Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion by Alien Rope Burn

"To see the inner workings of a truly alien life form that has little in common with humans or most other sentient beings."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Well, bugger.


I can't ever say there was much buzz about this book.


But time just flies by and before you know it, you've done a swarm of Rifts summaries.


You go, "Hive done that much? How far have I pollen?"


But the thing that really stings is that I'm still not even halfway through the game line. But it's just the way things are going to bee, I suppose.



Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 1: "To see the inner workings of a truly alien life form that has little in common with humans or most other sentient beings."

Did I just skip Rifts World Book 22: Free Quebec? Nah, see, I generally do them in order of publication save where otherwise noted. And 23 was published before 22. Mind, despite them being both metaplot-heavy books, they don't really reference each other. So there aren't spoilers for Free Quebec, or anything like that. Whereas most books of this era are manuscripts done by an outside author which are then "Siembiedaized", this is pure Siembieda book- the kind we haven't really had since Rifts World Book 18: Mystic Russia, and won't see again for awhile. So, uh. Enjoy it? Still, this book has a secret origin in The Rifter #3, where Wayne Breaux wrote a lengthy article fleshing out the Xiticix. I didn't cover it at the time, knowing it would be reprinted here. And Breaux wrote Rifts World Book 15: Spirit West, so you know we're in for a ... treat?



Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat things. The Xiticix are, in my opinion, dull. Really dull. They have a pretty neat visual design courtesy of Long, and there's some promise to them around the edges. But the version we get is too much of a cipher to intrigue, but too reserved to fully feel threatening. The idea of having an "invasive species" is a neat one, but the Xiticix are nowhere near as threatening as something the Chtorr (of the War Against the Chtorr series) or as nuanced as something like the Invid (Robotech / Genesis Climber MOSPEADA) or the Vajra (Macross Frontier). We'll get a lot more into it, and hopefully I can liven it up... or at least skim really fast through it.

Siembieda gives us an introduction basically gushing how excited he is about the possibilities with the current metaplot events, few of which will actually be followed up on, but he's excited for "the changing face of the world that is Rifts®".

Oh, and it's pronounced "zeye-tick-icks", for the record. Blame Kevin Long. Kevin Siembieda does.


_{"Nooooo fighting!"}

The Seven Dangers Metaplot

As covered in occamnailfile's review of Rifts Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids, one of the early metaplots in the Rifts line is the "Seven Dangers" plotline. The city of Lazlo, through correlating seer reports, mentions they have prophesized "Seven Dangers" or "Four Demons" - it's a bit unclear. But based on the facts, here's how they lined up in the original prophecy.

• The Mechanoids are clearly supposed to be the first threat, the "Devouring Swarm". It is, after all, introduced in their book, but furthermore, the clues to their identity matches up to the Mechanoids and their role in that book.
  
• The second through fifth dangers are references to each of the Four Horsemen in Rifts World Book 4: Africa, and the metaplot in that book deals with them being defeated by a "Gathering of Heroes".
  
• The sixth danger is most likely Zazshan, the scheming supernatural intelligence disguising itself as Mrrlyn, the Lady of the Lake, and Lady Guinevere in Rifts World Book 3: England.
  
• The seventh danger is unclear; originally it could be humans like the Coalition or Triax, or an as-yet unknown demon. However, Rifts World Book 19: Australia definitely names Tikilik the evil frog god as the only remaining candidate for the final danger.

However, Rifts World Book 20: Canada contradicted that. It hints the "Great Devourer" may be the Xiticix instead of the Mechanoids, though Plato thinks they were right regarding the Mechanoids, but then refers to the Xiticix confusingly as the "Great Devourer" repeatedly. Which is a problem, because:

• The Great Devourer was supposed to come from the East. The Xiticix come from the West.
  
• The Great Devourer was supposed to have fought the minions of Splugorth before. That fits the Mechanoids, as they fought the Kittani, the brainiape minions of the Splugorth. That doesn't fit the Xiticix as far as we know.
  
• The Great Devourer was supposed to arrive "soon". That matches the timing of the Mechanoids' arrival, but the Xiticix had already been around for decades at that point.
  
• The Great Devourer would have to be wiped out to the last invader. This is true of the Mechanoids; once again, not so much of the Xiticix.

The other big change is that the Four Horsemen are seemingly counted as one threat, not four. That changes things to:

• The first danger was the Mechanoids, probably, who were presumed defeated. If not, then the Xiticix?
  
• The second danger was the Four Horsemen, definitely defeated by this point.
  
• The third through fifth dangers are unknown, but the Xiticix may be one of them. Tikilik still fits in somewhere as well. In Rifts World Book 35, the Daemonix from the Coalition Wars books (we'll get to them, no worries on that part) are pointed to as a likely candidate, and the Coalition States themselves are also considered for inclusion. Ultimately, they can't all fit in.
  
• The sixth danger remains Zazshan from all appearances.
  
• The seventh danger remains unknown at this point in continuity. Far, far forward in continuity we'll see a fiendish invasion in Rifts World Book 35: Megaverse in Flames that will be identified as the seventh danger fairly definitively. But it also calls that invasion the "Great Devourer", as if that water wasn't muddy enough.

"I know.", you may be thinking. "That was so clear initially! I'm glad they declarified it!" Well, it doesn't really matter too much, it's just a shorthand to tell fans that shit just got real, but it also tells fans "You know, we didn't actually plan this all out..."

Prophecies are trash plotting anyway, there, I said it.


_{In case you didn't know.}

Xiticix
An Overview
_{By Kevin Siembieda & Wayne Breaux Jr.}

So, the Xiticix are "extremely alien", and by "alien" they just mean they seem impossible to communicate with, not that they're really hard to understand. Mostly, they're bugs- they have a hive society without individuality, comparable to many kinds of earthly insect societies. Despite their semi-humanoid form and rifles what fire mind bullets, they aren't particularly human in mindset. They build hive colonies that look like towers, and are divided into a number of breeds or castes much like insects. Around a hive they tend to start planting outposts to secure a region, and then move in to reach new hives. Currently, they're based around northern Manitoba, Ontario, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan, but are steadily spreading with increasing speed across Minnesota and Manitoba, after which they'll threaten most of the Midwest and Canada.

The Xiticix, while not heedlessly aggressive, generally have little or no regard for other life. Their hive networks essentially destroy most local fauna and flora, essentially terraforming land to become their own native ecosystem. Without anybody stopping them, they could cover Earth within a few centuries. A even longer-term concern is that, given enough time, they would use rifts to travel to other worlds, where they could continue to spread across worlds without sufficient defenses. The Splugorth and their minions in Atlantis have begun to recognize this, and are trying to figure out if they need to take a direct hand in stopping the Xiticix. That being said, the Xiticix lack malevolence or ambition - they just push out other life as a result of their expansion.

When they decided to expand their border, humanoid communities generally have some warning as they begin to raid and otherwise make their presence known. This is intended to just be a means of claiming their new territory and try and push out any rivals. If the community remains after a few months, the Xiticix will send in a full-scale swarm to destroy them. In general, they tend to regard double-digits worth of traveling humanoids as threats, and will send repeated waves against them. Smaller groups may be ignored or simply harassed if they're low-key. However, large figures like giant robots will definitely get their attention. Similarly, stopping and making camp will be seen as claiming territory, and merit an attack. Some people have figured out how to extract a pheromone scent from Xiticix - mainly local Psi-Stalker tribes - and used that to distract and fool Xiticix and infiltrate their communities.


_{This is why you never advertise free pizza.}

Sometimes, oddly, a single Xiticix will single out a member of a traveling group for a duel. If they win, they'll likely challenge any other single survivor- if they lose, other Xiticix simply carry the dead duellist off. If the would-be Xiticix duelist is ganged up on, the rest of the swarm will join in. It's not clear why they do this, other than to communicate their willingness to fight for their territory.

