Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – September 24, 2020

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

By Kevin Siembieda

Are you feeling frustrated? Me too. Try not to be. I have been dealing with some personal matters and trying to help some people with unexpected loss these past few weeks. These are difficult times for so many. See my Closing Thoughts for more details and thoughts. Otherwise, please hang tough, stay safe, and try to stay positive. Good things (dare I say great things) are coming from Palladium Books and we will get through this no matter what and we will be better and wiser for it.

Things at Palladium have been up and down, but I remain foolishly optimistic about the future. My frustration at work lays mostly in being pulled in a lot of different directions and being behind deadline. At least when I have the chance to write, I have been on fire and the books in the pipeline are awesome.

Rifts® CS Manhunters is almost finished and I think I’m very pleased with it. I have started posting some of the individual new psionic abilities for your advance perusal and enjoyment in Murmurs from the Megaverse®. I think there are something like 25 or 30 new psychic abilities in total, 12 or so for Sensitive and a few for each of the other categories: Healing, Physical, and Super-Psionics. It think I’ll post around six abilities for you, one every couple of days, and some other fun odds and ends too.

Rifts® Lazlo: I spoke with author Mark Oberle and he is also back on track with finishing his Rifts® Lazlo manuscript. He is adjusting some continuity issues and should be done soon. Then we will release it as a Rifts® Lazlo Raw Preview Edition. Probably an October release along with CS Manhunters. As always, the Lazlo Raw Edition will be limited in quantity and make a fun and unique collectible.

We like to do Raw Previews for certain books because you like them so much. Some people find them fun and insightful. Some folks like to be the first to see and play the material months before the final release. Others enjoy seeing the work in progress. Meanwhile, gamers with aspirations of becoming writers and game designers themselves, or who like to see the inner workings of game design, like to compare the Raw Preview with the final publication to see what changes, omissions, and additions were made. It provides them with a better understanding of what works, what does not, and how to improve RPG design and writing. It helps Palladium Books in a few ways too. It helps to build excitement for the final releases, it provides us with a bit of extra capital for production, and one of the biggest benefits is we get your input. We get to hear what you like, what you dislike, and what you may think needs to be omitted, reworked, added, or expanded upon. Your feedback made Garden of the Gods turn from a good manuscript into a superior finished product. The same for the upcoming Rifts® Antarctica. Please remember that Lazlo is likely to be a series of 2, 3, or even 4 books, so when the Raw Edition comes out, please tell us what you think is missing, what you think should be expanded, or what else you would like to see us address.

There could be more Rifts® Miniatures in your future. I am looking into the possibility of releasing a few of the old sets of minis that have been sold out for a long, long time. Like Cat. No. 8003 Coalition Troops #1, 8012 Juicers and Crazy, and 8013 Cyborgs #2. Probably not 8001 the original Glitter Boy and pilot since we have the superior new one. Unless you think you might want it as well? Food for thought. Maybe in time for Christmas? I may also talk to Carmen Bellaire about releasing some more of the figures he had sculpted for his ill-fated Rifts® boardgame Kickstarter a few years ago. They are freakin’ gorgeous.

We expect to have three more Rifts® novels available on DriveThruRPG before Christmas. The collected Rifts® Hammer of the Forge (Phase World®, Cosmo-Knights, and the Three Galaxies) in two volumes, plus Duty’s Edge. AND I have been approached by a few other people considering writing novelizations for Rifts® and possibly other Palladium game lines. Exciting.

There should be a Palladium Fantasy RPG® NPC generator in a few weeks to go with the Fantasy character generator by Travis Guerrero.

Sale ends Thursday after midnight. The sale of physical books was supposed to end Wednesday, September 23, after midnight, HOWEVER, we experienced some computer/Internet issues so we could not send out the notice Wednesday morning as planned. As a result, I will leave the sale up thru Thursday evening, September 24, so you don't miss out. But time is still running out in these final hours. I am pleased so many of you are enjoying the Rifts® Merc Adventures Sale that was presented here and on DriveThruRPG for the last week. It was a good one. Enjoy those books and please continue to spread the word about all of Palladium’s RPG lines.

The Sale on my Ebay Store continues for another week – Palladium negatives (big discount), proofreader photocopies, and toys are all on sale. I hope to add new negatives to the store before Christmas, but right now my focus is on finishing books.

Folks keep asking if I am doing well after my recent, second kidney stone medical procedure, so let me reiterate, I am completely 100% okay and doing fine. Thank you so much for asking. I have a follow up visit with my doctor this Friday, but I’m feeling great.

NEW! Glitter Boy^™ Resin Miniature – Available now

Standing nearly 3 inches tall, this dynamically posed new Glitter Boy resin miniature is gorgeous and ready to ship. New, in that it is the first time it is being made physically available – thank you Carmen Bellaire and Rogue Heroes LLC.

• Dynamic pose.
• 2 1/2 inches tall.
• Sturdy, detailed, lightweight, gray resin miniature.
• Quick and easy to build. Fun to paint.
• Sculpted by Ben Calvert-Lee.
• 250 are available now on a first come, first served basis. We will try to have more made in time for Christmas, but cannot guarantee it.
• $34.99 retail – Cat. No. MI8046. Now shipping!

Note: The facility we use to make short runs of miniatures was slow to ramp back up after being shut down by the Covid-19 related Stay-At-Home order, and it took us nearly four months to get these 250 minis. If this initial release proves to be as in demand as we think it will be, we will try to have more made in time for Christmas, and maybe see if we can release other minis originally designed for the ill-fated Rogue Heroes Rifts® boardgame. Time will tell, but you can enjoy this bad boy right now.

NEW(ish)! Rifts^® Primer & Adventures^™ – Available now

You requested adventures, now you’ve got adventures galore. This new release offers the How To Play Rifts® Primer with Game Master and player advice on running Rifts® and creating adventures from The Rifter® #75, PLUS the many adventures from the 60 page booklet that accompanied the 1990s Rifts® Game Master Shield and Adventures, plus the panels of the Game Shield for your reference. But that’s not all! I, Kevin Siembieda, wrote two additional, lengthy, Hook, Line, and Sinker adventures and new 101 adventure ideas. The latter is done in a similar vein to what we did in Garden of the Gods (Fantasy), so there are actually more than 101 ideas. Also see the Rifts® Index and Adventures Volume One (back in print) and Rifts® Index Volume Two for more adventures and adventure hooks.

• How to Play Rifts® by Carl Gleba and Kevin Siembieda.
• How to create adventures by Carl Gleba and Kevin Siembieda.
• Four full adventures and maps.
• 20 Hook, Line and Sinker™ adventures.
• New 101 Rifts® adventure hooks/ideas circa 109-110 P.A.
• Rifts® character sheets.
• G.M. Screen Tables, lists and data from the 1990s Rifts® Game Shield and Adventures.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Carl Gleba, and others.
• 128 pages – $18.99 – Cat. No. 824 – Available now.

BACK IN PRINT! Rifts^® Index & Adventures^™ Vol. One – Available now

This sourcebook offers more adventures and an index. Back in print after being unavailable for 15+ years, it presents more than 40 pages of adventures and offers a ton of Hook, Line & Sinker™ adventures. Many involving the Army of the Coalition States. Plus an Index for Rifts® World Books 1-6, Sourcebooks 1 and 3, Rifts® Conversion Books 1 & 2, Rifts® Mercenaries, Dimension Books 1 and 2, and the original Rifts® RPG, First Edition rules. Worth it for the 30 plus adventure hooks alone.

