Great scan, really enjoyed this book to the point where I felt compelled to buy a physical copy. Presents a great, gross dystopia where humanity struggles to survive against a monster that was created by politicking and private interests. Very interested in picking up the I Am Legion supplement at some point in the future and exploring the setting further. Excellent get!

Splicers is a game from Palladium Books that offers one of the most unique, interesting, and perhaps disturbing settings of any role-playing game that I have played. It is part of Palladium's megaverse--a shared universe of games that you can port characters between. Other such games include 'After the Bomb', 'Dead Reign', 'Rifts', the game of interdimensional adventures that is best known for tying the megaverse together. Splicers is set in a post-apocalyptic world in a far-off future perhaps on earth or on a human colony on another planet (no one is quite sure). Humanity struggles against an advanced computer intelligence known as NEXUS, that has conquered the world with its army of robots. Fairly standard sci-fi stuff so far--but with a few unique twists. The computer has unleashed a plague of nano-bots on the world that has infected all non-precious metals, it lies dormant, ready to infect and kill any human that even touches metal. Humans, being left without their standard metal-based weapons, turned to alien bio-engineering technologies to manufacture weapons to fight the robotic threat. Such weapons are grown by the so-called 'engineers' and 'librarians'--creatures that are part-human, part alien brain-shaped tentacle monsters connected to a 'gene pool'--a chemical bath that they use to engineer new life forms.

Human society is organized into houses run by powerful warlords that maintain armies to fight the robotic threat. Players in Splicers play a warrior in one of the human armies. They fight against the robotic threat in one of three ways: with the use of bio-engineered weapons, by modifying their own bodies to make themselves into powerful bio-weapons, or in a few cases, by being one of the lucky few who are immune to the nano-bot plague and using the robots' own weapons against them. The first group of warriors includes occupational character classes (called OCC's) that wear living suits of armor that give them incredible abilities. This includes archangels, who wear light armor that gives them the power of flight, roughnecks--who serve as the infantry of the human armies, and dreadguard--heavily armed and armored troops. The self- modified classes include bionics--societal outcasts turned into living weapons. Then we have some of the weirder OCCs that help make this game really interesting: skinjobs--stealth experts who have volunteered to be flayed and have their skin replaced with skin like that of a chamelon. There are the scarecrows--powerful enforcers who drink the librarians' brain fluid to gain incredible power of speed, strength, and near-invulnerability. Then there the game's healing class, saints. Not your typical healers, saints have volunteered to have their abdomens torn out and replaced with an alien brain monster that will some day grow into a librarian. Like I said, this is not your typical sci-fi RPG. And to round out the OCC list, there are also the technojackers--humans immune to the nanobot plague who wield traditional, metal-based technology.

The character creation process is rather involved in this game. Palladium games have a mostly universal system for the character creation process, which has a detailed list of specialized skills that players can pick from. Splicers has this as well, but with the addition of skill 'profiles' by which players choose a set of core skills relevant to their character, before picking individual skills. This can make character creation a bit easier. Though, the process does take time and preparation, it lends itself well to making characters for longer campaigns, with a well fleshed-out background. Characters wearing bio-armor suits in Splicers also experience the unique process of creating suits of living armor--a process that is highly customizable and lets your imagination run wild. Those with OCCs such as Dreadguard are able to create a suit of armor with a pool of bio-energy points with a wide range of options for combat, movement, defense, sensory, survival, etc. Ever want a suit of armor with hooved feet and tentacles that shoots webs, with echo-location and electric resistance? This is the game for you. You can even give it some tiger stripes for a few extra bio-energy points. Overall, Splicers is one of the craziest and most interesting games I've ever played. It does a great job of building a rich and original world with minimal detail that leaves the game master a lot of flexibility to add their own touch. This is a great game for a long campaign, and it is well worth the investment of time that character creation takes. If you're looking for a game that's more sophisticated and creative than the typical fantasy or sci-fi setting, Splicers is something to take a look at. Though the rules are a bit more sophisticated and in-depth than the simpler systems we see these days, it is a truly unique and rewarding role-playing experience.

Read the full review at Geeksagogo.com!

Splicers is a RPG about the desperate struggle of humans, on a planet other then Earth, who are fighting a guerrilla war against robots controlled by rogue artificial intelligences. The Machines have created a nano plague making metal impossible to use by ordinary humans. The human resistance has turned to bio tech weapons, weapons and power armor based on genetically engineered plants and animals to continue their fight against the machines.

A unique and imaginative setting which uses the Palladium Megaversal system. A self contained game book which will inspire your creativity.

Ok, so getting the two Con's out of the way first:

1. Cover Art: sucks and is completely NOT what the book is about.
2. There are some logic/plot-holes in the story that can be somewhat annoying to overcome/overlook.

The Pros:

1. Awesome!! Love it, the basic setting, the tech, the deep character / NPC interactions are great!!
2. The tech: Power Armor and Robots, that grow WITH the character!!! Love it!!!!! Wanted something like this (non-magic) forever, and it is done VERY well! Lots of options, etc...
3. The main villian, ok... not exactly original, and a little-bit spotty on the logic, but VERY interesting take, and VERY well laid out! Fun too!
4. Great artwork inside, lots of different things illustrated to help bring the world and it's unique tech "to life".
5. Completeness, even though the author has stated many times that a LOT of the book hit the cutting room floor, the setting is quite complete and playable as is (for those wanting more, there are several rifters that have new tech, OCC's, and even Great Houses, plus some adventures).

Overall LOVE IT!!!