Palladium Books® Weekly Update – Nov. 9, 2018

By Kevin Siembieda

One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

The Rifter® #82 is at the printer and I have already approved the printer’s digital proof on Wednesday. This is a great issue with a lot of useful, “official” source material — all of it fun and inspiring for Rifts®, Rifts® Chaos Earth®, Nightbane® and Heroes Unlimited™, plus G.M. advice and more. We’ll try to get a preview posted on DriveThruRPG this weekend.

Systems Failure™ RPG (a complete, standalone RPG about an alien invasion), Shadows of Light™ (a Nightbane® sourcebook), and Boxed Nightmares™ (for Beyond the Supernatural™, 1st Edition rules, but easily adapted to BTS™, 2nd Edition) are all at the printer and should be coming your way sometime around November 20, 2018. It has been a decade or more since these titles have been available in print. This limited run is being made available specifically on a first come, first served basis. Fear not, we believe we are printing enough to make it through the Holidays. Oh, and speaking of the Systems Failure™ RPG, it is new on DriveThruRPG this week as a PDF.

We are working on a number of projects, but I have been primarily focused on finishing the Rifts® Bestiary Volume One. That has been slowed down a bit by a killer cold, but I’m powering through it. We may have a few other little, fun surprises coming up in the weeks ahead. Looking great. In fact, there is a small preview of updated and new monsters from the Bestiary in The Rifter® #82. As soon as Volume One goes to the printer, I will finish In the Face of Death for Dead Reign® then dive right back into Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume Two. Which will be followed by the fast release of many other books throughout the new year.

We are glad so many people took advantage of the Palladium Halloween Horror sale that ended on Monday. That was a fun sale that folks seemed to love.

The Palladium Christmas Surprise Packages are in full swing and picking up steam as the holidays rapidly approach. I mean, Thanksgiving is what, 2 weeks away? And Christmas is only 6 weeks away. Yikes! You are crazy if you have never tried one. Do it. I doubt you’ll be disappointed. The Palladium crew and I aim to please. One first-timer already placed an order for his second Grab Bag because he loved the first one so much. Keep ‘em coming. And for many of you, this is the only way to get autographs. For gamers outside the USA, it is a way to mitigate expensive shipping. More news, details and updates follow, below.

Palladium Christmas Surprise Package Sale – available NOW!

Can you believe it? It’s that time again for the Palladium Christmas Surprise Package offer. Palladium Books® has been doing Christmas Surprise Packages, or “Grab Bags,” for 20 years! And what a great tradition it has become.

It enables you to get several RPG titles ($90-$100 worth) for ONLY $46 (plus shipping and handling) as gifts for others or for yourself. It is our way of saying thank you to our many fans for being so kind and patient, and for your years of support. You are appreciated more than you may realize.

Christmas Surprise Packages are not just for Christmas. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice, or you’re looking for that special gift for a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or any special occasion that falls between now and February, a Surprise Package may be the ideal way to go. You get a ton of stuff on the cheap, you can get a bunch of autographs (if you want ‘em), and you look like you spent a fortune.

This is also a great way to try that game setting you’ve wondered about (Splicers®, Dead Reign®, Chaos Earth®, Palladium Fantasy®, Nightbane®, Mechanoid Invasion®, Rifts®, After the Bomb®, etc.), or to get something for your favorite Game Master. Or perhaps, to get your player group to consider a new game or setting.

Your “Wish List” is vital – The Palladium Surprise Packages are designed to simulate the joy and surprise of the Christmas Season of Giving. To do this, you submit a list of 12-15 Palladium products (or more) FOR EACH Surprise Package you order. This list of 12-15 items for EACH Grab Bag is critical, because you will not know which items we will select to send you. That makes it just like a Christmas gift because it’s a surprise. Plus, Santa Kevin, who personally hand-picks every item for every Grab Bag, may toss in something extra like a limited edition print, or color maps, or T-shirt, or issue of The Rifter®, or something else he thinks you’ll enjoy.

Autographed books. For those of you who want them (which are most people), available members of the Palladium staff, and any freelancers we can lasso at the time, are happy to autograph each and every book in your Surprise Package. This is the only way many fans, especially those in other countries, can EVER get signed books.

Send us your brief comments. There is a special form and format to fill out for Christmas Surprise Packages, including a place where you can offer your brief comments, suggestions, greetings and salutations.

It only costs $46 plus shipping to get $90-$100+ worth of Palladium products! First-timers are always nervous until they see the great value in their first Surprise Package. A typical Grab Bag has $90-$100 worth of product, sometimes more! Yes, sometimes more. Many people order 2-3. Some order 4-6, and some maniacs order even more! It makes sense, because it is a great way to fill holes in your own collection, treat yourself, get autographs, try new games and settings, and get your gaming pals gifts. PLEASE spread the word about this great offer.