• Back for the first time in nearly 20 years! A must for Rifts® collectors.
• 40+ pages of adventures: Five adventures and NPCs.
• 25 Hook, Line and Sinker™ adventures.
• An index of early Rifts® titles.
• 96 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 823 – Available now.

Rifts^® Index and Adventures Vol. Two – Available now

This sourcebook offers more adventures and an index for Rifts® World Books 6-15 (Underseas, Japan, South America 2, Juicers, CS War Campaign, Lone Star, New West, Spirit West), as well as Rifts® Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids® and SB 4: Coalition Navy, and Rifts® Phase World®. Worth it for all those adventure hooks alone.

• 50 pages of adventures: Two full adventures and NPCs.
• 23 Hook, Line and Sinker™ adventures.
• An index of 17 early Rifts® titles, listed above.
• 128 pages – $16.95 retail – Cat. No. 831 – Available now.

BACK IN PRINT! Rifts^® Novel 3: Treacherous Awakenings – Available now

Yes, the third novel in the Rifts® Trilogy is again available in print! The epic conclusion is satisfying and fun.

• 5 x 8 inch paperback.
• Written by Adam Chilson.
• 426 pages – $15.99 – Cat. No. 303 – now shipping!
• Note: All three novels are also available as updated and re-edited PDF editions from DriveThruRPG.com.

Retailers can order direct from Palladium Books at discount terms

Retailers, are you having trouble getting Palladium products from your distributors? Join the growing number of stores to whom Palladium sells direct. 95-99% of all our game lines are ALWAYS IN STOCK and ready to ship. Palladium has your back!

Until we put into place something more formal, retailers can call the office at 734-721-2903 and leave a message and phone number on the answering machine, or send an inquiry via the Help Desk, and Palladium will respond pronto. Glad to help. As long as you are a brick and mortar store, we are happy to do business with you.

We added another store to our direct sales roster just yesterday, and others have inquired. Retailers and gamers alike, please spread the word to let game stores and comic book shops know if they are having difficulty getting Palladium Books products from distributors, they should contact Palladium Books to buy from us direct! Spread the fun and game on!

NEW! In the Face of Death^™ – Available now

A Dead Reign® Sourcebook that re-imagines the Zombie Apocalypse while remaining true to the genre

In the Face of Death™ is part survival guide, part cityscape, and part heroic adventure the likes of which you have never quite seen before in a zombie RPG. Adventure is built upon human ingenuity, courage, hope, and insanity. Characters include children and teenagers, and heroes driven by madness. Human predators and other villains stalk the ruins of human civilization. Ruins inhabited by the omnipresent hungry dead.

This is a book that pushes the genre and challenges the imagination. It brings to focus a setting of heroic adventure that combines elements of horror, zombies, survival, and madness in a post-apocalyptic world with classic dungeon exploring and epic adventure. In the Face of Death™ helps make Dead Reign® into A Quiet Place meets Mad Max in the world of Dawn of the Dead.

“Pure fun, action, and excitement. A sourcebook packed with new ideas unlike any I have ever seen. This is what role-playing games and imagination are all about.” – Alex Marciniszyn, Editor

• Rethinking the Zombie Apocalypse.
• It is time to fight back and do more than survive.
• Life on the rooftops and in the heart of the city.
• Resources, defenses, traps, urban homesteads, and more.
• City survival tactics, traps, resources, and Rat Runs.
• Parkour, Zombie Survival Training, and other skills.
• New O.C.C.s like the Rat Runner and Urban Explorer.
• Kids and teenagers as player characters and kid O.C.C.s.
• Heroic Masked Lunatics – a new type of hero as player characters.
• Predators and villains like Gutter Rats, Flesh Peddlers, Skinners, and more.
• Dungeon crawl-style exploration through the ruins of human civilization.
• 100+ adventure hooks and dozens of additional ideas.
• Death Cults, their orientation and practices.
• Adaptable to other settings like Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane®, and more.
• Cover by E.M. Gist. Interior art by Bradshaw, Cummings, Mumah, and Ashbaugh.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Mark Oberle.
• 160 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 237 – Available now.

BACK IN STOCK – Rifts^® Ultimate Edition – Cat. No. 800HC – Available now

This big, 376 page role-playing game is everything you need to start playing Rifts®. Just add some dice, some players, and a heaping helping of imagination and you are ready to go.

If you have never played the rich, unpredictable, genre-melding Rifts® setting, you are missing epic adventure that never grows old, because anything is possible. No other RPG blends science fiction, fantasy, horror, and post-apocalyptic adventure with demons and aliens, robots and cyborgs, magic and the supernatural in such a plausible and dynamic way. A setting that lets you play any type and style of game you can imagine. With characters like Dragon Hatchlings, Cyber-Knights, Glitter Boys, Ley Line Walkers, Techno-Wizards, and Juicers that challenge the imagination. And those are just a tiny handful of the O.C.C.s you can play in Rifts®. Not to mention hundreds of different alien, supernatural, magical, and other beings available as player characters. All of it set on an Earth that is both familiar and as alien as a thousand different planets. So check it out, build your character, start a campaign, and watch your characters become legends.

• 30+ player characters to choose from; tech, magic, or psychic.
• Cyborgs, robot and power armor pilots, Scout, Assassin, and more.
• 140+ magic spells, plus Techno-Wizards, Shifters, and more.
• 90 psionic powers and psychic characters.
• Sourcebooks offer hundreds of different alien, supernatural beings, creatures of magic, and other beings, many available as player characters.
• There has never been another RPG quite like Rifts®.
• 376 page hardcover, some color – $41.99 retail – Cat. No. 800HC – available now.

COMING SOON! Rifts^® CS Manhunters^™ – A Secrets of the Coalition States^™ Sourcebook

Hey, I’m as frustrated as you are that this awesome book (BTS Creature Feature, too) is not done yet, but it will be soon. It has been rough being short-handed and juggling so much, but it will be worth the wait. Rifts® CS Manhunters™ is packed with good stuff. I will try to offer a few snippets in my Murmurs from the Megaverse® and social media.

Coalition Manhunters™ reveals more Coalition States secrets about the super-secret CS Manhunters. So secret that most people have never heard of them, and those who have do not believe they really exist. But that’s not all – there are new psionic abilities, new CS characters available as player characters and NPC villains, more insight about the CS and Psi-Battalion, and more. All of it building toward something epic.

Who watches the watchmen? CS Manhunters. A secret division within the Coalition’s Psi-Battalion who hunt not only the most dangerous spies and fugitives, but also traitors within the Coalition States. This elite force of psychics, Kill Hounds, Dog Boys, and CS soldiers are trained hunters of men and cold-blooded killing machines. They follow orders without question and kill without hesitation.

• New Coalition Psychic O.C.C.s.
• New psionic abilities and revisits of some favorites.
• CS Manhunter Divner and Precog.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Interrogator and Psi-Enforcer.
• CS Manhunter Bursters and Zappers.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Healers and CS Slayers.
• CS Manhunter Killhound and Dog Boy O.C.C.s.
• CS Manhunter Mind Melters, the deadliest of them all.
• CS Manhunter squads and special operations.
• Insight on the Coalition’s infamous Psi-Battalion.
• The impact of the demon plagues from the Minion War.
• Non-Player Characters, background info, adventure ideas, and more.
• 96-128 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 894 – In production and nearing completion.