Many presume the Xiticix just eat anything, but those more familiar with them note that they don't seem to eat anything at all. The truth is that their hives act as farms for an alien fungus that acts as their main food source. What does the fungus grow from?



However, it doesn't grow outdoors well, only within the confines of the hive. They can eat some fruits, root vegetables, and fungi if sufficiently desperate. They don't eat animals, but do break them down to form a special substance known as "Sludge" used in their growth process. Xiticix colonies can grow to 500 million members before slowing down, at which point they spawn new colonies that grow to the same size. Should they conquer much of the world, colonies will split and start to fall into infighting, as their ability to create new colonies will be stemmed.

Those who have paid very close attention (particularly to the audio reviews) will note this differs from some previous interpretations of the Xiticix. Though their characterization has varied, they're aiming to pin things down. This is dry, I know. There isn't much to be done. It's tough to mock or laud. The Xiticix don't really have much personality to them, there isn't any way to interact with them meaningfully, and they expand at a rate where it isn't an immediate crisis. And there are so many on them here, even though a lot could be summed up as "they're bees that do their own honey, fuck pollen". Over half the book is just one long section on them, too. Give me strength.

Next: Killa Bees Attack.

"When an attack is genuine, thousands to millions (depending on the size of the Hive Network) will mobilize to defend the colony, particularly the Queen's Chamber, Birthing areas and Nurseries hidden away underground."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 2: "When an attack is genuine, thousands to millions (depending on the size of the Hive Network) will mobilize to defend the colony, particularly the Queen's Chamber, Birthing areas and Nurseries hidden away underground."


_{"One day, boy, none of this will be yours."}

Hive Cities

Xiticix rely on their warrior caste to patrol the hives and territory- they also respond to any disturbance or apparent damage to the hive. Any major incursion will result in a chain of pheremone signals that can bring thousands or millions of Xiticix warriors to the yard!


Good luck running a 40+ Xiticix swarm in a system that strains laboriously under the weight of an 8-combatant combat, GMs!


_{Examples of encounters nobody should want to run.}

Hives are made out of an Mega-Damage resin made from earth and some special sauce provided by the Xiticix. Entrances are 3-5 stories off the ground, which presents a challenge for characters trying to sneak in, who do so at a -60% penalty. Given a group of PCs that might have to roll individually, and the fact that Prowl starts at 25%, sneaking in is practically impossible through mundane means. A single PC might be able to slip if if they're exceedingly skilled at sneaking missions and go alone. Otherwise, forget it. Also, the walls are spiked, so there's a penalty on Climbing rolls and you might cut yourself. Also some of their entrances and bridges are covered with spikes that reduce speed by 75% (!) and give combat penalties and- look, dammit, PCs are going to have a hard time! Roll to see if you stumble! If you bleed that attracts bugs! -55% to fun!

Presuming you get in and don't have a million Xiticix trying to shoot you with mind bullets, you have to go up to the top of the tower to find the way down, likely fighting Xiticix warriors the whole way down. The only way to avoid just aggroing mobs the whole way down is to successfully sneak in (ahahaha, sure) with a small group that will only have to deal with small groups of warriors trying to stop them. Of course, killing a single Xiticix will release their "death scent" and you're in swarm city again. And the swarms will move to cut off intruders, surrounding them from all sides. Similarly, they can add new tunnels to ambush them or collapse existing ones. Generally, they rely on their rifles (that fire telekinetic "bullets") first as they close in before moving in to melee combat. Any they happen to capture alive ("10-20%", it says) will be captured to be converted into Sludge.


_{Surprise Birthday Parties are the worst.}

In general, their tactics are... like bugs but smarter. Warriors use actual tactics, though they tend to focus on using their overwhelming numbers. If the "Elder Queen" is threatened, they're willing to sacrifice just about any of their underlings to make an escape. They rarely ever break unless all of the Queens die, and even then they're try and preserve the eggs and larvae to produce a new Queen. If there are no Queens, eggs, or larvae, they fall into inactivity and eventually starve after a month or three, but will still lash out at intruders.


The mechanics for that?

There's a lot of general word salad, pointless percentages, dice rolls, and redundant text here.


_{♫ Xiticix Babies ♫}

The Growth & Life Cycle of the Xiticix

So, the Queen directs the activities of the colony and lays eggs by the literal truckload. They never leave - some literally can't, having grown up to become larger than the exits to their chambers. From there, Nannies and Workers move them to "Birthing Chambers" where the Nannies take care of them for three months until hatching, and the larvae are known as "Nits". They're based into a chamber and fed "Sludge", which is a concentration of nutrients and magical energy harvested by rendering down other lifeforms. Sludge quickens their growth process (from about 3 years to 3 months) at which point they become Grubs and start to develop some adult features. Another 8 months and it spins a cocoon, and remains there for a month before emerging as an immature adult. There they remain within the hive, learning what they need to know that's not from instinct, and a year after that, they're fully fledged adults. Once a colony gets to 100 million members, the use of Sludge dies off, as the colony is considered stable at that point.

Theoretically Xiticix can live to age ~80, but most warriors are killed by age 25, while most workers survive to 65. There is an "Elder Queen" that rules for centuries, and lesser Queens are designated just to lay eggs - as soon as they age out of egg-laying, they're made into Sludge. An ailing Elder Queen chooses an heir from amongst the other Queens, and then is Sludged as well. If the Elder Queen dies, one of the Queens will take her place- how this is chosen is a mystery. There can be nearly a hundred Queens at a single well-established nest, though most only have 22-32 within their extended Hive network. If there are no Queens, 1d4 of the existing Nits or Grubs shift to take on the Queen growth cycle chemically. In general, the main goals of the Queens are simply growth and expansion.


_{"You've gotta tell 'em! SLUDGE IS PEOPLE! We gotta stop them! Somehow!"}

On worlds dominated by Xiticix, Queens are far fewer and Sludge not is in common use, and their existence is far more fractious - Queens either have to go into the wild and struggle against other hives that might hunt them down, or attempt coups within their hive. Does any of that matter in this context? Not terribly.

The Xiticix Hives

There are six major hives in North America, not counting outposts:

• Duluth, Minnesota: The first and largest hive.
  
• Fargo, North Dakota: Has a rivalry between that and the Crookston Hive.
  
• Rolla-Morden, Manitoba & North Dakota: Yep, it's a hive.
  
• Winnipeg, Manitoba: May clash with the Big Falls hive as both expand.
  
• Crookston, Minnesota: Another hive.
  
• Big Falls, Minnesota: Yet another hive.

At this point we get a map of the Typical Xiticix Tower, and we're going to get a lot of maps, but to be honest, despite getting a long dungeon-style breakdown of the rooms, almost nothing interesting to PCs (or even GMs, really) is going on here. They're just for defense and farming, after all, and though I suppose you might find somebody's remains and goodies, or a Xiticix cache of weapons, it's not going to be a typical setup where rooms have a specific purpose- most are just basically just growth spaces or hallways, at least until you get underground. Around three "levels" or layers down you'll find the nurseries, and at level four below ground is where you'll find the Queens. Level Five is Elder Queens. And that's the vital information, I don't want to cover riveting material like this:

_{It looks like a mushroom? Yeah, a mushroom. A mushroom is what it looks like.}

What even happens if you walk into a room with 700 Workers? Do you start combat with 700 Workers? "Okay, and we'll break for today, at the start of next session I'll have the initiative rolls for 700 workers set out." If a room has 5000 nits, does that number- how does it- I mean- even a modest fight with the Elder Queen will involve an average of 39 enemy combatants to start and have 10-60 Xiticix arriving every four rounds. How do you handle that?