To those of you outside the USA, the X-Mas Surprise Package is a way to get books and circumvent the damn high cost of shipping from the United States. Since you are getting $90-$100 worth of product and only paying $46 plus a small handling charge, shipping via Priority Mail International (required for packages weighing more than four pounds) to most locations in Europe, Canada and many other countries is around $50-$60 US dollars. HOWEVER, because the cost of the product is so low, that’s the equivalent of paying retail for the products and only $0-$30 for shipping. A very good deal. Plus you get autographs if you want them! X-Mas Surprise Packages are the way to go for those of you outside the USA. Please take advantage of it to get all those products you’ve wished you could get except the shipping was too prohibitive. We feel your pain. Game on!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The X-Mas Surprise Package is a Grab Bag. As such, while we always try to send you items from your Wish List, you may NOT get everything you ask for and you are likely to get one or more items NOT on your list, like The Rifter®, or other item(s) we think you should enjoy. PLEASE give us a long Wish List and fill out other questions (favorite Palladium games, would like to try X, and so on) because it helps us to make your Surprise Package special. If you need or want specific items, do NOT use the Surprise Package; place a regular order at full retail to guarantee you get the books you want. Offer ends December 24, 2018.

Please tell everyone about the Christmas Surprise Packages. We want to put smiles on the faces of gamers around the world.

COMING: Just for the Holidays – Back in stock for the first time in decades!

Just for the holidays, Palladium is doing a limited short-run of three out-of-print titles that have been out of print for years. Two of them have been out of print for decades! We are printing enough that they should be available from November 20 thru December, and probably January – available only while supplies last – when they are gone, they are gone, so order ‘em while you can. All are available in Palladium’s online store and will be considered as requests in Christmas Surprise Packages while supplies last. We expect to print enough to get us through the holiday season. Taking pre-orders now. Ho, ho, ho.

• Systems Failure™ RPG – Yep, the complete, whacked out game. 144 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 650. Available November 20, 2018.
• Shadows of Light™ – A Nightbane® sourcebook – 160 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 734. Available November 20, 2018.
• Boxed Nightmares™ – A sourcebook for Beyond the Supernatural™ 1st Edition rules, but easily adapted to BTS, 2nd Edition. Mostly adventures and adventure ideas. 112 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 701. Available November 20, 2018.

Taking pre-orders now. See the complete descriptions of these books elsewhere in this update or in the online store.

Questwise: Explores the Rifts^® world and more

Jodie at Questwise continues to post product reviews and videos about Rifts® and other Palladium new releases and other fun Palladium gaming material on YouTube and elsewhere. Two new videos have been posted just this week! One a new chapter in his Rifts® Explorer's Guide series which travels and presents locations within the Rifts® Megaverse®. Part 2, the newest, focuses on Northern Gun and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/0lU9byK5G4g

Questwise is becoming an increasingly fun and useful ongoing resource for players of Palladium’s games. The feedback we’re hearing is that fans are really enjoying Questwise. Check it out for yourself here: https://youtu.be/7tuOsAPpeEo

Other Fun Podcasts and Sites

The Guides to the Megaverse® podcast consists of a Palladium group with a collective total of over 100 years of gaming! The crew’s Actual Play format consists of long term campaigns in Heroes Unlimited™, Robotech®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Beyond the Supernatural™, with occasional games in other settings. There are more than 90 episodes available for download. Check them out here: https://guidesmegaverse.podbean.com/

Through Gamer Goggles – Matt Lemke’s podcasts and YouTube videos cover the gaming industry. In fact if you haven’t seen them yet, check out his many Gen Con interviews.

http://gamer-goggles.com/blog/category/conventions/gen-con-2018/

HippoTV on Twitch.tv. The good folks at HippoTV (https://www.twitch.tv/HippoTV/) host a wide variety of games most days of the week. For fans of Palladium Books® they feature a Heroes Unlimited™ and an After the Bomb® space game. The gamers playing these games come from all over the world, are very enthusiastic, and represent a wide variety of experience with Palladium's games.

If you are doing a Palladium fan-based website, podcasts, YouTube programing, etc., please let us know so we can take a look at what you are doing and so we can give you a shout out. We do not have the staff and resources to do everything we want to do, so we appreciate the fan sites that feature Palladium Books’ games and settings and promote the RPG hobby. Awesome. We are happy to support you when we can.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Kickstarter – 6 days left

Pinnacle Entertainment Kickstarter – the publishers of Savage Worlds – are in the last week of their Kickstarter for the new, updated Savage Worlds core rules, sourcebooks and related cool stuff. They are approaching $400,000 with 6 days to go.

We wanted to let you know about this Kickstarter because Pinnacle is one of Palladium Books’ licensees (they produce Rifts® for Savage Worlds and are working on three new Rifts® sourcebooks right now), they are good people, and we know a lot of people enjoy their games. We didn’t want anyone who may be interested in this project to miss out. This Savage Worlds Kickstarter ENDS November 14, 2018, so check it out before it is too late.

Here is the link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/savage-worlds-adventure-edition/description

UPDATE: The Rifter^® #82 – ships November 26 (maybe sooner)

The Rifter® #82 is at the printer. I approved the proof on Wednesday, so it is in the queue for printing. As soon as we have an exact date, we will update you. We’re guessing around November 26, but it might be a bit sooner. We’ll let you know.

I am fighting a terrible head cold – all of us are – the entire office has it, so maybe it and working insane hours has made me a bit punchy, but I think this is a truly great issue. I love everything in it. The source material, the reprinted Wujcik gaming advice, the 50+ Pyromancy spells, the HU2 and Nightbane material, the preview monsters from Rifts® Bestiary, it is all top-notch and fodder for adventure. And most of it is official. Numerous people who have seen the proofreader’s copy have said the Erick Wujcik Remembrance is wonderful. Some of it brought tears to their eyes, while other parts made them chuckle and smile. All of it is a celebration of life and imagination. So I highly recommend The Rifter® #82 to everyone. We will try to get a preview posted on DriveThruRPG today or over the weekend.