COMING! Creature Feature^™, a Beyond the Supernatural^™ sourcebook

The manuscript is in. Artwork is being created. And the world of Beyond the Supernatural™ is about to be expanded. This sourcebook builds on material that has appeared in various issues of The Rifter® but there is a ton of new material and information useful to both Game Masters and players.

• A gallery of supernatural creatures. Some new. Some familiar, updated and expanded. All terrifying.
• Rules clarifications and errata.
• Game Master source material and advice on rules, psychic abilities, proximity and threat levels, I.S.P. multipliers, and more.
• Advice about running modern horror RPGs and using supernatural creatures in your games.
• Lots of adventure ideas, including an updated and expanded full adventure, “The Squatter.”
• New background and setting information for the BTS setting and a few surprises.
• Written by Steven Dawes, Kevin Siembieda, and others.
• Art by Steven Cummings, Nick Bradshaw and others.
• 160-192 pages – $22.99 or $26.99 depending on final size – Cat. No. 704.

COMING! Rifts^® Lazlo Raw Preview Edition

I spoke with the co-author, Mark Oberle, a few times the last couple of weeks, so I can tell you that his manuscript, to be offered as a Raw Preview, is almost done and sounds pretty awesome. He is continuing to expand upon the original concepts and I think he is nailing it. As I have said, I believe Lazlo will end up being a 2-4 book series, because there is just so much for this important location. This will be just the first book. In fact, I gave Mark the green light to start on one of the next Lazlo books as soon as he is done with this manuscript. The Raw Preview will be a September release for sure.

What is a Raw Preview Edition? It is the unfinished, unedited, advance manuscript subject to rewrites and expansion. It gets a limited print run of around 200-300 copies and is fun for collectors to have something rare and unique, and is especially handy for writers and game designers (and curious gamers) because they get a glimpse into the development process at Palladium when they compare what is in the Raw Preview and what sees print in the final book, what gets expanded, dropped out, etc. In this case, writer Mark Oberle has been building Lazlo from material written by Matthew Clements and notes from me. It should be pretty darn good. And remember, Rifts® Lazlo is likely to be 2-4 books. That is how comprehensive we want to make Lazlo. Heck, fans have waited 30 years, we do not want to disappoint. The Raw Preview is looking like it will be 160-192 pages all by itself.

COMING! Rifts^® Titan Robotics^™ – Summer 2020

Rifts® Titan Robotics™ is a high-tech toy box presenting new types of armor, sleek power armor, giant robots, vehicles, and weapons sold by Titan Robotics that will make gamers salivate. Ah, but Titan Robotics is much more than just another weapons manufacturer, it is the secret operation of ARCHIE-3 and all part of his plan to monitor and manipulate the outside world. Learn about Archie’s androids that run Titan Robotics, his current schemes and plans for the future. Probably a 160 page World Book around $22.99 retail, but may expand into 192 pages.

• New Giant Robots.
• New Power Armor, equipment and accessories.
• 30+ power armors and robots, plus other equipment.
• New weapons, gear and vehicles.
• Titan Robotics Corporation and structure.
• Archie’s secret kingdom and plans for the future.
• New O.C.C.s and key Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
• Android executives, security and much more.
• Wellington Industries, Campaign prompts and more.
• Art by Zeleznik, Walton, Cummings, Atkins, and others.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda. Cover by Zeleznik.
• 160-192 pages (tentative) – $22.99 retail (or $26.99) – Cat. No. 899.

COMING: Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume Two – Fall 2020

The second big, “monster book” reference for Rifts® of what we anticipate to be three volumes in the series, more if we decide to make ghosts, spirits and Entities and/or Creatures of Magic part of the Bestiary series. Much like Volume One, Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume Two collects 70-100 monsters and animals plus 12-24 new beasts found across Rifts North America. The anticipated page count is 224-256 pages.

All volumes of the Rifts® Bestiary™ series are a great resource for players and Game Masters alike. Each description is updated, expanded, and highly detailed to present players with exotic and alien creatures as pets, guardians and riding animals, as well as slobbering monsters to battle and fierce beasts for Game Masters to throw at their players. Designed to offer adventure ideas, offers notes on young, adult, male and female creatures, and all provide plenty of ways to enhance your characters and spice up adventures. Each is accompanied by a map that shows at a glance where the beast can be encountered. Ah, but in the presence of Rifts and magic means any of the creatures may appear anywhere in the world, so be on your toes.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized into big, easy to use sourcebooks.
• Updated and expanded descriptions and information for each existing monster.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• New exotic creatures – predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects, and more.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Easily adapted to any Palladium setting – Palladium Fantasy®, Chaos Earth®, Splicers®, Phase World®, the Three Galaxies™, The Mechanoids®, Heroes Unlimited™/Aliens Unlimited™, and others.
• Basic S.D.C. stats included with each creature description.
• Fully illustrated, with art by Charles Walton II, Ramon Perez, Robert Atkins, and many others. Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• 256 pages each volume – $26.99 – Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two) – Fall release.

UPDATE: Rifts^® Chaos Earth^® Psychic Scream^™

This is another book that is going to surprise and wow. New and insane psionics, some taken to the level of super abilities due to the massive amount of P.P.E. energy surging across the planet and boosting survivors with ambient and alien energy. Some become heroes and defenders of fellow survivors. Some become power-mongers and killers. And still others become just one more monster or madman threatening to destroy humanity. I’m assigning some additional artwork for it this week.

UPDATE: Forgotten People – A Fantasy RPG Sourcebook

I spoke with one of the contributing writers last week and his ideas for Bug Bears sounded fabulous. Because some of this material has appeared in past issues of The Rifter® you may think you know what to expect. You don’t. There is a lot of new and exciting material in this bad boy. Things you never knew and may have been afraid to ask.

MORE Material for Fantasy

Several different freelance writers have submitted additional and unexpected Fantasy material for sourcebooks. Though I have not had a chance to review any of them – too much on my plate at the moment as I stay focused on finishing books already in the pipeline – I am very excited by this turn of events. Palladium Fantasy is on the move! Heck, several game lines are.

UPDATE: Other titles – like CS Arsenal^™ and Beyond the Supernatural^™ sourcebooks

Please remember, just because I do not mention or list a specific title in an Update, does not mean it has been removed from the production schedule. All it means is that we are focused and talking about more immediate, upcoming releases, or projects we are excited about that week, or there’s no substantive news to report. We are anxious to put as many books you’ve been waiting for into your hands as possible over the next 18 months, as well as new projects being worked on by freelance writers. That includes Rifts® Antarctica, The Disavowed™, Rifts® CS Arsenal™, Chaos Earth® First Responders™, Land of the Damned™ 3, Rifts® Living Nowhere™, Beyond the Supernatural™ sourcebooks, more Fantasy sourcebooks and other titles. So if a book you are waiting for is not mentioned in an Update, it means there is nothing new to report, but it should still be in the pipeline and news for it will be coming in the weeks or months ahead. Right now, we are focused on releases for the next six months, which by our count is 6-7 titles. And many of them are in various stages of final production or development. We are shooting for one or two new physical book releases every month as well as a couple new PDF products on DriveThruRPG.

DriveThruRPG.com – More than 300 PDF titles when you want them

We are looking to provide a few more novels and a sneak preview of upcoming books in the weeks ahead and maybe some adventure stuff. I have been speaking with people about the possibility of doing PDF adventures, maps, and other player and Game Master support items. Keep your eyes open. In the meanwhile, take advantage of sales to try new settings and new avenues for adventure.