Well, you don't, because this is armchair design at its finest, saying "mmm, yes, you encounter 1100 Nannies*, that seems realistic". And it may be for the concept, but for all the painstaking detail, anybody doing a "Hive Dive" is going to be winging it and having to ignore these specifics. A lot. Or, alternately, just slap the book shut and say "dodge 300 mind-bullets or die".

_{* I swear these are real numbers I'm stating, no exaggeration.}

Next: A bug's life.

"Dat green sum-of-a-gun dropped in an' squirted ol' Rollie wit sumting."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 3: "Dat green sum-of-a-gun dropped in an' squirted ol' Rollie wit sumting."

I do have mercy. I do. I'm not going over Wayne Breaux's attempts to do a rural Coalition informant's accent in full detail right now. Every Xiticix type is opened up with one of his blurbs about him and how scary they are. "From da ceiling, da floor, da walls .. . da place was crawlin' wit dem!"

Y'don'say.


_{The rare Xiticix beach party.}

Xiticix
_{By Wayne Breaux Jr. & Kevin Siembieda}

We get some details on the Xiticix's abilities, which I'm just going to break down briefly:

Special Senses: 340 degree field of vision, polarized eyes, vision in the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, nightvision, super smelling / tasting / hearing antennae (rated at double dog), "track by sound", motion detection, hearing in the ultrasonic range (with accompanying ultrasonic language), identify objects with antennae, identify temperature, detect wind direction (is this out of hand already?), antennae danger sense, track by smell, recognize scents up to a mile away, remember scents, smell fires, detect incoming rain-

At this point you may as well just write "Sense Adventurers 98%" instead! How does smearing yourself in their smell fool them at this point? "Boy, that Xiticix sure doesn't have the right number of eyes, arms, biology, has no wings, is wrapped in a strange mineral resin, and doesn't seem to notice anything I say. But he smells right, seems legit, move along." I mean, things like that in theory would work with creatures where their primary sense is smell and the others are weakened - most real-life insects have wide-angle but essentially garbage vision, and they rely on their antennae for a lot. The Xiticix have basically no weak senses - hell, some of them have psionic senses on top of this! Moreover, does it matter if they know rain is coming? Do they attack more in the rain? Do they hate the rain and avoid it? I'm just saying this could have been rained in a bit.

Then, we get a variety of chemical abilities that Xiticix have. Dog Boys and other super-smeller characters can detect their pheromones, but they probably don't grok the meaning immediately. Oh, and there are different types of Xiticix; we'll discuss what these are shortly, but bear in mind the book references them before defining them. These include:

• Call to Arms Chemical: Produced by Queens, Nannies, Hunters, and Super-Warriors, this is a chemical that puts noncombat Xiticix in a combat-ready, alert state, and gives them small bonuses - nothing game-changing, but it could be dangerous if you stumble into one of those rooms of 400 workers and they all get +2 to damage.
  
• Chemical Alarm: This is more of a low priority message of suspicious activity; any Xiticix can do it.
  
• Colony Identification Scent: This allows Xiticix to identify fellow colony members and recognize members of rival hives. This is what's used by Psi-Stalkers to disguise themselves as Xiticix, information that's been shared with the Coalition (and later will be shared with Lazlo, as the plot trudges onward).
  
• Death Scent Chemical Alarm: Produced by Queens, Super-Warriors, Warriors, and Hunter, this is automatically triggered when down to 10% or less of their M.D.C. or killed. It can be smelled for four miles, and almost always triggers a response. Furthermore, if killed in close combat, a Xiticix's death smell will get all over their killer, marking them for bug-death for 1d4 days unless they take a dip and change clothes.
  
• Resin: Mud to Stone.
  
• Sludge: Queens and nannies can eat a living animal and barf it up as Sludge. (The rule about purloined magic power being doubled at the time of death is vital to the process, so it doesn't work on corpses.)
  
• Spit Acid: Queens, Nannies, Warriors, Hunters, and Super-Warriors can spit hot acid that does 1d4 Mega-Damage per melee for 2d4 melee rounds. "Oh, no, I've got get this armor off!" "Man, that does like 12 damage. 24 damage, tops. You're fine." "Oh, I'll just leave it on, then."
  
• Trail Scent: Queens, Hunters, Super-Warriors, Diggers, and Nannies can leave chemtrails.

On a different note, they have slow regeneration:



Palladium editing: it's what's for failure. Those statements are in the same column on the same page, even. I guess they mean it can regenerate arms and feet but not legs? How can it regenerate a whole arm but not a mandible?

<sub>and could I possibly care less


"Blowing off its arm is useless, bro! It'll regenerate it in two years!"</sub>

Granted, I think the idea is that if you badly injure a Xiticix maybe it can come back and you can fight ol' one-eye? Still, I'm struggling to imagine a circumstance where you have to track how well one of them is regenerating a limb over the course of over two years. We get detailed rules on what penalities they have for subtracted limbs, presumably because it doesn't slow them down that much and so you can have that zombie moment where the bug with one arm and one leg and one wing is still comin' atcha, but at the same time I can't imagine worrying too much about doing anything other than firing at their center of mass (for some reason "head" is not a hit location for them even though their eyes are).

They can also universally fly, climb, get a low-end Horror Factor. And, for the record, all Xiticix that aren't Queens or Nannies are male.

Next: Zoobooks: Xiticix.

"How deez damn bugs git such tings I don' know."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 4: "How deez damn bugs git such tings I don' know."

Then we can get into the different types of Xiticix; M.D.C. given has been averaged. Yes, they for some reason have leveling, even though they come in thousands and have little to no discernible identities.



_{Dawwww- AAAAAAA-}

• Larva Stage Xiticix (32 S.D.C. / 21 M.D.C.): There are Nits, which are cute little harmless baby slugs, and Grubs, which are human-sized and get Mega-Damage armor, but don't have Mega-Damage strength, so they're only a threat to unarmored humanoids.

_{Meet the beetles.}

• Xiticix Diggers (70 M.D.C. + 7 per level): These are beetle-like, larger Xiticix that handle hive construction, burrowing, and maintenance. And, good golly, do we get over three pages of details on their specialized abilities to do it with. Will you ever need to know they have a underground sense of direction at 72% + 2% per level? Oh, but they have -25% if the subterranean setting is "unfamiliar". Or that they burrow through earth at 20 feet per 15 seconds? Well, you'll have all your Xiticix Zoobook facts here. They can also make weapons and armor for other Xiticix. Their most devastating attack is that they can spit their resin at you once a round, and you have to take up a whole melee round or two scraping it off or basically end up with a concrete block around your legs or arms in short order. Of course, there's contradictions (it hardens in "1d4+1 melee rounds" but then the longer rules have it hardening within 4 melee rounds flat). Still, it's one of the nastiest weapons in the Xiticix arsenal; the only way to easily get free is to extract an enzyme from an organ in the digger- the Coalition have developed a manufactured version of the digger's unresinable enzyme for their soldiers, but they aren't sharing.

_{The right of the Xiticix to hunt humans is a valued part of the Hive's heritage and shall be forever preserved for the public good.}

• Xiticix Hunter (45 M.D.C. + 3.5 per level): This is one of the few Xiticix that might operate solo, in small packs, and can change their colors to hide in plain sight. They're essentially the scouts that travel the furthest from the hive to keep track on rival communities and travelers. Often they're the ones who will notice "threats" and then return to gather an actual swarm to drive things out, so it can be wise to kill them even if it releases the "Death Scent" since it's sometimes too far for the scent to reach its kin. Their other task is to seek out high-P.P.E. targets (but not too high, they're not suicidal) and spray them with a marking scent, which which marks somebody for capture by a larger swarm to be taken to the hive and made into Sludge.

