi stereotypes, they were inspirational descendants of Marvel's Hydra organization, and there's a line of fascism throughout. Megatron, probably not coincidentally, turned into a Nazi gun. Nazism was, in short, often the inspirational shorthand for villainy. Of course, the toyetic nature of the 1980s meant that these weren't just characters on children's TV. They were toys sold to children to play with. In short, playing the bad guys was sold to us as a valid mode of play.

And to an extent, that's not all that bad... as long as you know they're bad guys. And there were usually limits to the parallels, unlike Lord Dread. And while Siembieda is too old to be a child of the 1980s, he was a avid toy collector and he no doubt got to go through that. And, much like those toys, the Coalition is a bunch of villains with neat designs that borrow from the Nazi aesthetic. The problem is that, as we grow up, often genre fans things to be more "adult", more serious, and less simple. And the Coalition are definitely that. The problem is that the parallels then wash away. When you start giving body counts and death camps, you're no longer dealing with a motley crew of scheming fascists run by Yosemite Sam in a high register. Suddenly, "villain play" becomes far darker. And trying to make them seem sympathetic? Forget about it.

THE END OF "COALITION OVERKILL". 560 PAGES REMAIN OF THE COALITION WARS.