Reminder: Rifts® Index One and Two, as well as Rifts® Novel 3: Treacherous Awakenings are available as PDF titles along with the first two novels and 300+ other Palladium Books RPG Titles. Gen Con Online talked about Rifts®, Rifts® Bestiary, Rifts® Dimension Books, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Nightbane®, Dead Reign®, Heroes Unlimited™, and other Palladium game lines, ALL of which are available as PDFs from DriveThru and most of which are available as physical books from Palladium directly.

Recent Release – Rifts® Novel 3: Treacherous Awakenings™, the pulse-pounding and satisfying conclusion to the Rifts® trilogy by Adam Chilson. It is available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com right now! $9.99 – Cat. No. 303. The other two novels, Rifts® Sonic Boom and Rifts® Deception’s Web, are also available as PDFs from DriveThru for your reading pleasure along with more than 300 RPG titles with more stuff coming your way. Note: We also plan to make it available as our first Print On Demand title from DriveThruRPG in the near future. Watch for it.

Also recent on DriveThru: FREE After the Bomb® Map Pack. Our thanks to the customer who recently reminded me the Map of Mutant Animal Kingdoms and the Empire of Humanity (North American East Coast) was accidentally omitted from the After the Bomb® RPG. We will make sure it is included in the next printing. Moreover, a FREE After the Bomb® Map Pack (5 maps around the world from the various AtB sourcebooks) is now available on DriveThruRPG.

Also on DriveThru: The FREE Sneak Previews for In the Face of Death, Garden of the Gods™ (Fantasy), Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One and many other FREE Previews of Palladium’s sourcebooks. And remember, the PDF of Rifts® Bestiary Vol. One was made available a month or so ago.

In the works for DriveThru in the weeks ahead: In no particular order, Duty’s Edge™, a new Rifts® novel in the pipeline from Will Erwin, the collected The Hammer of the Forge™ (cosmic adventure across Phase World® and the Three Galaxies), and more.

Recent on DriveThruRPG – Rifts® Sonic Boom™. Follow the exploits of a CS platoon sworn to protect humankind from all threats, be they aliens, dragons, masters of magic or fellow humans out for themselves; the second novel in this trilogy, Deception’s Web™, reveals a conspiracy within the Coalition military that could spell disaster for our protagonists. All of it building up to the pulse-pounding events of the 3rd novel: Rifts® Treacherous Awakenings™. The Rifter® #84 offers adventure source material for Rifts® (Golems in the Myst), Heroes Unlimited™ (the City of Cascade by Wujcik and Reed), Palladium Fantasy RPG® (an Elven Kingdom), Beyond the Supernatural™ (an epic adventure, a short story, and a monster), Nightbane® (Spellbound O.C.C.), why The Rifter® is on hiatus, and more.

Also available: Free Garden of the Gods™ (Fantasy) and Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One Sneak Previews, and the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet: A Microsoft Excel-based character management system. Packed with features and data collected from every official Palladium Fantasy sourcebook to enable you to create Fantasy characters quickly (25 minutes!) and help you to update and manage them for years to come.

Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Three: Zombies, Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Two: Civilians and Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume One: Survivors. There are also paper miniatures for Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy® and Rifts®. A new, up-to-date, PDF Palladium Books Catalog. Nightbane® Dark Designs™ sourcebook with 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, 18 new Morphus Tables, all other Morphus Tables collected and more. Systems Failure™ RPG, a 160 page RPG that deals with alien invasion and a post-apocalypse setting that is fun and dynamic. Civilization is on the verge of collapse when the so-called "bugs" invade and turn humans into zombie-like slaves. Monsters, heroes and fun. A complete RPG and setting. 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, The Rifter® #82, 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® #1-84, ALL issues of The Rifter®. Each issue is a wealth of source material and ideas for 3-6 different Palladium game lines. Most are easily adapted to ANY Palladium game setting. Each issue a gem. 8,500 pages of source material and ideas for heroes, villains, monsters, magic, gear, and adventure.
• 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.

Palladium Collectibles, Negatives, Artwork, other Collectibles and Toys are always available in Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store along with other good things

My eBay store is one of the few places where you can find original artwork by Charles "Chuck" Walton, Kevin Long, and others, as well as one-of-a-kind negatives from classic Rifts® and other Palladium RPG books (they look awesome framed!), rare Palladium collector hardcovers, signed books, other Palladium memorabilia, toys from my personal collection and other collectibles. Check every couple of weeks because we often post new stuff or offer a new sale. There is a sale on negatives starting today, in fact.

Other one-of-a-kind original artwork available by me (Kevin Siembieda), Kevin Long, Charles Walton II (money goes to the artist), other artists, as well as collectible negatives, 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 of Love and Concern

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to help several friends and friends of friends to get through the loss of a loved one. Two of those losses were completely unexpected. Another was expected, but no easier to accept and deal with.

I recently watched the last third of the movie Forrest Gump with my sweetheart Kathy. It ends with Forrest saying something like, “Mamma always said dying is just a part of life.” Pause ... “I wish it wasn’t.” Me too. I hate it. It never gets easier.

I have known one truly astonishing person after another. Why I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful people enter my life, often when I need them most, I do not know. What I do know is that each and every one of them is a precious gift. A gift to be cherished because one day they will be gone. It is horrible when that magnificent “gift” of a person is taken away from us. I know, I have lost way too many. It leaves a hole inside of you the size of the Grand Canyon yet somehow all your tears do not begin to fill that yawning chasm. And yet, it is also truly a gift to have had them in our lives for any time at all. If we are lucky, we learn from them and become better, kinder, wiser people for their having been in our lives for however long that may be.

I sympathize and hope my words and understanding can help to bring a moment of peace or nudge the person suffering the pain of such loss one step closer to acceptance and healing.

All the cliches are true: Time heals. The pain will lessen. Those we love are never truly gone as long as they live on in our hearts and memories. In time, their memory will bring only warmth and fondness, not sorrow and tears. And yet ... in the moment of our loss and sadness, these truisms all ring hollow. All you feel is overwhelming sorrow, emptiness, and pain, all at once. You may even feel angry. There are moments that the pain of that loss seems too much to bear.

It is okay to feel all these things. It is natural. And it will ease over time. You don’t have to understand or try to deal with your storm of changing emotions. Just let them sweep over you and give yourself time to heal, because you will heal. And one day, their fond memory will bring you feelings of love and joy, once again. But not now. And it might take a long while to heal. That’s okay too. Take as long as you need.

It is odd we feel such profound loss, because death is just change. Yet, we human beings hate change, don’t we? Not just the profound loss of a loved one in death, or the death of a marriage, or the death of a business, but even smaller changes are usually unwanted, frustrating, and often scary. Heck, we are living through that now with Covid-19. It has forced us into isolation and imposed upon us an unwanted loss of our personal freedoms. The pandemic has forced us to change the way we communicate, eat, play, shop, do business, attend school, and share our lives with friends and family, and even complete strangers, because of it.

I don’t know about you, but for me this is very much like dealing with the loss of a loved one. I feel like I go through all the emotions of the stages of grief once a month:

- Shock.

- Denial.

- Anger.

- Sorrow and/or Depression.

- Loneliness (and maybe some more anger).

- Acceptance (for the moment), which often leads to reflection, which is what I am going through right now, I think.