_{And now for something slightly different.}

• Xiticix Leaper (58 M.D.C. + 3.5 per level): These are essentially Xiticix assassins with a fairly nasty poison bite and a frankly ridiculous grasshopper jump kick (47 M.D.C. on average). For some reason, Siembieda has to go on nearly a half-page on how weird it looks and how it might be some kind of mutation... just to explain why the art is off-model thanks to being done by a different artist. You don't need to describe its appearance at length, Siembieda, you paid for the goddamn art. Their poison can be extracted by Psi-Stalkers, "Indian Warriors", and "select D-Bees"... and... aw, crap...

_{Nobody knows a future scourge upon the Earth like Mom does.}

• Xiticix Nannies (115 M.D.C. + 7 per level): These are your hunchbacked giant grandma-themed Xiticix that look after the babies. They can sound a "Call to Arms" and make Sludge, of course. Their biggest deal is just having sensitive and healing psionic powers, and get doubled bonuses when fighting on behalf of larva. That means their +1 to Strike becomes... +2 to Strike! Fear the 5% increase in combat effectiveness when their grandma rage is induced!

_{Yes, that is a picture of somebody missing a target that size.}

• The Xiticix Queens (270 / 380 M.D.C. + 14 per level): The Queens are the ones that lay eggs, of course, and never leave the hives unless absolutely necessary. They are also the only ones who can make the telekinetic weapons the Xiticix use (through undetailed means), and have all the psionic powers Nannies get + telekinesis / psi-sword / psi-shield... but psionic powers are a bit crap in a fight. As such, they tend to rely on their protectors. However, they can spit resin, and have a tendency - unlike Diggers - to target the head, which is blinding and can be lethal if the character doesn't have a means to free themselves before suffocation sets in. The Young Queen has lower numbers than the Elder Queen, as reflected in the M.D.C. values above, but they're essentially the same otherwise.
  
• Xiticix Warrior (55 M.D.C. + 7 per level): Finally, the type PCs are actually likely to encounter most often. As such, they're fairly standard, with the big new feature they get over the corebook version being their special "new" four-armed combat system. With it, they can do a dual-weapon attack without suffering any penalties to parry (which, mind, the penalties noted don't match the preexisting ones for paired weapons...) or even do a four-armed attack by sacrificing their defense entirely, but apparently they only do that when "desperate". That means that even though they don't do much damage, they can nova strike for quad damage if they choose to, which is a curious choice to give enemies that will be attacking the PCs in swarms. About the only upside for PCs is that it only takes one parry attempt to defend against all four attacks (otherwise they could just drain out defenses with barrage attacks). Though they don't apparently do it often , it seems like their most effective attack would just to swarm a single target and just do all-out four-arm attacks to down their target as quickly as possible before moving to the next. In addition, there's a reference to do them doing Simultaneous Attacks, which is an obscure corebook rule where you can attack somebody instead of defending, essentially guaranteeing you both hit each other... except they can still parry (without any bonuses) by using their spare arms. So if you attack them in melee, they potentially get an double-hit on you and a chance to parry. Granted, this all fancy four-arm weapon fighting rules not used for any other four-armed characters, so don't get your hopes up if you're playing a Rahu-Man to pull these fancy moves off. But ultimately what it means out that the combat effectiveness of Xiticix from the corebook has massively increased, by effectively doubling or quadrupling their attacks.

_{"Wait, why don't we all get six arms?"}

• Xiticix Super-Warrior (55 M.D.C. + 7 per level): Essentially the warrior with slightly bigger numbers, but with six arms so they can do the four-attack shit all the time with impunity. Also, they're psychic and Electrokinetic because that made sense to the writer for some reason.
  
• Xiticix Worker: The drudge workers that assist with construction, lugging crap, delivering messages, etc. About the only special thing they have are pincers that enhance their unarmed damage a little.

_{Dai pinchi!}

The whole writeup is odd where they have all these level-based benefits to combat, but... like, are there really going to be detailed Xiticix NPCs? Is that going to be a thing for anybody ever? It's not like they have names unless humans give them one to identify a recurring threat.


_{Goo-d weapons.}

Xiticix Weapons

So, we can skim over most of this because it's mainly a variety of resin melee weapons that are more-or-less interchangeable. They require Mega-Damage strength to use to their full Mega-Damage effect, though anybody can pick them up and use them. Though there's been an attempt to give them different bonuses to different combat rolls instead of just giving them varying damage values, some are just better. Granted, that's still just 1d6+4 (the Xiticix Spike Whip and the Xiticix Sickle Axe being the ones of choice). While the the two-handed Xiticix Beheading Axe (5d6+4 M.D. with their strength values counted in) sounds badass, it's actually a bad choice for most Xiticix Warriors compared to just two-handing Sickle Axes (8d6+8 M.D., ditto). The Xiticix Double-Dagger is designed to let Leapers inflict their poison with a blade, which is good for them and bad for everybody else.


_{Dare you enter their magical realm?}

They get the new Resin Spike Gun that fires spikes for perhaps some of the worst damage I've seen on a ranged weapon (1d6 M.D... on a burst), but gives a -6 penalty to dodge because it does. The TK-Rifle hasn't changed from the corebook, and is pretty middling- though now it inflicts the -6 penalty the Spike Gun does to dodge when firing spike bursts and- wait, it seems like they just copied the Spike Gun entry and forgot to change some of the traits! Maybe? Lastly, the Resin Spitter is probably the nastiest weapon in their arsenal, because it leaves you out for two rounds trying to clean resin off or trying to make your way around with concrete on your limb... if it doesn't hit you on the head. We get a reminder that only Queens can make the ranged weapons at all, not just the TK-Rifle as previously stated... not that it really matters, we it's not like we're tracking the Queen's schedule or know how quickly they can be crafted. "Oh, they can only field two dozen TK-Rifles because she's got a busy schedule farting eggs." is not something that's going to come up.


_{Buggy whip.}

Next: Would you like to know more?

"Plan C: Let's hope somebody else engages the Xiticix."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 5: "Plan C: Let's hope somebody else engages the Xiticix."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvTiDnWJLE#t=62s

Prelude to War
_{The Coalition States - circa 105 P.A.}

So, the Xiticix aren't exactly getting completely ignored. The Coalition has been slow to realize how big a threat the Xiticix are, presuming they're just one of myriad demons and underestimating their numbers. However, in recent years they've began studying them and have realized what a threat they are, because... well, it doesn't say why. Make up your own reason! It's a multiverse of possibilities!


_{A proud graduate of the skulltrooper marksmanship academy.}

The Coalition States have been distributing information on the Xiticix, even externally, because of a secret plan. Having actually done raids into hives (almost always suicidally), they're aware of most of the major Xiticix types, how Xiticix attacks are typically triggered, and that eliminating the Queens is essential. Their only real mistakes is that they overestimate the current Xiticix numbers and growth, and are concerned male Xiticix may be able to "convert" to females in a crisis. However, their estimates that the current population of 1.6-2 million current Xiticix could explode into 30+ million in four years are only really off by a year, and there's enough to be concerned about either way.


_{The one time a Xiticix was actually outnumbered by Coalition troops?}

As it is, the Coalition have three potential plans to deal with the Xiticix:

• "Complete and total genocide." The problem with this plan is threefold. One, it'd be a tremendous expenditure in lives and resources to do this bug-hunting style. They realize that even nuking the Xiticix would only be a temporary solution, as it wouldn't destroy the underground complexes entirely. Two, it would "train" the Xiticix to see the Coalition as a serious threat and invite counterattacks if they ceased their offensive at any point. Third, they're flatly not sure they could win such a conflict, and even if they could, they might so weakened another one of their foes would successfully finish them off.
  
• "Holding Tactics." This is their current tactic: trying undercover surgical strikes, supplying support to local Psi-Stalkers in their struggle agains the creatures, releasing Xiticix Killers, etc. This is slowing the Xiticix growth, but not appreciably in the long run.
  
