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It's my opinion that GM Guides are usually the toughest products to write. You've already shared everything to play the game in your Player's Handbook and the monsters are going to be found in your Monster Manuals. So exactly what do you put in this sourcebook? Here’s what Pinnacle did:
Chapter One: The Walk Around the Block. Here we are shown a snapshot of the world and its major players with some guides on how the average person lives. We’re given a one page chronology all written in an information dump without any real crunch. Its fine, it works, and it sets up much of the attitude and groundwork of the key factions your group will likely see.
Chapter Two: Meet the Neighbors. Pinnacle gives us greater detail of the Tomorrow Legion and all of its movers and shakers. Who will your group report to? This can be found in addition to some simple maps of the grounds. The Coalition States are also detailed a bit more with a couple paragraphs given to each State. The Federation of Magic is given similar treatment with each major city and the Magic Zone receiving its own couple paragraphs.
Chapter Three: Running Savage Rifts. Most of this is fluff and really goes into the way you might present general life and some of the fantastic things your players will see. They do a good job of telling a new GM and Player what to expect if you haven’t played Rifts before. They have a great write-up on how to reconcile some of the common difficulties of combining magic and technology.
Chapter Four: Crunch Time! For those that were hoping for some crunchy parts will enjoy this chapter. A random encounter generator mostly intended for Tomorrow Legion patrols can easily be made for any group to enjoy. I’m not sure how many variations those charts can give you for encounters, but it easily numbers into the hundreds, perhaps even thousands of ways to make a new adventure/encounter. Contacts are greatly detailed with random charts also given to create them in detail. Appreciated is the Rewards section explaining salvage, ranks, and mercenary options. The last part of the chapter details rifts and gives charts to create random ones throwing in characteristics to make hundreds of different ones. I really enjoyed the random location/time you might go to if you were to journey through one. Some seed ideas are given, but the GM should be prepared to fill in the details on his own. Lastly, they give some guidelines on how a magic user might alter and affect the ley lines and rifts encountered. Something that we know players will inevitably attempt.
I really thought this book was excellent. Considering the challenge of what to put into a GM guide that doesn’t waste the time of the reader, I think they did a good job. Much of it is fluff and setting feel, but Chapter Four gives more than enough to work with for those looking for numbers and adventures.
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