- I have days of feeling okay, even positive and back to normal, followed by days of any one or several of the above as we work through all this and pray for some sort of happy resolve that is probably still months away from reality. (Praying for a quick, successful vaccine without dangerous side-effects. Am I right?)

- And finally Acceptance.

The problem with dealing with an extended period of suffering and loss, like Covid-19, is the whole range of emotions that cycle through you over and over again. Often each new development or statistic that strikes you the wrong way ignites one of those emotions you thought you had already dealt with and throws acceptance right out the window. For a while you feel okay and are handling it all just fine and feeling good. Then, something happens and you feel angry again, or sad and frustrated, or isolated and lonely, and repeat. I know I do.

Please remember it is okay and natural to feel these waves of changing emotions. We can get through this. And we will. It is just going to take time. Please, do not despair over that. Life is hard. It is full of challenges and it is often unfair. All we can do is try to stay true to ourselves and be as positive and kind to others as we can. To do what we can to help ourselves and those around us, and give it time. If prayer helps you, then pray like the dickens. If gaming helps you, then game and read games and run games at every opportunity. Find whatever brings you some happiness and laughter and hope, and hang onto it for as long as you can.

Those “gifts” we talked about earlier. Those special people in your lives, hang on to them most of all. Call, text, Skype, email, Facebook Message, tweet, send photos, meet on Discord or wherever, but stay connected. Share your hopes and fears, your triumphs and joys. The special people are there for you and need you just as much as you need them. Reach out. Do it all the time. It is okay if you are sad or depressed, scared or worried when you call. They are happy just to hear from you. They don’t give a darn about your mood, they are happy to hear from you. Connect and stay connected. Reach out as often as you can! It’s all good. All welcomed. Do not let yourself become isolated. YOU are in control. In this day and age, you have a zillion ways to stay connected. Do it for them and for yourself.

Seeing friends in sorrow over the loss of their loved ones has given me renewed resolve to follow safety protocols and avoid catching Covid-19 if I can.

Weren’t you taught as a little child to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze? Everyone I know sure was. Why? Because when you are sick and cough or sneeze you are releasing microscopic germs on your breath and into the environment. Germs other people may breathe in and get sick from with the cold, flu, etc. This is nothing new. It is common sense and a common practice we have ALL been observing for our entire lives! Wearing a face mask over the mouth and nose makes this practice a hundred times better and more efficient. It catches the majority of the germs you may release and deflects the rest upward and to the side a much, much shorter distance, and not forward 6-20 feet depending on the force of that exhale.

Every time you breathe out, your breath contains what I like to call our “spew.” You know, that puff of air that is released when you go outside in the winter? That’s your spew. Okay, the official term is “aerosols” that you cannot see at warmer temperatures. It is the moisture, the tiny water particles, we release every time we exhale, talk, laugh, shout, cough and sneeze that may also carry germs. Those last four have more force and travel farther at a greater velocity than just breathing or talking normally. Worse, our spew lingers in the air like an invisible mist. Being outdoors is safer because those aerosols drift away faster in that open space and are blown away and dissipated by the wind.

So you can clearly understand how wearing a mask is super-effective at protecting others from whatever germs may be lurking, unknown, on your breath as well as protect YOU from their spew. It is why doctors and nurses have been wearing face masks for more than a hundred years, and why you expect them to wear them when they are operating on you or your loved one. It is a win, win situation where your mask protects others from you, and their mask blocks the majority of those potentially germ laden aerosols/spew that may come drifting toward you from them! You can see further evidence of this from green laser videos online that show how far your aerosols travel when you talk, laugh, shout, cough, and sneeze.

When you really think about it, wearing a mask – though a pain in the ass – is an incredibly simple, smart, and easy thing to do. And I highly encourage it. Social distancing helps too. And while isolation and avoiding contact, especially with friends and loved ones, truly sucks, it too is super-effective.

Our challenge is to suck it up and do what is best for us, our friends, loved ones, and the nameless strangers we pass in everyday life. Forget about politics and personal freedom, these simple things save lives. And the lives you may save are the people you love most (not to mention yourself).

I freaking hate wearing a face mask and all the rest too, but I am NOT going to be the cause of someone getting sick and maybe dying or suffering from those lingering Covid-19 symptoms for months or the rest of their lives! We still don’t know all the lasting effects and implications of this stinking disease.

I have been lucky so far, nobody I know has died from Covid-19, but seeing the profound grief other friends and acquaintances are suffering through over non-Covid-19 deaths these past few weeks, has reminded me why it is important to be smart, safe, and take measured and reasonable precautions.

I hope you do not mind my sharing my thoughts with you. I do so out of love and concern. I count you as my friends and extended family. Many of you are among the many amazing people in my life and I do not want to lose you. Palladium fans are the greatest in the world and I appreciate and cherish you more than you may ever realize.

One of the people who has recently passed was a gentle giant by the name of Dave Watkins. He was a Palladium fan who loved to play Beyond the Supernatural (his fave) and Rifts® (his other fave), but he played them all. Dave would come to the Palladium Open Houses as well as visit and hang out at the Palladium booth every single Gen Con for I don’t know how many years. A lot of them. He was always a welcomed, smiling face and friend. He recently died, unexpectedly, due to complications from Type 2 Diabetes (which I also have, and I know some of you do as well).

In person, Dave was very quiet and tended to keep to himself, though when you got him going about gaming or his friends in gaming, he could be surprisingly chatty. And funny. You might not think this quiet, shy, unassuming person would have touched many lives, but you would be very wrong. His death has left his loved ones shattered and consumed with grief and deep loss. An army of gamer friends are also saddened, some are just as heartsick over losing their dear friend as the family, and they all speak of how much they will miss Dave. It tears me up to see so many of these nice, caring people in such pain. But we were so lucky and blessed to have Dave in our lives. That’s why the pain is so great and loss felt so deeply. We have lost someone special, but our lives and gaming experiences have all been enriched by Dave Watkins having been part of them.

Another friend lost his father. Another lost a dear friend. I do not want any of you to know this kind of sorrow and pain if the risk can be minimized or avoided via the precautions discussed above. I sure as hell do not want to be the one responsible for such loss and sorrow. Please be smart, be safe, and stay healthy and happy. Cherish those you love and count your blessings to have them in your life. I do.

– With Respect and Love, Kevin Siembieda, September 2020

Rifts^® Bestiary^™ Vol. Two – Coming Fall 2020

More monsters and exotic animals of Rifts® North America as part of an ongoing series of Rifts® Bestiary sourcebooks. The first two or three Rifts® Bestiary™ books will focus on monsters and animals of North America. They collect creatures from all current World Books and Sourcebooks, plus some new creatures by Kevin Siembieda, Charles Walton, and others. Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location at a glance.

Note: The Rifts® Bestiary™ series is more than a few big books of monsters, they are deliberately designed to provide players with a useful, living resource (pet, guard animal, riding animal, food source, etc.) as well as present many and varied opportunities for adventure and fun. Some creatures are helpful, some are inadvertently a threat or danger, while others are slobbering predators or wicked beasts that kill and eat you, or capture you, or sabotage you, or worse.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America in a second easy to use sourcebook.
• Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• Notable Splugorth hunting animals.
• 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, Cummings, Bradshaw, Atkins, Ashbaugh, and many others.
• 192-224 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 897. In production. Anticipating Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume Two to be a Fall 2020 release.

In the Face of Death^™ – Now Shipping!