• "Let's hope somebody else engages the Xiticix." They've been so open with information because they've been hoping another of America's powers will try and deal with the Xiticix. However, this generally has the opposite effect, leading many to presume the Coalition beating the warning bell is little more than a trap and that they've been exaggerating the situation.

_{A Coalition officer's pipe dream of how the Xiticix Killer works out, no doubt.}

The Xiticix Killer, the Coalition's genetically modified predator designed to kill Xiticix (from Rifts World Book 13: Lone Star, pictured on the cover of that), is still being released in large numbers to middling effect. The whole statblock is reprinted here, but really, the notion that these would do anything is pretty pathetic. While it's a bit tougher than a single Xiticix Warrior, the new multiattack rules for Xiticix and their new flying kicks mean two decent hits and this thing goes down. Granted, this can pretty much do the same to to the Xiticix in melee with its stabbing tentacle. However, Xiticix are rarely going to be encountered alone- and they can just hail down spikes or TK bolts if they have ranged weapons from the air, and the energy bolts the Xiticix Killer can fire are a sad-trombone 1d4 M.D.


_{"I never trained for this in Hufflepuff!"}

Lazlo's War

So, Lazlo (the idyllic super-magical democratic city-state) has come to the conclusion that the Xiticix have to be dealt with, as originally revealed in Rifts World Book 20: Canada. And since nobody else is dealing with this, they've volunteered to become the "somebody else" of the Coalition's plan. While they find the notion of genociding the Xiticix abhorrent, all attempts to communicate with the bugs have failed. Why doesn't telepathic transmission or tongues work? It doesn't say. Still, there's a significant minority advocating finding a less violent solution, first spending longer trying to figure out a way to communicate with them, or secondly involving numerous plans involving transporting them to another world.

However, the main plan (called "Plan A") is to locate and exterminate all Xiticix Queens, larvae, and eggs. In theory, if they can halt reproduction, the Xiticix will be allowed to survive to the end of their eventual lifespan as a "humane" solution. Unlike the Coalition, they have the advantage of magic, so in theory, they can use magic and psionic means to locate down the Queens, and then move soldiers in via spells like teleport or invisibility. Similarly, summoned creatures like elementals could be used for scouting or assassination. As such, their losses are likely to be far lower than the Coalition would face for similar strategies.

The main issue is that they don't know how the Xiticix will react to the loss of their Queens. Some of the more hawkish suggest eliminating Warriors and their ilk when possible to limit the retaliatory power of the Xiticix. In addition, they would have to find ways to monitor the hives and make sure new Queens don't emerge.


_{"DIE CI TIC EIKS or is it DIE ZI TIS ISS or DIE ZI TUCKS eh fuck it."}

Plan B is to just to eliminate most of the Queens to isolate and concentrate the Xiticix (as they move to protect the remaining Queens), then aim for "Operation Scorched Earth" where they just go tunnel to tunnel and kill them all. Causalities will be higher, though, and a risk is seen in leaving any Queens alive, even just long enough to wipe out the rest.

But Lazlo isn't necessarily just going it alone. The most significant aid they'll have is from local tribes of Psi-Stalkers who are already fighting a covert war against the Xiticix, as well as companies of troops from the Tundra Rangers. Lesser help with come from the Cyber-Knights and adventurers, but not too much in that regard. Northern Gun may offer under-the-counter supplies, unable to offer overt support due to their alliance with the Coalition, but being too close to the Xiticix to ignore Lazlo's efforts. Similarly, the Splugorth might send covert agents to provide quiet support, not wanting bug hegemony over the planet.


_{This is what the Splugorth think is "covert", apparently...}

The Coalition and Quebec aren't really willing to support the effort, but won't sabotage it in any way. Emperor Prosek is concerned a successful campaign by the mages against the Xiticix will make Lazlo into a respected power that will attract allies, but is more concerned about the Xiticix and would vastly prefer to see them wiped out. Once Lazlo pulls out, the Coalition will likely start their own offensive to try and wipe out the Xiticix once and for all.

Finally, we get a discussion of the impact of Lazlo's offensive. There will be dramatic loss of life amongst the Lazlo forces and their Psi-Stalker allies. Furthermore, the remaining Psi-Stalkers will be robbed of their current "prey", and will need to seek out new supernatural foes to fight. In addition, the Simvan Monster Riders of Canada are likely to make incursions onto Psi-Stalker territories. The "border" that the Xiticix provided will also allow new threats or settlers to cross it. Lastly, the Hive networks still standing will likely be claimed by settlers, Psi-Stalker tribes, or monsters. The Coalition, on the other hand, has a scheme to turn vacated hives into traps, where they could observe the interiors with cameras and release traps like poison gas to eliminate D-Bees and wizards. Chiefly, they want to keep their enemies from making the "hivelands" into their new fixer-upper homes. There's also a digression about how the war on Tolkeen will impact the Cyber-Knights, but there will be time enough for that in Coalition Wars 4: Cyber-Knights.


Next: Arborpunks.

"When I'm going up agin dem Xiticix, I'll take two or three o' dem Spider Warriors ta watch my back, if I have any say in da matter."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 6: "When I'm going up agin dem Xiticix, I'll take two or three o' dem Spider Warriors ta watch my back, if I have any say in da matter."


_{Killing Xiticix unarmored would definitely be Hard Mode.}

Psi-Stalkers
_{A Private War}

So, much of Western Canada is home to "Wild" Psi-Stalkers, psuedoalbino, hairless, edgy mutants that feed on magical energy by hunting and slaying magical beings... or, at least, cutting them for a "counting coup" sort of victory that drains magical energy. (And, as a reminder, they're Psis that stalk monsters, not Stalkers of Psi.) As the Xiticix have spread, they've become the primary targets of the Psi-Stalkers, and the bug-men have come to see them as enemies as well. Given that the Psi-Stalkers A) love fights and B) hate bugs, joining up with with the Lazlo offensive is a natural decision for many. Others prize their independence too much to work for Lazlo, and their presence might fuck with well-paid battle plans. Apparently some go as far as to prank or steal from Lazlo troops, because... well, they're dicks, I guess. However, they are highly experienced in fighting the Xiticix, and independent tribes might sometimes come to the rescue of Lazlo forces.


_{"Spider! He is our hero!"}

Most join up with the cause, but that doesn't mean they do it blindly. Siembieda gives a long diatribe about how if they're treated disprespectully, they'll quickly turn to contempt. Pass-agg GMs, that's your cue to leave rude PCs high and dry!- after all, it's typical for Siembieda to include punishments for ill-mannered PCs. Still, largely they're excited to take down their buggy rivals, and will be the most numerous allies Lazlo will have.


_{An extreme baldness treatment.}

It's the nineties, though, and it's time for Psi-Stalkers to have clans tribes! Yeah of these get special Tribe Bonuses, making them flatly better than Wild Psi-Stalkers created with previous books.

• The Spider Tribe: Known by a tattoo of a spider over their right eye, claiming that they were inspired by a legendary "Spider Warrior" to overthrow spider demons that once ruled over Manitoba. I guess you need to think like a spider to defeat a spider. They're strong-willed, "skilled" (+5% nickel bonus) trackers of the supernatural.
  
• Pony-Tail Tribe: Distinctive for the fact they stitch hair into their scalp as ponytails and topknots, these are fierce rivals of the Spider Tribe. This mainly comes from the face that the Pony-Tails are allies with the Simvan Monster Riders, whereas the Spider Tribe wars with them. Otherwise, they're a large tribe that generally clashes with non-Simvan D-Bees because they hate "outsiders who don't belong". Okay.
  
