The Juicer OCC (Occupational Character Class) is one of the more memorable moments of the RIFTS RPG by Palladium. This article attempts to reconcile the Juicer to a role in the less war-torn, darker world of the CyberPunk dark future. Much of the material in this article is drawn from the main RIFTS rule book and both illustrations are by Kevin Long and are being used here without permission.

The Juicer is a man augmented by special neurosurgery, nanotech and big time drugs. Designer drugs are combined with a computerized monitoring and dispensary system and a heavily tweaked metabolism to produce a fast, wired killer. Microscopic implants in the vascular system, brain and muscles map out the body for nano-technological and chemical modification and performance upgrades undreamt of mere years ago, without the extreme mechanical replacement and augmentation of bionic systems. The first step in to Juicer procedures is the implantation of two specialized biomonitors linked to and controlling thousands of natural and artificial chemical responses. Only one biomonitor is in use at any time, but the second is implanted as a backup in case the first should fail. Once the biomonitors are in place a detailed reading of the subject's physiology and metabolism is made and chemical and nanotechnical modifications are made until the metabolism is working at far beyond peak capacity - this involves minor modifications to the lymphatic system, adrenal gland, thyroid system, cardio-vascular system and so on. Now we have the basis of the Juicer: major metabolic rebuild and minor cybernetic augmentation. It comes down as follows: System Effect Cost HL 2 x Biomonitor +2 Resist Torture / Drugs 200eb 2HL Overdrive Metabolism +2 STR, MA, REF, Initiative 10,000eb 4D6HL Adrenal Control +1 STR, MA, REF 3 times per day 1,500eb D6+2HL Super EPO Synthetic Hormone System +2 Endurance, +1 MA 2,000eb D3HL Super Vein Clips & Sphincters +2 Death Saves, +2 Resist Torture/Drugs, +2 Stun Saves, +4 on resuscitation / stabilization rolls 4,000eb 2D6HL Enhanced Antibodies +1 Healing Rate 3,000eb D3HL NanoSurgeons Double Healing Rate 6,000eb D3HL Toxin Binders +4 Resist Poison/Drugs, -1 damage/die from toxins 3,000eb D3HL PaceSetter 2000 Heart +2 STR, MA, BOD for up to 2 minutes / use 1,000eb D6HL Drug-Keyed Metabolism +2 Resist Poison/Drugs, cannot resist drugs "keyed" to user's system which act at +50% potency 3,000eb D3+1HL   Juicer Package Deal All above bonuses 36,000eb 11D6HL Now sure, that looks impressive, but it's no "Street Samurai" yet. The key element of the package above is the "Drug-Keyed Metabolism" - it helps the Juicer against non-keyed drugs, but makes him completely dependant on a special set of drugs which he also gains additional effect from. These drugs are hereafter known as "The Juice". A corporate or military Juicer has access to these drugs, and their employers only pay a quarter the list price for them (on average). Mercenary and independant juicers have it a lot tougher, as the average Juicer will go through over 3,000eb worth of The Juice in a week. "The Juice" is administered by the Juicer Suit (shown at right). The suit is linked up to the Biomonitors, and is comprised of a central dispensary system (on the chest section of the unit) linked up by tubes to injection collars around the neck, wrists, upper arms and legs, designed to inject artificial stimulants and pharmaceuticals to key parts of the body for rapid acquisition and reaction. In game terms this means that all drugs administered by this rig (or other rigs like it) take effect in one half the normal time as they are being administered directly to their target zones. The Juicer Suit provides no SP, and costs about 3,000 euro from most sources or techies / medtechies who can make or procure one. The Juice The "Juice" listed below were created with our Drug Design system adapted from that of Dark metropolis. Don't panic though - we've included the full rules for each Juice so you don't have to be using our system to use these Juicers. New Primary Effect "KEY"ED DRUG This drug has 100% Miscibility with all other drugs in the same "Key" group. This increases the Difficulty of the drug by 10 points and triples it's cost. Basic Maintenance Juice STR: 6 30 eb / 3 hours main Stimulant +2, Endurance +4, Keyed Drug side Egotism +4, Obsession +2 cum Physically Addictive +4 Onset: 9 seconds Duration: 3 Hours The basic "Juice", this is constantly drip-fed to the Juicer, and indeed the Juicer cannot live without it. It provides +2 Awareness, +4 Endurance, and 6 Humanity Loss. (Remember - the drug keyed metabolism of the juicer brings this to +3 / +6 / 9 HL) Booster Juice STR: 8 300 eb / minute main Accelerator +4, Speed+4, Keyed Drug side Alienation +4, Analgesia +4, Obsession +4 cum Physically Addictive +2, Temporary Tolerance +3 Onset: 4 seconds Duration: 1 minute This is the kicker. This Juice gives the Juicer +2 Reflex, +4 initiative and +4 on stun saves. It also costs an additional 6 HL to the Juicer beyond the Basic Juice loss. The Juicer also gains a short-lived tolerance for the drug, so they can't maintain themselves on it in the long term. (Each use of the drug in a 6 day period results in one point of "tolerance". When tolerance is at 5 or greater all effects of the drug are halved. When tolerance hits 10, all effects of the drug are ignored. Tolerance is halved every 6 days). (Again the Drug Keyed Metabolism of the Juicer brings this to +3 Ref, +6 Initiative, +6 Stun Saves, +9 HL) High Maintenance Juice STR: 10 450 eb / day main Stimulant +2, Endurance +4, SpeedHeal +4, Keyed Drug side Egotism +4, Obsession +2, Clouded Thinking +2 cum Physically Addictive +4, Temporary Tolerance +4 Onset: 1 hour Duration: 24 hours This is a special version of the Basic Juice with additional speedhealing properties. It increases the Juicer's already massive healing rate by an additional 2 points per day for it's duration, as well as having all the effects of Basic Maintenance Juice. It also clouds the Juicer's thinking, resulting in -1 INT and TECH for the duration. It is also Tolerance forming, using the same system as the Booster Juice above.