A Dead Reign® Sourcebook that re-imagines the Zombie Apocalypse while remaining true to classic tropes

In the Face of Death™ is part survival guide, part cityscape, and part heroic adventure the likes of which you have never quite seen before in a zombie RPG. Adventure is built upon human ingenuity, courage, hope, and insanity. Characters include children and teenagers, and heroes driven by madness. Human predators and other villains stalk the ruins of human civilization. Ruins inhabited by the omnipresent hungry dead.

This is a book that pushes the genre and challenges the imagination. It brings to focus a setting of heroic adventure that combines elements of horror, zombies, survival, and madness in a post-apocalyptic world with classic dungeon exploring and epic adventure. In the Face of Death™ helps make Dead Reign® into A Quiet Place meets Mad Max in the world of Dawn of the Dead.

“Pure fun, action, and excitement. A sourcebook packed with new ideas unlike any I have ever seen. This is what role-playing games and imagination are all about.” – Alex Marciniszyn, Editor

• Rethinking the Zombie Apocalypse.
• It is time to fight back and do more than survive.
• Life on the rooftops and in the heart of the city.
• Resources, defenses, traps, urban homesteads, and more.
• City survival tactics, traps, resources, and Rat Runs.
• Parkour, Zombie Survival Training, and other skills.
• New O.C.C.s like the Rat Runner and Urban Explorer.
• Kids and teenagers as player characters and kid O.C.C.s.
• Heroic Masked Lunatics – a new type of hero as player characters.
• Predators and villains like Gutter Rats, Flesh Peddlers, Skinners, and more.
• Dungeon crawl-style exploration through the ruins of human civilization.
• 100+ adventure hooks and dozens of additional ideas.
• Death Cults, their orientation and practices.
• Adaptable to other settings like Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane®, and more.
• Cover by E.M. Gist. Interior art by Bradshaw, Cummings, Mumah, and Ashbaugh.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Mark Oberle.
• 160 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 237 – shipping now.

COMING! Rifts^® Coalition Manhunters^™ – A Secrets of the Coalition States^™ Sourcebook

A secret division within the Coalition’s Psi-Battalion, the CS Manhunters hunt not only the most dangerous spies and fugitives, but also their own. Coalition soldiers, brass, government leaders, and anyone who becomes designated as having gone rogue, AWOL, or turned traitor (including the Disavowed), become targets of CS Manhunters to be tracked down and brought to justice. This elite force of psychics, Kill Hounds, and manhunters are trained killing machines who follow orders without question and kill without hesitation.

More often than not, the assignment is straight-up find and terminate. If your name has been given to a Manhunter squad, your fate is sealed, and no one is untouchable. The CS Manhunters operate in secret, find their target, terminate, and vanish as if they were never there at all. They don’t seek credit or limelight. They serve their country from the blood-soaked shadows.

• CS Manhunter squads and special operatives.
• Manhunter Killhound and Dog Boy O.C.C.s.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Healer.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Interrogator (Mind Melter).
• CS Manhunter Psi-Enforcer (Mind Melter).
• CS Manhunter Bursters and Zappers.
• CS Manhunter Slayer (a variation of the Psi-Slayer or Psi-Warrior).
• CS Manhunter Mind Melter, the most insidious and deadliest of them all.
• Weapons, gear, and tactics.
• Some notable Non-Player Characters, adventure ideas, and more.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda. Art by Nick Bradshaw.
• 96 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 894.

NEW! Garden of the Gods^™, Palladium Fantasy^® Sourcebook – Shipping now!

The Garden of the Gods™ sourcebook is a toy box of gods, magical blessings, ancient artifacts, and hundreds of opportunities and adventure ideas for players and Game Masters alike.

The Garden of the Gods is a place of miracles and wisdom where people of all occupations and races, nobility and the poor, come to find inspiration, blessings and adventure. Many insist the gods themselves are present and may visit heroes and followers in dreams, visions, or in person as an avatar. The gods also look for champions and assign heroic quests and gifts of knowledge and magic. Here, all gods are equal and many a forgotten god seeks to be rediscovered and worshiped by offering blessings, vision quests, and magical artifacts to potential heroes to champion their name.

There is also an dangerous evil on the island of Lopan. An open wound in the earth known as the Black Pit, as well as dark gods within the Garden itself.

• 212 Blessings.
• 101 Magic Artifacts.
• 45 Forgotten gods.
• 50+ Curses and dark magic.
• 100+ Random quests and encounters, and each god offers adventure hooks.
• Restore forgotten gods to power. Become a Champion of the Gods.
• 5 Weapons of destruction created by the Old Ones.
• Godly insight, visitations, knowledge and purpose.
• The Garden of the Gods and its protectors.
• Ghosts, Faeries, mysteries, and ancient secrets.
• Rumors of a secret way to the Land of the Damned.
• The Black Pit, a place of legend and dark secrets. Is it a counterbalance to the good of the Garden or something more sinister?
• Easily adapted to Rifts®, Phase World® and any game system. One game system – a Megaverse® of adventure!™
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Matthew Clements.
• 224 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 475.

Land of the Damned^™ Three: The Bleakness^™ Raw Preview – available now

Available now! The “Raw Preview Edition” of LotD-3: The Bleakness™, for Palladium Fantasy RPG®, is an advance copy of the unedited, unillustrated, working manuscript for this new Fantasy World Book. You get to see the unfinished book months before the final title is released. A rare look at the raw manuscript before final edit, rewrites and publication. Limited to a total of 200 copies.

This epic sourcebook presents the forbidden Land of the Damned in all its brutal glory. Includes information about the ancient and forgotten eldritch races, the Minotaur legions, dark magic, the Citadel, countless adventure hooks and ideas, and much, much more. The long awaited final book in the Land of the Damned series, with connections to the Garden of the Gods™ and the upcoming Lopan Fantasy World Book.

• Limited collector’s edition – only 200 collector copies.
• Sold on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.
• A rare glimpse at the virgin manuscript and a work in progress.
• Written by Matthew Clements, based on ideas by Kevin Siembieda.
• 96 pages – Limited Edition – $20.99 – Cat. No. 470-RAW – available now. Note: The finished book with artwork and more is anticipated to ship in a few months, but you can see what it’s all about right now and even start playing with this special Preview Edition!

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Dimension Book^™ 15: Secrets of the Atlanteans^™

Learn about Atlantean civilization, the many clans, the mysterious Sunaj, where they are found across the Megaverse, why they hide and why they hate the undead so much. Also discover the power of Shadow Magic, how various types of Stone Pyramids work, and much more.

• 60+ new Magic Tattoos.
• 60+ new Shadow Magic spells.
• 50+ new Crystal Magic spells and the Crystal Mage O.C.C.
• Never before revealed Stone Pyramids described and mapped.
• Stone Master and Undead Slayer, revisited.
• Sunaj Shadow Mage and Shadow Assassin O.C.C.s.
• The dark history, shame, and secrets of True Atlanteans.
• Learn more about the famous Atlantean Tattooed Warriors, Undead Slayers, Stone Masters and other Atlantean heroes.
• The Shadow Dimension and new Shadow Beasts.
• Dark secrets of the sinister Sunaj secret society.
• Who are the Sunaj and why do they hunt True Atlanteans?
• Epic trans-dimensional adventure ideas and source material by Carl Gleba.
• 192 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 890 – Available now.