• Deathbringer Warriors: This is an unusual tribe that follows a small group of strange, relatively benevolent necromancers. They often craft armor and weapons made or stolen from Xiticix, mixing it with necromantic items, including dramatic headdresses made from bug skulls. By using scent glands, they've skilled at sneaking in and out of hives. Their leader is a Chinese necromancer named Quiwan Li who claims he's here to made sure the rest of the world doesn't fall to demonkind like China has.

_{"Face the mystic mysteries of my mysteriousness, arrogant bugs!"}



How inscrutable. We get Li's full writeup, an online of his disciples, and details on his disciple Brok Magnil, a... generic sadist and powermonger... who wants his peers to abandon all this fighting monsters stuff and set up a dark kingdom in Canada. Chances are he'll use the war to desert the Deathbringers and do bad stuff. Also he wants people to call him Deathstrike. Good luck with that, Brok.


No thanks, I'm good.

The two Psi-Stalker R.C.C.s ("Coalition" and "Wild") get a second reprint (they were also reprinted in Lone Star, even though... both are in the core rulebook). We get a few extra details on the fact that the Northern tribes are more gregarious than the "savage and murderous" Psi-Stalkers of the Pecos Empire. This book was really having to stretch to fill its 160 pages.

Next: Fishing for content.

"G.M. intervention to 'save a player group' should always have a price or ramifications of some kind."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 7: "G.M. intervention to 'save a player group' should always have a price or ramifications of some kind."

First, we get some Hook, Line, Stinker Sinker adventure hooks! See what I did? I said they were stinkers! Clever. Well, not all, but, y'know. The smell is inevitable.

• Defend the Mark: A character (PC or NPC) gets a spray-by from a Xiticix Hunter, marking them for collection to be made into Sludge. It should be somebody the PCs have reason to protect, and they have to get them at least 100 miles away from the hive complex while under assault from Xiticix sent to collection... or find some way to wash it off. But maybe the Xiticix attacks while they search for a basin are too much for the PCs! What then?
  

  Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion posted:

  When appropriate, the G.M. can introduce a character, hero, group or even the cavalry (Cyber-Knights, Tundra Rangers, Lazlo Troops, CS troops, a rival band of adventurers) to save the player characters. This tactic should be used very sparingly, for dramatic effect and to progress or add to the story. For example: If the rescuers are CS troops or a rival band of adventurers, or heroes, or mercenaries, they are likely to make fun of the player characters and spread the word of their mistakes, failures and inadequacies. ("Yeah, they were dead meat until we showed up and pulled their fat outta the fire. Geez, what even made you guys think you could take them on?" Followed by laughs, jokes and jabs.) If Cyber-Knights, Tundra Rangers, Lazlo soldiers or other heroic figures are involved, the player group may lose their confidence or respect, or be looked upon poorly as loose cannons or incompetent fools. On the other hand, any of these groups might regard them as courageous heroes (or fools who can be duped) and try to recruit them to their cause or for a special mission; a nice segue into the next adventure.
  
  G.M. intervention to "save a player group" should always have a price or ramifications of some kind. Furthermore, such intervention can not become a crutch in which the players get lazy and expect the G.M. to save their characters time and time again. This is a violent game with a war setting. Characters will die. It is inevitable. Sometimes half to the entire group may perish — um, to coin a famous phrase, "Remember the Alamo," one of the most amazing battles against overwhelming odds in American history. A battle where numerous renowned heroes perished, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Trais among them. Heroes and soldiers die. Sometimes they die heroically, sometimes foolishly (remember General Custer?) and other times through tragedy and betrayal. It is not the job of the G.M. to rescue the player characters. In fact, a heroic death/self-sacrifice or act of betrayal can motivate and galvanize a group. And, personally, if a character is stupid, ignores the hints and warnings of the G.M. and finds himself at the business end of a gun or sword, its his own fault. Maybe, he'll be more careful with his next character. And don't forget, this is a game, the characters are fictional, so when one character dies, a new one can be "rolled up" and worked back into the game.
  
  Just some friendly G.M. tips as we get going.

  
  Just some friendly tips on passive-aggression! Kill off those characters to teach them a valuable lesson! About something! I don't know what!
  
• A Warrior's Death: A crippled Xiticix is looking for a fight to the death rather than being turned into Sludge. Wait, don't they regenerate? Or not? We just don't know. What do do know is that you've got a one-legged Xiticix trying to murder you for a warrior's honor! Because that's something they care about, I guess? The fuck?! Kill a weakened Xiticix! Heroic!
  
• The Queen's Gambit: The PCs run into a bunch of agitated Xiticix, who it turns out they're building a new hive and have an opportunity to catch a Queen! What do they do?! Murder all the Xiticix or at least the Queen? Yeah, that's probably what they do. What a twist.
  
• Psi-Stalkers' Day Out: The PCs are walking along and a bunch of Psi-Stalkers run past and are like "runnnn!" and then they're being chased by Xiticix! Do the PCs help them? Pretty short adventure if they don't. Or it turns out (in a more interesting twist) that the Psi-Stalkers are being chased by Xiticix Killers after dosing themselves with Xiticix scent. Or maybe the Psi-Stalkers are raiders and the PCs are confronted by some angry victims that wonder if the PCs are part of the raider gang! "No, ma'am, we have hair and can apply eyeshadow tastefully, please move along."
  
• The Xiticix did it: "A band of evildoers" are going around communities to "engage in torture, rape and pillage", and leaving a Xiticix corpse or two behind to frame the bugs. The PCs have to find this out and beat them! But no matter what, some escape for revenge against the PCs! Do you really need serial rape murderers as continuing villains?! I like to think not.
  
• Ghost Town: The PCs run into an abandoned town that seems safe, but when they rest for the night, Xiticix arrive! Or maybe grumpy Xiticix hunters show up that want them gone! Or maybe bandits show up to raid the town not knowing it's empty! Or maybe it's not deserted, but the villagers are in a hidden place hiding from Xiticix Patrol... and then there's the sound of a gunshot!... what? That doesn't go anywhere Focus, Kevin! Focus!

_{"Watch my back while I cast Lazlo's Lines of Indistinct Offense!"}

Lazlo vs the Xiticix

Well, it's time for the main event, the war against the Xiticix. We get... well, a recap of the whole plan described earlier. And then a % breakdown of the Lazlo forces. The top three groups represented are: Wild Psi-Stalkers, Military Soldiers, and... Wilderness Scouts or Woodsmen-Trap- fffffu-


So, their tactics are as follows: kill any patrols if it's deemed safe. Then, find Queens... somehow. Send in "Surgical Strike Teams" to eliminate them. Eliminate any larvae or eggs if possible, but survival is placed before doing so. Queen hit squads are to note any nurseries they find, which are then given follow up strikes with explosives or area-effect magic. When all Queens are eliminated, they're to perform additional raids to eliminate Nannies. Meanwhile, Lazlo forces will be in place to evacuate or defend nearby locales as necessary.

However, they're underestimate just how agitated the Xiticix will become, and the bugs will rapidly broaden the space of their patrols and start killing any humanoids or communities they run across. The cost in life will be massive. Lazlo will be trying to cope, but they simply don't have enough people. They estimate about eighteen months for the campaign, about the same that the Coalition estimates to fight Tolkeen. Hmmm.

Funny, that. Almost as if they were planned to be concurrent! But they're not, so just forget about that. Like, no sarcasm. They're not. Maybe they were? But not.

Followup teams will be sent in to try and eliminate any missed Queens or ensure no new one emerges. It turns out by this point they'll likely be assisted - ironically - by the Coalition pushing into the region. The Coalition will be just as interested in eliminating the Xiticix Queens, even if they don't necessarily cooperate with Lazlo forces.