The Rifter® #82 contains official source material for the Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One (a sneak preview of just a few old and new monsters and animals), official source material for Rifts® Chaos Earth® (Pyromancer, 50+ Pyromancer spells, the Zone Twister, notable characters, and adventure ideas), official source material for Nightbane® (age modifiers and tables for selecting skills based on a Nightbane’s age, and more), an expanded revisit of the Physical Training character for Heroes Unlimited™, gaming advice from Erick Wujcik, a historically significant, fun and touching Remembrance of Erick Wujcik, 10 years after his death, some cool photos too, plus news and more.

• 112 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 182. Ships November 26, maybe sooner. See the new and updated description elsewhere in this Update.

UPDATE! Garden of the Gods^™ (Fantasy)

On the back burner but very much on my mind. I just received Matthew Clements’ final contributions to the book, but have not had a chance to review them (focused on Rifts® Bestiary). I can hardly wait to finish this book. Thinking of releasing a Raw Preview edition in time for Christmas. An early 2019 winter release.

An ancient ruin partially buried and covered in centuries of vegetation has been unearthed to reveal the Garden of the Gods. A place of meditation and wonder. Others say it is a place of magic and mystery. And some say it is also a place for miracles and divine inspiration. Many an adventurer finds his path or a great quest after visiting the Garden of the Gods. But there is also said to be a place of darkness on the Island Kingdom of Lopan. A place that may be linked to the Old Ones and serves as a Portal to the Land of the Damned!

BACK IN STOCK – Rifts^® Game Master Guide^™ – Available now

I always forget how jam-packed with valuable reference stats and comprehensive info the Rifts® Game Master Guide™ really is, with every Rifts® robot, power armor, body armor, vehicle, weapon, gadget, skill, experience table, and map that has appeared in Rifts® World Books 1-23 and Sourcebooks 1-4, plus a bionics index, an O.C.C. and R.C.C. index, rules clarifications, combat examples, advice on how to run a game and more.

• 500+ weapons.
• 300+ skills.
• 290 pieces of equipment.
• 180+ vehicles.
• 100+ suits of body armor.
• 80+ suits of power armor.
• 352 pages – $28.99 retail – Cat. No. 845 – available now.

Other core Rifts^® titles:

• Rifts® Rifts® Ultimate Edition RPG, Hardcover – core rules, epic setting of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in a future Earth post-apocalyptic setting. 30+ player characters – play a Dragon Hatchling, Cyborg, Juicer, Crazy, Cyber-Knight, Power Armor Pilot, Psi-Stalker, Dog Boy and others! Magic, psionics, weapons, bionics, and more. If you can imagine it, it can happen in Rifts®. 376 page hardcover – $41.99 retail – Cat. No. 800HC – available now.
• Rifts® Book of Magic™ – 900+ magic spells, plus Techno-Wizard devices, Magic Tattoos, Nazca Lines, Whale Songs, Herbs, Symbiotes, Bio-Wizard Weapons, Rune Weapons, magic items and more! 352 pages – still $26.95 retail – Cat. No. 848 – available now.
• Rifts® Adventure Guide™ – 150+ adventure ideas, Random Rifts, making towns, cities, merc companies, and traveling shows, gaming tips and much more. 192 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 849 – available now.
• Rifts Conversion Books 1, 2 & 3.
• Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook

UPDATE: Rifts^® Bestiary, Volume One – Ships December

I’m sorry this book is taking longer than we had hoped, but we want to make Rifts® Bestiary, Volume One truly inspiring with cool monstrous pets, riding animals and alien familiars for players to use and monsters and dangers that inspire Game Masters to build better adventures. We have been working like crazy on this book, and it is coming along great, but it is taking time to get everything just the way we know you want it.

Wayne and Alex are busy editing, Chuck is drawing the beasts, Nick Bradshaw is doing art for a few last minute new monsters, and I have been writing and updating as fast as I can. The new monsters are awesome and some of the updates will make familiar and forgotten creatures feel new again. I’m behind where I wanted to be on this book, but it and Volume Two are going to be something special.

We are all excited by how much new material has been added to the Rifts® Bestiary, Volume One (and Two). Every single creature has extra information and updates, but many are much more expanded and detailed than I had originally imagined I would make them. It has been fun to revisit and expand upon these monsters and animals. These comprehensive rewrites only serve to make two better and more useful books for gamers. And the new beasts? I’m loving them and so will the fans. We know the customer will enjoy and get a lot of use out of these tomes.

The two upcoming Rifts® Bestiary books are great resources for players and G.M.s alike, with creatures that can be used as familiars, pets, riding animals, guard animals, and in some cases, even unlikely allies. Others are slobbering monsters or malicious predators who include humans and D-Bees among their prey. All giving you plenty of spice to add to your characters and adventures. And each comes with a map that shows at a glance exactly where to find these beasts. The Rifts® Bestiary, Volume One ships early December. Volume Two end of December.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks.
• Updated descriptions and information for existing monsters.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• New predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Fully illustrated, much of the art by Charles Walton II, along with Siembieda and many others.
• 192-224 pages each volume – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 896 (Volume One) and Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two). In production.