Palladium Fantasy RPG^® Interactive Character Sheet

The Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet is a Microsoft Excel-based character management system. Packed with features and data collected from every official Palladium Fantasy sourcebook, this sheet saves you time and hassle with each character you create. Available now, directly from Palladium Books AND DriveThruRPG.com – this is a digital, online product only.

Features & Benefits:

• The Main Character Sheet Page collects the important data from across multiple tabs and puts it in one place for quick and easy reference.
• Separate sheets examine character construction (worktable), Skills, Magic, Psionics, and Combat in greater detail.
• Built-in leveling system that calculates skill advancement for you! Experience Tables for over 80 O.C.C.s already programmed.
• Recognizes the percentages for nearly 150 skills, plus combat bonuses for over 20 Weapon Proficiencies and 7 Hand to Hand styles.
• Calculates the speed and distance a character can run and jump based on character Attributes.
• Also calculates how much a character can lift, carry, and throw for humanoids, Giants, and Supernatural Beings.
• Add in your own Hand to Hand style, custom Skills, unique Weapon Proficiencies, and Experience Tables.
• Estimated time to build a character reduced by 20% or more.
• Instructions on how to use the sheet included, as well as a video walkthrough below.
• Important Note: This character sheet is built to be used with Microsoft Excel 2010+ and it comes in .XLSX format. Opening this file in other spreadsheet programs is NOT guaranteed to work as intended.
• Watch the Overview video here: https://vimeo.com/322271758

Psychic Scream^™ – Rifts^® Chaos Earth^® Sourcebook

A storm has rolled in. A psychic storm. With the Coming of the Rifts, survivors are bombarded by terrifying visions and overwhelmed with powers and abilities they never asked for, and often cannot control.

Where do you hide from the madness boiling inside of you?

What would you do when you know evil lurks hidden among your fellow survivors?

Why do the voices of alien creatures speak to you?

How do you cope when the power you unleashed to destroy a monster and save the innocent, destroys everyone but you?

Have you become a hero or another monster born in chaos?

Are these powers your family’s salvation or their damnation?

Find out in Psychic Scream!

In the wake of the Coming of the Rifts, people begin to see ghosts and demons, they unleash lightning from their fingertips, command fire and water, hurl boulders and girders with their minds, and manifest a wide range of mental powers. Psionic abilities fueled by the explosive return of magic and the unchecked flow of dimensional energy that is off the charts.

Psychic abilities more powerful than anything known after the Two Hundred Years Dark Age. Wondrous and lifesaving. But also seething and out of control. The psychics’ own minds bombarded by feelings of dread, visions of horror, and the thoughts and emotions of everyone around them. For many, it is too much, sending them careening into madness. For others, it creates heroes forged from chaos.

• Untamed psychic abilities. More powerful than anything known later on Rifts Earth.
• New psychic powers and character classes.
• New psionic monsters and invaders.
• Insanity, side-effects and horror.
• Adventure ideas and more. All people, powers and monsters that become myths and legends told about the events during the Two Hundred Years Dark Age.
• Written by Taylor White and Kevin Siembieda.
• 96-128 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 667.

COMING: Rifts^® Titan Robotics^™

Rifts® Titan Robotics™ is high-tech toy box presenting new types of armor, sleek power armor, giant robots, vehicles, and weapons sold by Titan Robotics. Ah, but Titan Robotics is much more than just another weapons manufacturer, it is the secret operation of ARCHIE-3 and all part of his plan to monitor and manipulate the outside world. Learn about Archie’s androids that run Titan Robotics, his current schemes and plans for the future. Probably a 160 page World Book around $22.99 retail, but may expand into 192 pages.

• New Giant Robots.
• New Power Armor, equipment and accessories.
• 30+ power armors and robots, plus other equipment.
• New weapons, gear and vehicles.
• Titan Robotics Corporation and structure.
• Archie’s secret kingdom and plans for the future.
• New O.C.C.s and key Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
• Android executives, security and much more.
• Wellington Industries, campaign prompts and more.
• Art by Zeleznik, Walton, Cummings, Atkins, and others.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda. Cover by Zeleznik.
• 160-192 pages (tentative) – $22.99 retail (or $26.99) – Cat. No. 899.

COMING: The Island of Lopan Sourcebook, a fantasy sourcebook

The island kingdom described and mapped, rare and ancient magic, trade with the Old Kingdom, Centaurs, Western intrigue, and more.

• History and overview.
• Key cities and locations.
• Lopan O.C.C.s and people of note.
• And Old Kingdom City that is a trade partner.
• The mysterious and nearly forgotten Mosaic Magic.
• New monsters and magic, weapons and gear.
• Written by Glen Evans.
• 192 pages – $26.99 – Cat. No. 476.

COMING: Rifts^® Antarctica

Rifts® Antarctica is a truly compelling and exotic land beyond what anyone expects. A frozen continent transformed by the power of magic and alien wildlife. Long isolated from the rest of the world, Rifts, D-Shifting events and the threat of war have now brought the distant South Pole within reach. And unearthed something ancient and so dangerous that even the Splugorth fear it and dare not go there.

• New alien monsters and D-Bees.
• Strange new weapons and vehicles. Some left over from the Golden Age of Humanity, others completely alien.
• The Splugorth’s secret outpost. More than it would seem.
• A Splugorth zoo and place of secret Bio-Wizard experiments.
• Snow and Ice Golems created specifically for the cold environment.
• Danger from the elements, Ice Witches, Icecraft, and other horrors.
• Vostok City, a city of magic carved from the ice itself.
• Cold-weather skills, technology and survival techniques.
• Ancient danger and dark secrets.
• Written by Matthew Clements, Carmen Bellaire, and Kevin Siembieda.
• 160 pages (tentative) – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 898.

COMING! Rifts^® The Disavowed^™ – Secrets of the Coalition States^™

The Disavowed are so Top Secret that their existence is known only to a handful of the Coalition States’ most elite, top echelon, with Joseph Prosek II the mastermind behind the Disavowed operation, and Colonel Lyboc its shadowy face. Find out who these men and women are. How the Disavowed get away with using magic, traveling to other parts of Rifts Earth and even to other dimensions in pursuit of enemies and strategic information that cannot be had through conventional means. Learn about the secret parameters in which these hard-boiled warriors, secretly hand-picked by Joseph Prosek II, operate, why almost every mission is considered a suicide mission, and why they must forever be the Disavowed.

• CS operatives so secret that even the top military and political leaders right up to Emperor Prosek know nothing about them. And if they did know, would they condone their activity or condemn it?
• Are the Disavowed heroes or renegades? Assassins or soldiers? Madmen or super-patriots? Or a little of them all?
• Unsung heroes who keep the CS safe, or thugs and pawns of a shadow agency within the Coalition government?
• What role does the Vanguard play in this group?
• How do they reward their D-Bee “teammates” when the mission is over?
• What happens to the Disavowed when they have seen or learned too much? Adventure ideas galore and so much more.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Matthew Clements.
• 96 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 892.

COMING! Heroes of Humanity^™ Arsenal – Rifts^® Secrets of the Coalition States^™ Sourcebook

Rifts® Heroes of Humanity gave you updated Coalition Army O.C.C.s, ways to upgrade men-at-arms, new O.C.C.s, battle plans and strategies and tactics. CS Heroes of Humanity™ Arsenal provides an array of new Coalition hardware: weapons, armor, additional SAMAS, other power armor, robots, combat vehicles, gear and info.