_{"I smell Xiticix that wa-" "WE KNOW."}

The start of the War

So, Lazlo will launch Operation Queen Check to try and eliminate a bunch of Queens simultaneously, but they'll probably have a harder time than expected. It presumes the PCs are working with Lazlo, but also offers the option of the PCs being... Coalition soldiers engaged on Xiticix containment, in case your players would rather be fascists. Or they could be Splugorth agents sent to secretly aid Lazlo, in case your characters would rather be slaves or slaveowners. It's a Megaverse of possibilities!

Most of the suggestions are "go in do a thing get out of the thing" - scouting, striking, distracting, sabotaging, etc. There are also rescue missions to retake people captured by the bugs, save units or communities under siege, dealing with unrelated disasters, and so on. Then, adventure hooks attack!

• Cross-Fire: Refugees are trying to escape, but they're caught in the crossfire between warring factions. To the rescue, PCs! Or not!
  
• Enemy of a different kind: The PCs find a bunch of dead Coalition soldiers and Xiticix, but then realize the Coalition bodies have been stripped of weapons and valuables; something the Xiticix don't do. But then Coalition troops show up and are like "You bastards!" and the PCs have to talk them down or earn their eternal hatred and revenge. What about the bandits or whoever that robbed the corpses? Well...
  
• Surprise: The PCs are just playing cards and bam, Xiticix attack! But then there's a bunch of guys who show up and gun down the bugs, and then they're all wearing Coalition gear! It turns out they're bandits who only ambush Coalition soldiers, and that they're... evil... bad guys? Maybe the PCs try and stop them? But why?
  
• No friend of mine: The PCs are on a hive mission when they hear fighting, and if they go to help, they realize that it's Coalition soldiers fighting Xiticix! If they help the Coalition, maybe that one unit will be less racist in the future! Makes you think, man.
  
• Cornered: The PCs are attacking a hive outpost, but it seems somebody's already gotten there. Finally, they find a Xiticix Killer, but it turns out it can only get out through where the PCs are, and they'll have to step aside or fight.
  
• The Side Show: There are other asshole opportunists in the war causing trouble. Stop them! (No, really, it isn't more specific than that.)
  
• Scorched Earth: A bunch of Xiticix are murdering people, stop them!... okay, seriously, Kevin. Kevin. You're out of ideas. Stop.

_{"Bzzz bbzzz bbzzz bz bz!" "I don't know what you're asking!" "Bzzzz bzzz bz!"}

New Beginnings

After all things, we're reminded that some Xiticix probably survive anyway and they seek...



... revenge. Really, Siembieda? Really? Really? These mindless bugs are out for revenge? Well, I guess once they're nearly wiped out, it's finally time to give them a personality.

<sub>Siembieda suggests returning, revenging villains so often I can only imagine his campaigns becoming conga lines of villains tripping over each other for the chance to arch the PCs. That'd be fun, at least.



The Xiticix-Men.</sub>

The Legacy of the Xiticix Fighter

So, those who survive the war are seen as heroes against an inhuman foe. Yay for you! There are are those that try and falsely claim credit. Boo for them!

Next: Operation Infektion.

"If the heroes wipe out the entire Xiticix population in one adventure, it would certainly be anti-climactic and make this world book pretty worthless."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 8: "If the heroes wipe out the entire Xiticix population in one adventure, it would certainly be anti-climactic and make this world book pretty worthless."


_{This is the kind of thing that could happen if you ran Rifts with Feng Shui!}

A Hivelands Adventure
_{By Bill Coffin}

So, Coffin steps in to give us a full-length adventure where the PCs are approached by a group of anti-Coalition activists called the "Free Thinkers". It turns out they robbed Lone Star (somehow), and though thye lost a lot of folks, some got out alive. They have an offer for the PCs to help deal with the Xiticix. Most of them are bookish sorts outside of a Headhunter and Zapper (the latter being dedicated electrokinetics from Rifts World Book 12: Psyscape). This adventure presumes the PCs are good guys and might be inclined to take their offer.

The Free Thinkers have come to the conclusion that Lazlo's war will stir up the Xiticix to wipe out all humans- not quite true, but it's what they believe. They offer a pretty decent payout - 100,000 credits - for their job. Essentially, they broke into Lone Star to steal data and equipment in order to develop a Xiticix-murdering virus. They're not 100% sure on its efficacy, but believe it should have some negative impact. However, the Coalition is after them for their theft. They're looking to see it used and to make sure the Coalition doesn't just lock it away - or reverse-engineer it for a different target. They've placed the viral agent in a device designed not to release it unless it's at least 200 feet underground. There's a variety of answers to possible PC questions - about two pages worth - but those are the important points.


_{The Coalition is still working out some bugs with their robots.}

Then, the Coalition attacks! The PCs are essentially forced to assist or cut and run at this point. However, even if they flee, the Coalition will presume they're part of the same group and go after them anyway. If they can fight off the Coalition, they have a few (undefined) encounters with Coalition, Xiticix, or other monsters, and make it to a Xiticix hive. They have to get some scent glands from Xiticix to infiltrate the hive, though it suggests having the scent wear off if they didn't think to gather extras. But if they get in real trouble, you could have the Coalition or Lazlo forces attack the hive and provide an unintentional distraction for the PCs. Granted, this all presumes they have somebody with the skills to gather the Xiticix scent in the first place.

Presumably, the PCs get in far enough to set off the viral device and run. But it turns out it probably just gives the Xiticix the equivalent of the flu, and they develop a resistance to it rather quickly.




Is that the sound of a Siembieda edit I hear? Probably, probably. Either way, the PCs can get their payout, with the Free Thinkers' base and labs being located wherever the GM finds convenient, but probably not too far from the Coalition or Xiticix. Getting there could be another adventure. And maybe the Xiticix...



... will want revenge and remember their smell forever. Yes, somehow that's something they suddenly want. Lots of revenge. Sure. Also the Coalition will think the PCs are part of the Free Thinkers either way and brand them as wanted. It's a intensely predictable writing crutch of Siembieda's that every act of heroism must be counterbalanced by an equal act of vindictiveness. I know he probably just thinks it's another hook to adventure, but seriously, give us some apathetic villains who just don't care every now and then. It wouldn't hurt.



_{No, I don't know either.}

We get names and writeups for all of the Free Thinkers (I didn't go over them because their identities and personalities aren't real important to the adventure) and some generic Coalition statblocks. And we get the faceless Coalition group after the Free Thinkers, "Strike Force Durango". We get some reprints of Coalition vehicles from Coalition War Campaign to use, and that's that.

Next: I'm doing my part!

"Hell, I dun been a workin' for the Coalition for purty near thirty year, I tink."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 9: "Hell, I dun been a workin' for the Coalition for purty near thirty year, I tink."

CS Operations in Xiticix Territory

So, the Coalition has been trying to gather intel in Minnesota and Manitoba for around a decade - partly to prepare for war against Tolkeen, but also the Xiticix. As mentioned, they have outposts set up to maintain their "Holding Action".

The Xiticix campaign leads to an "exciting" new possibility: maybe a player could play an undercover Coalition agent who's one of the people gathering intel! But remember the Coalition has super-loyal people and you can't just go betraying the Coalition.


Oh, you want to be like Finn, like in Star Wars? Sorry, that's just not realistic or fun. However, it mentions that the Lazlo campaign will expose some Coalition soldiers to seeing nonhumans and spellcasters being heroic and minds will be blown. However, the Coalition focuses on a process they call "reclamation" for soldiers that show signs of this, and will explain that it's just the result of wartime stress and disorientation. They'll stress that it's perfectly okay... as long as you reiterate the party line. Those who insist in defying Coalition propaganda may be forced to undergo "orientation" to overcome the "trauma". Of course, others will see magic and freak out and decide it needs to double die. Meanwhile, some find new respect for D-Bees and wizards and just quietly tuck that away, and make small differences where they can.