UPDATE: In the Face of Death^™ for Dead Reign^®

I spoke to Nick Bradshaw about the art and some ideas and expect to plunge into finishing In the Face of Death™ as soon as the Bestiary books are done. Cannot wait.

UPDATE: Rifts^® Antarctica

Artist John Zeleznik is painting away while author Matthew Clements is making changes and improvements to the manuscript to ensure that Rifts® Antarctica is a truly compelling and exotic land you’ll want to explore.

UPDATE: Chaos Earth^® Psychic Scream^™

I approved the Psychic Scream final cover art, the artist Anthony Moravian has transferred it to masonite and should be painting away. Another book I’m dying to get into your hands as soon as possible.

UPDATE: The Rifter^® #83 and #84

As previously mentioned, we are already thinking about and reviewing material for these two issues. The Rifter® #83 should have a Heroes Unlimited™ theme cover by Anthony Moravian, and The Rifter® #84 will have a Rifts® cover by John Zeleznik.

New on DriveThruRPG.com – Systems Failure^™ RPG, a complete game and setting

New: Systems Failure™ RPG: 160 pages of riotous fun. Play this alien invasion, post-apocalypse setting serious or with humor. Civilization is on the verge of collapse when the so-called “bugs” invade. Bug-like things that feed on energy and turn humans into zombie-like slaves to serve them. Our story begins in the USA where survivors are not ready to give up to these monsters. America (and then the world) will be free! A complete RPG and game setting. Have fun.

Recent PDF additions include Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two: 256 pages of technology and fun. 30+ power armors, 30+ body armors, 15 combat vehicles, 45 vehicles (hovercycles, etc.), 10 robot haulers, the Robodome and more. Bizantium and the Northern Islands™: the northernmost part of the Known World, the Cold Born, Necromancy ships made from dead sea serpents, 15 creatures, Random Sea Monster Generator, and more. Rifts® Northern Gun™ One. This fan favorite might be thought of as the big book of giant robots – an in-depth look at Northern Gun, 70+ weapons, 27 robots, NG O.C.C.s, key people and places, and much more. Mysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic™ with Wizards, their Apprentices, nearly 60 new magic spells and remember, magic and monsters in the Fantasy RPG are easily adapted to Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, HU2 and other settings. Wolfen Empire™ Fantasy sourcebook, the Great Northern Wilderness and Killer Winters, 12 Wolfen Tribes, Wolfen military and society, 15+ creatures, 5 full adventures, 101 adventure ideas, random encounter tables, notable people, places, plus FREE Sneak Previews of The Rifter® #80 & The Rifter® #81, and more on DriveThruRPG.com.