• New CS weapons and gear.
• New CS SAMAS and power armor.
• New CS robots and combat vehicles.
• More secrets and information about the Coalition States.
• Wild adventure opportunities, fun and more.
• Part of the Minion War™ “Crossover” series.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Clements, Gleba and others.
• 96-128 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 893.

Rifts^® Bestiary^™, Volume One – Shipping Now!

Could the monsters known as Caterpillar Things be the larval form of the Mothman Monster? Is the Corrival Battler as aggressive and dangerous as adventurers claim? Are Darkhounds really magically mutated Dog Boys? Is that why they see Coalition soldiers as friends and allies? Ee-Bee Gee-Bees are kinda cute, how dangerous can they be? Is it true the animals and people slain by the Death Springer rise as zombies?! What on Rifts Earth is a Field Reaper?

This book reveals it all.

Designed with both Players and Game Masters in mind, with creatures that can be used as pets, companions, riding animals, attack animals, and even unlikely allies, as well as slobbering monsters and catalysts for adventure. Adult, juvenile, and young stages of life give every creature three different levels of power and danger. Presented as a complete ecosystem, with maps and details to bring each animal to life. All provide plenty of spice to add to your characters and adventures.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America.
• 80+ creatures described in detail, updated and expanded.
• New predators, exotic riding animals, alien horrors, giant insects, and more.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found at a glance.
• Easily adapted to any Palladium setting. Powerful art.
• Includes basic S.D.C. stats for each creature description.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Charles Walton and others.
• 256 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 896 – Shipping Now!

Rifts^® Bestiary^™ Vol. One – “Gold Edition” Hardcover – Signed and Numbered – Now Shipping!

A deluxe, limited, Gold Edition hardcover, signed and numbered by Palladium staff and maybe a few freelancers. It is the same content of unique creatures that can be used as familiars, pets, riding animals, guard animals, and slobbering monsters as the softcover edition in a durable hardcover. Very limited run of only 300 copies, numbered and signed by Kevin Siembieda, Palladium staff members and possibly available contributing artists and writers. Note: Historically, Palladium Books’ Gold Editions have doubled, tripled or increased in value many times over. Valued as cherished collectibles. Sold on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last. Please note the slight increase in price to $55.

• Gold foil on a black faux leather hardcover.
• Sewn and glued for long-lasting durability.
• Only 300 signed and numbered copies.
• Available only from Palladium Books.
• Sold on a first come, first served basis while supplies last.
• Signed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium staff.
• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America.
• 80+ creatures described in detail.
• Same contents as the softcover edition.
• New predators, exotic riding animals, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• Easily adapted to any Palladium setting; basic S.D.C. stats included for each creature description.
• 256 pages – $55.00 retail – Cat. No. 896HC (Volume One). Shipping Now!

UPDATE: The Rifter^® #84 – available and shipping now

The Rifter® #84 focuses on adventure in dark corners of various world settings. Places where danger threatens, monsters and evildoers lurk in the shadows, and people are in need of heroes. Adventure source material for The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural™, Nightbane®, and Rifts®. And remember, adventures and source material for one game setting can also be adapted to other world settings with some easy and obvious modifications. Most of all, have fun.

Rifter® #84 Highlights:

• The City of Cascade™ by Erick Wujcik and Matt Reed, A modern city in desperate need of heroes.
• The Kingdom of Raf-Chalon™ for Palladium Fantasy RPG® by Glen Evans. An Elven Kingdom in the Eastern Territory™.
• Golems in the Myst™ for Rifts® by Greg Diaczyk. Techno-Wizard experiments go wrong and Golems run amok.
• Spellbound O.C.C. for Nightbane® RPG by Ian Herbert.
• An Adventure for Beyond the Supernatural™ by Kyle Osterberg.
• The Dimma, a short story and a scary new monster for Beyond the Supernatural™ by Steven Dawes.
• 2021 Palladium Open House and other news.
• Coming attractions, product descriptions and more.
• 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 184 – Shipping now!

BACK IN STOCK: The Mechanoid Invasion^® RPG Trilogy

Dystopian science fiction at its best. This is the very first RPG published by Palladium Books (1981). It presents three settings and three generations of heroes fighting the malevolent, world devouring, Mechanoids. Strange robotic beings who seem to hate and target human occupied worlds and their allies. It was originally released as three small comic book chapters and settings. Each a different generation and a different fight, but they are all collected into this one book. Written and illustrated by Kevin Siembieda, with Erick Wujcik and Bill Loebs contributing.

• The Mechanoid Invasion® (1981) – The humans on a colony world struggle against the monstrous mecha that threaten to devour their world.
• The Journey™ (1982) – Humans take their battle for survival to the Mechanoids, invading the invaders’ giant spaceships and living between the walls like rats as they seek to learn more about their nemesis and sabotage them from within.
• Homeworld™ (1982) – A new generation of humans and their alien allies unite to try to stop world eating aliens, taking the fight to the monsters’ homeworld only to find it (mostly) abandoned. If this sounds similar to Robotech®, bear in mind that it was written BEFORE that famous anime series was created. There must have been something in the global zeitgeist at the time.
• The Mechanoids, other aliens, humans, psychics, mutants, and more.
• Weapons and equipment, spaceships, maps, and a few surprises.
• See the game that helped to launch Palladium Books.
• Artwork by Kevin Siembieda. Additional art by William-Messner Loebs, Erick Wujcik and James Osten.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, with additional text and ideas by Erick Wujcik.
• Requires some modification to use with Rifts® and other games.
• 208 pages – $26.99 – Cat. No. 400. Available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Game Master Guide^™

The Rifts® Game Master Guide™ is a massive 352 page reference book with short stats and descriptions for 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.s index, rules clarifications, combat examples, advice on how to run a game and more.

• 500+ weapons.
• 290 pieces of equipment.
• 180+ vehicles.
• 100+ suits of body armor.
• 80+ suits of power armor.
• 300+ skills, character and D-Bee index, dozens of maps, and more.
• 352 pages – $28.99 retail – Cat. No. 845 – Available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Conversion Book^™ 3: Dark Conversions^™

Dark Conversions features Undead legions, were-beasts, demons, supernatural menaces, Nigthbane® conversions, plus Elemental beings, the Shifter and Witch revisited, adventure ideas and more.

• 120+ monsters, including legions of undead.
• Nightbane® Conversions for use in Rifts®, Phase World®, and Chaos Earth®.
• Conversions for Elemental Beings (Fantasy), Diabolism, Summoning.
• 192 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 852 – Available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Island at the Edge of the World^™ (Fantasy)

Island at the Edge of the World™ reveals some of the little known history of the Palladium World, the Time of a Thousand Magicks, the Changeling Inquisition, and dark secrets that could threaten the world. Learn about forgotten Crystal Magic (as powerful as Rune Weapons), the Church of Scar, the legendary Circle of Absolute Elemental Power, and frightening prophecies about the end of the world.

• The hidden Crystal Forest and Crystal Palace.
• The Psychic Science of Magic and Crystals.
• New magic weapons and items.
• The Town of a Dozen Fracts, an adventure setting.
• The Valley at the Top of the World, an adventure setting.
• The Island at the End of the World, an adventure setting.
• Ancient ruins and additional places, people, and secrets of note.
• First Edition rules. Requires some modification to use with Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Second Edition.
• 144 pages – $22.99 – Cat. No. 458 – Available now.

Copyright 2020 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, Garden of the Gods, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, Psychic Scream, 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.