But they don't just walk away from the fascist Coalition military. That'd be troublingly moral.

Fort Barron

We get a writeup of two outposts, complete with maps and point-by-point descriptions of their contents.


Man, this book must have been hurting for content, because it feels like a good third has been filler of various sorts. It's just been flailing since the conclusion of the Lazlo war writeup to just throw anything at the wall, including... maps of walls.

This particular base has bunch of Skelebots to try and counter potential swarm attacks. Largely, this is support for local intelligence operations. The commander also has authority to hire freelancers (i.e. PCs) for various jobs. However, they might screw over the PCs when done, not paying them, particularly if they have a D-Bee or magic-user around. However, they usually are fair to racists, because birds of a feather and all.

One group of magic ethnics they do tolerate locally are Native Americans, mainly because they A) don't take their magic seriously, figuring it's just "primitive spiritualism" and B) they see them as little threat locally. Though this would be frowned upon officially, locally they have less oversight.

We get a writeup for the local commander, Major Samuel Haim, who is apparently a masterful tactician, but decided he hated politics and got a field post to avoid getting promoted into generalship. (The notion of the Coalition soldier who's a soldier's soldier who just wants to stick to fighting with his troops is one we see a fair deal.) He actually doesn't particularly hate D-Bees or magic, but is loyal to the Coalition because he thinks they're the best hope at preserving humanity. It turns out he's so popular and cool that only 2% of this troops don't like him! (Sure, sounds legit.) He approves of the Lazlo invasion, but not cynically - he really just thinks Lazlo has a better shot at pulling it off. He's more concerned about what comes after, which will likely to be him dealing with remnants of Tolkeen, a conflict which he has no taste for.

He's the kind of Coalition guy that gets to be Unprincipled (the loosest "good" alignment) because he's good deep down and is just following orders.




_{Boomhauer's just following orders too, I tell you what.}

Orion Greenfeld gets a writeup, the Coalition informant who has given us so much psuedorural jibber-jabber that you've only gotten a taste of. Now, I'm going to give you the whole plate.


He's a old wilderness guide who tells tall tales and is *sigh* loved by all the soldiers and is mysterious but is a great guy. A real great guy. He's an 11th level... shit.


Also he gets to be Unprincipled even though he's worked for fascists as an informant because it's not like he personally does anything wrong, he just helps prop up the merciless wheel of intolerance, oppression, and genocide. But you can't hold him responsible for that, obviously.

I don't really need to describe the six straight pages of itemized maps that follow. Unless you're doing a siege scenario or something, or playing it as a dungeon where you're just door-to-door killing Coalition, I'm not sure what the point is.

Fort Perrion

A smaller outpost near the Xiticix land that focuses largely on developing and executing small-scale covert ops against the bugs. One of your very PCs could be a secret Coalition agent for these guys? But maybe let's not. There's no particular personalities or history here and half the writeup is just lists of vehicles and percentage breakdowns of troop types. So if you need to know that there are 38.4 EOD Specialists located here, it's got you covered.

_{Man, you've gotta feel sorry for that .4 EOD Specialist. I don't know what that entails but it must be tragic.}

Heroes & Hardcases of the Xiticix Invasion

We then get some small independent NPC groups in the Xiticix area. We are in full filler funtime.

The Wild Pack is a Coalition troop that was sent to capture a Psi-Stalker murderer who led them into Xiticix territory. Though the Psi-Stalker was killed by the bugs, so were a number of the troops' dog boys. Seeking revenge against the Xiticix, they have "neglected" to report the Psi-Stalker's death, instead pretending to be hunting the murderer down while really doing a one-unit war against the bugs. Their leader is Commander Jess Helgeland, a Coalition Psi-Stalker who is... Principled? The strictest good alignment? Am I fucking reading that right? Are there no evil Coalition soldiers in this book? The three dog boys written up who follow her are Principled / Unprincipled / Principled. They also have some associates like two Spider Tribe Psi-Stalkers (Anarchist) and a rogue Kill Hound (Aberrant), who aren't technically Coalition so they're allowed to be ungood, I guess.


_{Greot Hunter and a Burster. What? I'm out of tiny text jokes.}

Manitoba & Company are freelancers for the Coalition who work at performing operations against the Xiticix, but spend their time between missions as bandits. Though feared, they don't get along too well and things will probably end in blood. They have a Hyperion Juicer (the speedster-optimized Juicers), a Greot Hunter, a Burster, and a ex-Coalition power armor pilot. They don't seem to have any particular leadership or direction other than being mercs and thieves. They have names, I guess? They're all just jerks of varying flavors, though.

The Lazlo Triad is made up of three heroes aiming to fight the Xiticix - are they independent? Do they work for Lazlo? ... not much is clear here. Actually, it turns out they have four associates for a total of seven, so they're more like The Lazlo Heptad, but I guess that's not as good for branding. There's a Fire Dragon Hatchling, a Cyber-Knight, and a Ley Line Walker. What are you supposed to do with them? Are there any story hooks or really... anything beyond just having them fight bugs? No. No, there is not.

Conclusion

Well, this book felt stretched to the limit. Though it's often obvious when a Palladium book had fluff shoved in at the end to round out a page count - usually marked by a new vehicle without any specific name, or some redundant writeup, or whatever, this really just felt like Siembieda was getting paid by the word. He wasn't, but trying to stretch an 17-page article from The Rifter into a 160-page book feels like a real mistake. Maybe if they'd used the old sourcebook format, did this as like a 96 page book, it could have been relatively focused and tight. Instead you get chunks of wholly pointless text like this:




Here's the infuriating part, the part I realized as I was thinking about the stretched sections of this book. Is... there something they could have covered that they didn't? Something that would have been more interesting than pages of Xiticix hive layouts? And it came to me. And it's so simple, so frustrating to realize.

They could have covered Lazlo.

That's it! This was a metaplot book about Lazlo. About Lazlo at war. And in case you think you might have missed something, no. Lazlo has never been officially covered in detail, ever. Here we are, talking about a war, where one of the military forces is nearly entirely undefined. We know some things about Lazlo, about their leadership and ideals, but we've never seen the place. Rifts World Book 20: Canada said that Lazlo would be covered in a book soon. This was their chance! And it was blown. To this day, nearly two decades later, it still hasn't been detailed save for some unofficial material in The Rifter.

And the Xiticix are still boring. They have no personality, except when Siembieda wants to indulge his NPC revenge checkbox, then they want revenge. And that's not to say you can't have a story about a faceless horde. You totally can. But don't spend over 80 pages of a 160 page book talking about them and their mandible shapes. If they have no distinct motivation, no distinct identities, no distinct personalities, they're just bullet-catchers, just a disaster like a tidal wave or plague. Like a zombie invasion, the story will come in people's reactions to the crisis. Not the Xiticix itself. Worse yet, while they come in massive numbers and waves, they're strong enough that they're the equal of many PCs - they can even gain levels! No amount of detail can really paper over some of the basic conceptual issues.

It's far from the worst Rifts book, it's reasonably functional and does what it set out to do. It's just what it does just isn't that interesting. And it's not just me that thinks this. I peeked ahead at future books to find out what becomes of this Lazlo-Xiticix Plot.

The Lazlo-Xiticix War isn't acknowledged at all. It's discarded. I figured the Lazlo war was to take them out of commission for the next part of the metaplot. But no.

Fucking seriously, I just read half a book discussing events that don't happen. And it even contradicts the timeline as being "105 P.A." when that'll be a past date within two books! There's a rumor that the extermination of the Xiticix will happen and be considered canon at some point in the plot...

... when the Lazlo book comes out.

Thanks, Siembieda. You keep on failing forward.

THE END. CANADA WILL RETURN IN RIFTS WORLD BOOK 22: FREE QUEBEC.