• Rifts® is a genre-bending setting that combines science fiction, fantasy, horror, post-apocalypse survival, magic, and endless possibilities for adventure. Imagine a near perfect world of advanced technology 100 years in the future. Then imagine that world crashing down overnight in an apocalyptic upheaval not seen since the formation of the planet. A Great Cataclysm caused by the explosive return of magic. Now fast forward 300 years into the future where magic, dragons, and mythic gods coexist with cyborgs, giant robots and super-science rediscovered from humanity’s Golden Age as humans rise from a lengthy Dark Age. But they must contend with countless alien life forms, monsters, and supernatural horrors from beyond the Rifts.
• Rifts® core titles we would suggest: Rifts® Ultimate Edition, Rifts® Game Master Guide, Rifts® Book of Magic, Rifts® Adventure Guide, D-Bees of North America™, Rifts® World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign and Rifts® Sourcebook One. Note: The Rifts® RPG, 1st Edition and Rifts® Ultimate, 2nd Edition are both available.
• 80+ Rifts® supplements, most of them available as PDFs with more coming. Where to start? Wherever sounds fun.
• Rifts® Dimension Books™: Travel to alien worlds and dimensions via the Rifts for off-world adventure and intrigue.
• Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG and sourcebook series (all). Live through the Great Cataclysm and the Coming of the Rifts. Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG, Creatures of Chaos™, Rise of Magic™, and Chaos Earth® Resurrection™ are all available.
• FREE Sneak Previews for Nightbane® Dark Designs™, Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans™, Rifts® CS Heroes of Humanity, and many other previews as well as free and low cost items that we make available. All of it adds to the growing list of Rifts and other Palladium RPG game titles available as PDF books, cards and support. A new title should be added every week or two, so keep watching for them.
• The Rifter® #1-77. Each issue is a wealth of source material and ideas for several game lines, but most material can be easily adapted to ANY Palladium game world. Each issue a gem.
• Splicers® RPG is like Iron Man meets Game of Thrones with elements of Terminator – except this army of Iron Men are clad in living body armor and wield living, organic weapons and devices. Created in 2004 by writer and game designer Carmen Bellaire, Splicers® was nominated for an Inquest Gamer Magazine Fan Awards Game of the Year, and has since developed a rabid fan base. Science fiction and horror where humans are forced to use genetically engineered, living weapons and organic war machines to battle an insane Artificial Intelligence and her robot legions. Unlike anything you have ever played before!
• Splicers®: I Am Legion™ Adventure Sourcebook: 6 new Great Houses, 4 new Host Armors, 6 new War Mounts, 19 new Bio-Weapons, 15 new killer machines, new Bio-Enhancements, Amalgam creation tables, Legion and a series of adventures that build into a small campaign, and more.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 1st Edition Rules and sourcebooks. A unique world of magic, monsters and heroes. Dozens of nonhuman player characters including Wolfen, Bearmen, Ogres, Orcs and more. 100,000 years of history.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition Rules and many sourcebooks. The expanded world of high fantasy, magic, mystery and heroes of every variety. Includes the Mind Mage and psychic abilities, mages and spells, magic circles and symbols, men-at-arms, scoundrels and a wide range of inhuman player characters including Wolfen, Bearmen, Ogres, Orcs and many more. 100,000 years of history.
• Heroes Unlimited™ RPG first edition rule book and sourcebooks.
• Heroes Unlimited™ RPG Second Edition rule book and sourcebooks. Create any type of superhuman you can desire and bring comic book adventures to life.
• Dead Reign® RPG (Zombie Apocalypse). The dead have risen. It is the battle for survival in the zombie apocalypse, but this setting is much more than your typical zombie game. Play ordinary people or special characters better equipped to survive and hunt zombies. Many unusual types of zombies.
• Dead Reign® Sourcebooks: 6 sourcebooks from Civilization Gone™ to Hell Followed™ (the latter features stats for 23 disasters, masked lunatics, 11 new zombies, 7 apocalyptic character classes, and more) are available.
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 1st Edition Rules. Supernatural horror in the modern world. Play ordinary people, psychics, paranormal investigators or for something different: Victim Characters!
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 2nd Edition: The complete, revised core game, 14 character classes and 42 occupations for “ordinary people,” 100+ psychic abilities, 16 monsters, the Lazlo Agency, world setting and rules.
• Nightbane® RPG and sourcebooks. An RPG setting we call superhero horror. Dark conspiracy, a secret, demon invasion starting with world leaders and law enforcement, and it is spreading. The player characters are the Nightbane®, reluctant superhumans who must turn into monsters themselves to unleash their powers and battle the evil that is clear only to them. A dark, sinister and challenging world of horror.
• After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks. Planet of the Apes meets the X-Men! Animal creations, powers and more. Create any type of intelligent mutant animal you can imagine as friend or foe.
• Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG and the Mystic China™ sourcebook. James Bond meets Enter the Dragon. 41 types of martial arts, ninjas, and super-spies with gadgets, gizmos and advanced weapons.
• The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy RPG is a long time, cult favorite with a fatalistic world-view of humans vs aliens with superior technology.
• The Palladium Weapon Series of real world weapons, armor and castles throughout history. Designed for use with ANY game system.
• 200+ Palladium titles in all, plus G.M. kits, paper miniatures and more.
• Heroes Unlimited™ Paper Miniatures – Two sets are now available!
• Palladium Fantasy RPG® Paper Miniatures – Volumes #1-6 are available now. More are coming in the weeks ahead.
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Men at Arms – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Coalition Dead Boys – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Adventurers – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Practitioners of Magic (new) – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Extras (new) – $2.99
• And more to come in the weeks ahead.

Charles Walton II Artwork, Toys and Collectibles “on sale” now in Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store along with other good things

For the first time ever, Charles “Chuck” Walton has decided to offer a dozen or two dozen pieces of original artwork via my online store. All money goes to the artist. Includes original art from Rifts® Sovietski, Secrets of the Atlanteans, Rifts® Chaos Earth® Resurrection and others. This is a fun and unique opportunity to get some of Chuck’s art other than having to attend one of the few conventions where Chuck is a guest. He sold a good number at Gen Con and was wondering how he might make his art more available to people. I suggested trying my online store. Most prices range from $50-150, with a few more expensive pieces. Artwork make a great gift for the hard to surprise gamer. Enjoy. Chuck says thanks.

Other one-of-a-kind original artwork available by me (Kevin Siembieda), Kevin Long, Mark Evans (money goes to the artist), as well as prints, limited edition hardcovers, proofreader copies, out of print items, Star Wars toys, Marvel toys and many other toys and collectibles from my personal collection. Alex and I will keep adding items as our busy schedules allow, but we have a lot of fun collectibles available now and coming soon. Hundreds of items. Take a look every weekend for new additions.

Available now: One-of-a-kind book negatives. Negatives were very popular items at the Palladium Open House and people went crazy over them at Gen Con – including actor Joe Manganiello who scooped up a pile of TMNT negatives, while Palladium’s own Mark Oberle, Carmen Bellaire, Brandon Aten and a whole lot of Palladium gamers went for negatives from Rifts® New West, Lone Star and Free Quebec. Fun.

Negatives are unique and attractive, one-of-a-kind (on rare occasions two-of-a-kind if a page was replaced or a second edition was made) works of art that resemble woodcut art and are very dynamic conversation pieces. Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed. The plastic film negatives were then “ganged” on a massive sheet of Mylar 16 pages per big sheet, and the printing plates were made from the negatives – everything white, printing black.

