Rifts World Book #7: Underseas continues to describe Earth after a horrible
cataclysm. Central to the Rifts Role Playing
Game is the idea that the Earth of the future, a technological powerhouse, underwent some sort of terrible
cataclysm. The almost instantaneous deaths of millions of people caused waves upon wave of magical energy to wash over our planet. Rifts, tears in the fabric of time and space, opened up across the planet, spilling aliens,
creatures, and demons into every corner of the world. Three hundred years later, Earth has achieved some stability.
Rifts: Underseas introduces another super villain for the heroes of Rifts Earth to contend with. The Lord of the Deep is a massive creature of godlike power that resides in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. This entity, whose tentacles ENCIRCLE THE OCEANS OF THE GLOBE, has unknown motives. Often, its victims are transformed into monstrous creatures. The Lord of the Deep actually fuses its victims to other creatures of the deep, creating bizarre, evil minions. Not all victims of the Lord of the Deep turn into creatures of evil. Unwittingly, when the Lord of the Deep attempted to fuse men with whales or dolphins, the resulting creation became a powerful creature opposed to evil. Thus, the aquatic “multiple soul” creations of the Lord are its strongest opposing force. These hybrids have an affinity towards a new form of aquatic magic, based on the songs of whales.
Another ocean based city that survived the coming of the rifts is Tritonia, drifting in the Pacific Ocean. In the days before the coming of the rifts, one mega corporation, in an attempt to build a stable platform from which to tap the huge resources of the ocean, created the floating city of Tritonia. Furthermore, the population of Tritonia were survivors of an illegal genetics experiment that created a stable amphibian-human hybrid. Thus, when the cataclysm pounded the Earth, Tritonia was able to survive because it was built specifically to weather any typhoon or tidal wave.
The New Navy is another survivor of the time before the coming of the rifts. In the militaristic days that led to the cataclysm, the United States created the ultimate weapon in naval warfare. The USS Ticonderoga, a submersible aircraft carriers, was the first in what would become the super submarine fleet of the USA. Created in secret, the America military also created a series of secret naval bases throughout the Pacific that were each capable of repairing the massive ship. When the rifts flooded the Earth, the Ticonderoga and its military crew were able to survive the weather and attacks from other dimensional beings. Now, this new navy patrols all waters of the world in secret.
For those players wishing for a change of setting, this book, outlining conditions in the waters around the Pacific, would provide enough to create a successful campaign. Furthermore, it adds almost 20 new character classes for new players to choose from.