When our printer, McNaughton and Gunn, went completely digital, they asked if Palladium Books wanted the negs, otherwise they would be destroyed. Regrettably, I let a few dozen be destroyed, but the negatives of many books were sent to Palladium. They have sat in our warehouse for years until I started to offer them for sale. I have also started signing the negatives in silver and each comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Each negative comes on a white board inside a plastic magazine bag and looks fabulous framed! Fits in an 8x10 inch matt opening in a frame (each neg is roughly 8½ x 11 inches).

http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles

Closing Thoughts

Have you noticed that the end of the year is filled with holidays and related events? I mean first there is Halloween (I hope your Halloween was amazing!), then Thanksgiving, immediately followed by holiday shopping events Black Friday and Cyber-Monday, then Christmas (and related holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa) and then New Year’s Eve. ALL happening in something like a 62 day period. It’s crazy, but wonderful. And no wonder that it is also a stressful time of year. I know we are feeling the stress as we try to hammer out new product for the holiday season, plan sales and deal with our own personal plans for the holidays. Busy, busy, busy.

On top of that, I have freelance writers reaching out for input on various future projects and some new, small, but fun licensing projects like Apollo Okamura’s animated chibi iSo stickers for the iPhone. Another possibility we are exploring is a fun sounding series of digital Rifts® novelizations for next year, and meanwhile we’re also dealing with marketing and advertising and friends going through medical issues. (Hang tough, get healthy and stay healthy Joe, Chris, Carmen and Michelle. That goes for you too, Doug, with the loss your family are dealing with.) Our colds are a pain in the neck, but they are nothing compared to what some dear friends are going through.

It’s the holiday season when we often stop to reflect on just how precious and important our friends and loved ones really are. That’s good. Love them. Hold them close and let them know what they mean to you. I’ve had two close friends, both in their forties and both in seemingly good physical health, have heart attacks within the last five months. Live in the now and let the special people in your life know what they mean to you.

Not to segue from that into what may sound like a sales pitch, but that really is why we do the Christmas Surprise Packages. Because we appreciate you, our fans, more than you may ever realize, and we want to bring you joy and hours of fun. We want these Grab Bags to surprise and delight as many gamers as possible. And we know a lot of you buy the Surprise Packages for friends and relatives, or get enough in one Surprise Package to give items to a few gaming friends, spreading the joy even further. Fantastic! To me, the Christmas season and similar holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc., is all about a time of joy and laughter, love and merriment. And even if you don’t believe in anything based on religion, heck, this is as good a time as any to do something nice and propagate these positive sentiments and to try to bring a little joy into other people’s lives. So please, enjoy the Surprise Packages. They are a gift from us to you. And when you spread that gift to others, all the better. But hey, you are doing that already when you run a game or share your RPG books and ideas. That’s why I love role-playing.

Creating role-playing games and sourcebooks is my passion and one of my greatest joys. The fact that I can share that passion and joy with so many of you, around the world, is even more wonderful. A miracle, of sorts. Awesome. Please, keep those imaginations burning bright, give your loved ones a hug and game on!

– Kevin Siembieda, Game Designer & Publisher

The Rifter^® #82 – Ships November 26 (maybe sooner)

The Rifter® #82 is all about discovery and unleashing the power inside of you. That’s true whether you are playing a Chaos Earth® Pyromancer™ learning to survive and save lives after the Great Cataclysm; or a newly awakened Nightbane® seeking his or her purpose in a dark world of conspiracy and demons; or a Heroes Unlimited™ vigilante trained to the height of physical perfection in a war against evil; or an RPG gamer like you and me, unleashing our imaginations to create wonderful new characters and epic adventures. This issue of The Rifter® also lovingly celebrates a master of unleashed imagination and big thinking, Erick Wujcik, ten years after his untimely passing. Bits of Palladium history and heartfelt sentiments revealed along the way. Enjoy.

Rifter® #82 Highlights:

• Rifts® Chaos Earth® – Pyromancy, Nebraska Part Three – by Daniel Frederick, Matthew Clements & Kevin Siembieda. 50+ Pyromancy spells, the Pyromancer O.C.C., Zone Twisters, notable characters, and more. “Official” source material.
• Rifts® Bestiary Sneak Preview – by Kevin Siembieda and Charles Walton II. A few choice new monsters to whet your appetite for the Rifts® Bestiary, Volumes One and Two, and the books to follow. “Official” source material.
• Heroes Unlimited – by Matt Reed. An expanded look at the unique heroes who do not possess super abilities, but rather turn their bodies into fighting machines via physical training and dedicated force of will.
• Nightbane® – Age Modifiers and Education Rules – by Mark Oberle. Tables and stats for determining an occupation and skills based on the age of the character. Plus more insight to being a Nightbane and a few new skills. “Official” source material.
• Gaming Advice from Erick Wujcik – Thinking Big and The Name Giver, sage advice reprinted from The Rifter® #1 & #2.
• Erick Wujcik Remembered – Erick touched countless lives with his big personality, inspiring mind, and body of work. Ten years after his death, Erick continues to inspire everyone who met him. Friends and fans remember this unique individual and his work. Insight to the man and Palladium Books, the company he loved. Written by Kevin Siembieda and many, many others. A celebration of life.
• News, coming attractions, product descriptions and more.
• 112 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 182. Ships November 26, maybe sooner.

COMING: Systems Failure^™ RPG

– Back in Stock – November 20 – just for the Holidays

When the cities fell, and the world went "off-line," all seemed lost. Anarchy reigned.

On an alternate Earth, all that is left are the Survivalists, Nature-Lovers, Farmers, Gun Bunnies, Eggheads and backwoods wackos living on the fringe. Either people found in remote regions or those who were prepared for the Y2K Bug and the collapse of civilization.

Oh, and there are “bugs” alright. Alien, bug-like things that feed on energy and turn humans into zombie-like slaves. Things are worse than anyone could have imagined, even for those who were prepared. But these survivors are not ready to give up. America (and then the world) will be free! And they mean business. Play the unlikely heroes fighting to save the world in a post-holocaust environment.

This is an action-packed, post-holocaust role-playing game that can be played straight and serious, or with a touch of satire and humor. Back in 1999, this RPG was inspired by fears of the Y2K Bug and possible end of the world as we knew it. So THIS game is an alternate Earth where Y2K was a real event and worse than anyone could imagine. Enjoy the wild characters and setting, and destroy some Bugs!

• A complete, stand-alone role-playing game.
• S.D.C. setting and all the info you need to play.
• The Villains: Monstrous invaders from another dimension drawn to all things electronic. Deadly and weird.
• The Unlikely Heroes: Society's castaways, nutcases, and survivalists.
• 11 O.C.C.s including the Exterminator, Freebooter, NORAD Psychic and more.
• Reclaim the world for god-fearing humans!
• Plenty of world information and adventure ideas.
• Written by Bill Coffin based on concepts by Kevin Siembieda.
• Includes Conversion Notes for use with Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™ 2nd Edition, Ninjas & Superspies™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, and other Palladium game settings. Loads of fun!
• 144 pages – $22.99 – Cat. No. 650 – Back in print just for the holidays. Available November 20, 2018.

COMING: Boxed Nightmares^™ – Adventure Sourcebook for Beyond the Supernatural^™

– Back in Stock – November 20 – just for the Holidays

Boxed Nightmares™ is exactly what the title suggests, ordinary people coming face to face with supernatural nightmares. The adventures are designed to give players and Game Masters a better idea of the variety and scope of adventures one can explore in the world of modern horror. Some adventures are short, others long. Some are monster stomping action, while others require investigation, cunning, and the uncovering of clues.

The newspaper portion is in the back of the book. It is one of those sensational, check-out counter tabloids that boasts headlines like Woman marries Big Foot, or Elvis’s clone living in Tampa. However, this tabloid is tied to the adventure portion of the sourcebook in several different ways. First, it contains clues and information for the actual adventures inside the sourcebook. Second, the publishers of the paper often hire psychics and parapsychologists to investigate strange phenomena, so your characters could be working for the tabloid company. And third, it may give you ideas for additional adventures.

• Rules and tips for creating secret organizations.
• Adventures in the USA, South America and Australia.
• Crazed Arcanists, Gremlins, Tasmanian Devils, a Possessing Entity that has absorbed the memories of a serial killer, and more.
• The After Midnight tabloid, filled with clues and adventure ideas, reproduced in the back of the book.
• Cover by Denis Beauvais. Interior art by Kevin Long. Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• 112 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 701. Back in print just for the holidays. Available November 20, 2018.

COMING: Shadows of Light^™ – A Nightbane^® Sourcebook

– Back in Stock – November 20 – just for the Holidays

The forces of Light and Darkness clash as never before in the modern setting of the Nightbane® RPG.

• More info on the Lightbringers, Nocturnes, and other factions.
• Fallen Guardians and the mystery of the Reapers.
• Psychic Agents and new psionic powers.
• Introducing the angel-like Athanatos.
• The vampire conspiracy and an outline for adventure.
• 11 (optional) O.C.C.s, many are part of Project Pandora.
• Astral Realm of Tophet and city of Pittsburgh, NPCs and more.
• 160 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 734. Back in print just for the holidays. Available November 20, 2018.

New! Rifts^® Bestiary^™: North America, Vol. One

A series of books that collects all the notable monsters, dinosaurs and creepy crawlers and creatures of Rifts® North America (US, Canada and Mexico) into two juicy volumes with a number of new creatures. Each volume includes maps and new creatures, large and small, to help or plague player characters. Between them, these two volumes compile all the beasts of Rifts North America (unintelligent monsters, predators, notable animals and intelligent beings that are monstrous or animal-like in appearance or behavior) from all current World Books and Sourcebooks. In addition, Kevin Siembieda, Chuck Walton and Greg Diaczyk are adding some new monsters to make life in the wilderness interesting. Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books.

Winter releases, both volumes are being worked on simultaneously, right now, so that Volume Two will quickly follow Volume One within 4-6 weeks. Other volumes, like a Bestiary of Spirits and the Supernatural, are likely to follow.

Future volumes will include spirits, ghosts and entities, another on dragons, other volumes on creatures in other parts of Rifts Earth, and so on.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks. Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• Some new creatures, but most are existing creatures.
• Updated information where applicable.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Fully illustrated.
• Art by Chuck Walton, Siembieda and many others.
• 192-224 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 896. In production.

NEW! Rifts^® Bestiary Volume Two – ships December

More of notorious Rifts® monsters and animals, old and new, everything updated and expanded.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks.
• Updated descriptions and information for existing monsters.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• New predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Fully illustrated, much of the art by Charles Walton II, along with Siembieda and many others.
• 192-224 pages each volume – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two). In production. End of December.

COMING: In the Face of Death^™ – A Dead Reign^® Sourcebook

“People will tell you no one can survive in the big cities. They are wrong.” – Brad Ashley, Leader of the Road Reapers in the Zombie Apocalypse.

This sourcebook is all about inner city survival. Survivor colonies finding a way to live and prosper in the big city. The conventional wisdom is that living in the big population centers is impossible. These survivors prove otherwise.

• Inner city survival.
• Living on the rooftops.
• Surviving in big cities crawling with zombies.
• Death Cults, a different type of danger.
• Gangs, street runners, the new underground, and more.
• Heroic Masked Lunatics as player characters.
• Take your zombie campaign to new heights!
• Cover by E.M. Gist. Interior art by Nick Bradshaw.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda. Adaptable to other settings.
• 96-128 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 237. Winter release.

UPDATE: Garden of the Gods^™ – A Palladium Fantasy^® Sourcebook

Matthew Clements is still adding to his considerable contributions to Garden of the Gods before turning it in to Palladium. Matthew has started work on another Fantasy sourcebook and other projects.

The Garden of the Gods is said to be a holy place watched over and even frequented by the avatars of the gods. According to legend, the god may visit heroes and followers in dreams or in person by an avatar of the god, to be given guidance, inspiration, heroic quests, and gifts of knowledge and magic. More details about this title will follow.

• The Garden of the Gods described in detail.
• Godly insight and visitations.
• Gifts of magic and knowledge.
• Sanctuary and more.
• The Black Pit, a place of evil and dark secrets. Is it a counterbalance to the good of the Garden or a trick of the Old Ones?
• Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• Final page count and price yet to be determined, but probably 96 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 475. Winter release.

Back in Stock – Beyond the Supernatural^™ RPG – available now

Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG is supernatural horror in the modern world. A plausible modern horror setting that makes sense and will have you wondering if this stuff could be for real. Play ordinary people, psychics or paranormal investigators.

• 14 Psychic Character Classes.
• 42 occupations for “ordinary” people.
• 100+ psychic abilities, including Fire Walker abilities.
• Creatures of darkness, the Lazlo Agency, and more.
• Three new sourcebooks planned for 2019.
• 256 pages – $26.99 – Cat. No. 700 – available now.

Back in Stock – Rifts^® World Book 18: Mystic Russia^™ – available now

Rifts® Mystic Russia™ – setting information, key people and places, demons, monsters, gypsies and magic galore.

• 18 Archaic Russian Demons and 10 monsters.
• Russian magic including Fire and Bone Magic & magic weapons maker.
• Magic O.C.C.s including Night Witch, Hidden Witch, Mystic Kuznya, Fire Sorcerer, Old Believer and Necromancer.
• 9 Gypsy O.C.C.s, vehicles and more.
• 176 pages – $22.99 – Cat. No. 833 – Available now.

Back in Stock – Rifts^® Game Master Guide^™ – Available now

The Rifts® Game Master Guide™ is a massive 352 page reference book with short stats and description on every Rifts® robot, power armor, body armor, vehicle, weapon, gadget, skill, experience table, and map that appears in Rifts® World Books 1-23 and Sourcebooks 1-4, plus a bionics index, an O.C.C.s and R.C.C. index, rules clarifications, combat examples, advice on how to run a game and more.

• 500+ weapons.
• 300+ skills.
• 290 pieces of equipment.
• 180+ vehicles.
• 100+ suits of body armor.
• 80+ suits of power armor.
• 352 pages – $28.99 retail – Cat. No. 845 – Available now.

Other core Rifts^® titles to remember:

• Rifts® Rifts® Ultimate Edition RPG, Hardcover – core rules, epic setting of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in a future Earth post-apocalyptic setting. 30+ player characters – play a Dragon Hatchling, Cyborg, Juicer, Crazy, Cyber-Knight, Power Armor Pilot, Psi-Stalker, Dog Boy and others! Magic, psionics, weapons, bionics, and more. If you can imagine it, it can happen in Rifts®. 376 page hardcover – $41.99 retail – Cat. No. 800HC – available now.
• Rifts® Book of Magic™ – 900+ magic spells, plus Techno-Wizard devices, Magic Tattoos, Nazca Lines, Whale Songs, Herbs, Symbiotes, Bio-Wizard Weapons, Rune Weapons, magic items and more! 352 pages – still $26.95 retail – Cat. No. 848 – available now.
• Rifts® Adventure Guide™ – 150+ adventure ideas, Random Rifts, making towns, cities, merc companies, and traveling shows, gaming tips and much more. 192 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 849 – available now.
• Rifts Conversion Books 1, 2 & 3.
• Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook.

What’s Coming (in production or development):

• Rifts® Bestiary™, Volume One – November release.
• The Rifter® #82 – October or November release – special Erick Wujcik tribute + source material for Rifts® Chaos Earth® (Pyromancer and more), Nightbane®, Rifts® and more.
• Rifts® Bestiary™, Volume Two – November or December release.
• In the Face of Death™, Dead Reign® Sourcebook – November or December release.
• The Rifter® #83 – December or January release.
• Rifts® Chaos Earth®: Psychic Scream – First Quarter release.
• Rifts® Antarctica – First Quarter release.
• Garden of the Gods™, (Fantasy) – First Quarter release.
• The Rifter® #84 – First Quarter release.
• Rifts® The Disavowed™
• Rifts® Chaos Earth®: First Responders
• Rifts® CS Arsenal™
• And much more in development for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Dead Reign®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Splicers® and more!

Copyright 2018 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc.; Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.

This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.