Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – November 12, 2020

Palladium Books^® – Weekly Update – November 12, 2020

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

By Kevin Siembieda

Hi everyone, I am happy to report that we once again have heat and lights in the warehouse. What a nice improvement. I got a fair amount of writing done over the weekend (though never enough), and I am feeling optimistic about the holiday season.

Sales remain strong (thank you, everyone) and people are loving the new products (mugs, books, etc.) as well as the existing books. The Christmas Surprise Packages are selling like crazy (thank you again), and a few of you have already ordered your second one. That makes us feel like we are doing our part to bring a little joy, fun, and adventure into people’s lives during these difficult times. And that always puts a smile on my face, because it means we are succeeding at wowing you a little and spreading gaming joy. (See details below or in our store.)

SHIPPING MONDAY! Rifts® Lazlo Raw Preview. I spoke with the printer this morning and he confirms the books are on track to be delivered next Monday, November 16, as promised. Woo-hoo, because you are going to love this book. As I skimmed through the Rifts® Lazlo manuscript as I prepped it for the Raw Edition, I wanted to stop, read, and drink it all in. Author Mark Oberle did a great job. At the printer and ships Monday, November 16. See more details below and in Palladium’s online store.

SHIPPING MONDAY! Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™ Novel. The first of two novels that collect the fan fave story serialized in The Rifter® is a fun, roller coaster ride that brings Rifts Earth, Phase World and the Three Galaxies to action-packed life. Very fun. At the printer and ships Monday, November 16. The second novel will be released in December. And don’t forget about the Rifts® Trilogy of novels by Adam Chilson and the Rifts® Anthology book (11 authors) set in the Chi-Town ‘Burbs.

NOW Available on DriveThruRPG.com – Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™ Novel. What’s that? You cannot wait for Hammer of the Forge to ship? Then get it as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com today or anytime. The other novels and 300+ products are also available on DriveThru.

3 popular titles AVAILABLE NOW! We have been shipping out the Systems Failure™ RPG, Shadows of Light™, and Boxed Nightmares™ sourcebooks all week as regular orders and in Surprise Packages. Do not miss out on getting your copy. We should have enough to get us through the holidays, but they are sold on a first come, first served basis only while supplies last. We only print them every two or three years, so order yours while you can and enjoy.

16 ounce mugs AVAILABLE NOW! Rifts® Logo, Rifts® Titan Robotics, Palladium Fantasy®, and Dead Reign®/Zombie coffee mugs are available just in time for hot cocoa, tea, and coffee season. The new Rifts® Titan Robotics mug looks truly awesome and is my new personal favorite. See details below.

Almost SOLD OUT! Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans Gold Hardcover. If this is something you have been eyeballing for yourself or as a holiday gift for someone, pick it up sooner than later. I believe we only have 4 or 5 copies remaining. It is a great book.

UPDATE: Rifts® CS Manhunters. Working on it all weekend! It is so darn close to completion it is driving me crazy.

MOVING FORWARD: BTS Creature Feature. The next exciting book to finish.

MOVING FORWARD: Rifts® Titan Robotics. An epic toy box I’m champing at the bit to finish.

MOVING FORWARD: Rifts® Antarctica. The first batch of finished creature art from Steven Cummings just came in and they look great. I am assigning him more art tonight.

MOVING FORWARD: Chaos Earth® First Responders. I need to assign the rest of the art for this bad boy.

Part of Surprise Package tradition has become sharing with you a selection of the comments we get with the Grab Bags in every Weekly Update. Well, that starts today with this Update. These are all real people just like you, and their comments are not just testimonials about the Surprise Packages, though those are rather unavoidable. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we do. They always lift our spirits.

What is a Christmas Surprise Package?

A smile and a hug that comes in a box filled with signed game books from available Palladium staff and freelancers. And God knows this year has been so crazy, we need something fun like the Christmas Surprise Package to bring a little joy and laughter into our lives. With so many people suffering from Covid-19 related doldrums, frustration, and in some cases, money issues, they need to escape to realms of role-playing adventures. Not to mention the huge savings and autographs, if you want them, available via a Palladium Christmas Surprise Package.

A Surprise Package is your way to get physical books (and autographs if you want them) for PDF prices! $95-$100+ worth of Palladium products for only $50 (plus shipping and handling)! That can nab you four or more items when these days one core rule book can cost you that alone.

These Surprise Packages are our way of saying thank you for your support and showing you our love and appreciation. It’s a surprise because you never know exactly what you’re going to get or who will sign your books, because we pick from your Wish List and may surprise you with stuff you are not expecting. Extra items may include other RPGs, sourcebooks, issues of the Rifter®, novels, miniatures, prints, art books, greeting cards, T-shirts, negatives, original art, and other items. Some books may be slightly damaged (scuffs, scratches, dings, a crunched corner, etc.) so we can send you more.

Truly the best deal in gaming, Palladium's 23rd Annual Christmas Surprise Package gets you $95-$105, sometimes MORE, worth of product for ONLY $50 (plus shipping and handling), as gifts for others or for yourself. That’s physical books at PDF prices. And if you want them signed we will sign each and every one of them. Plus we have some original art by Chuck Walton and maybe a few others you may request. But don’t count on it, still provide us with a juicy Wish List. Art is donated by the artists and very limited.

Christmas Surprise Packages are not just for Christmas. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice, or you are looking for that special gift for a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or any special occasion that falls between now and the end of the year, 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 10-15 Palladium products (or more) FOR EACH Surprise Package you order. This list of 10-15 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 a negative or similar collector’s item, or an 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 across the country and overseas 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.

First-timers are always nervous until they see the great value in their first Surprise Package. A typical Grab Bag has $95-$105 worth of product, sometimes more! Yes, sometimes more, for only $50 plus shipping and handling. 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, rebuild your collection, replace worn out books, 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 $95-$100 (often more) worth of product and only paying $50 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!

Please spread the word. The Christmas Surprise Package is only publicized by word of mouth, on Palladium's website, and social media, so please tell everyone you know. Buy one for every gamer you know. They make astonishing gifts for every occasion.

NEW! Rifts^® Lazlo Raw Preview Edition – ships Monday, November 16

Get your first glimpse of Lazlo with the Rifts® Lazlo Raw Preview. A noble experiment and idealistic utopia where all manner of people are accepted. A place where learning and education are embraced, and its people strive to be better, braver, bolder, and kinder. An oasis of comparative peace and goodness in a world that is still climbing out of the smoldering ruins and chaos of the Great Cataclysm and the Coming of the Rifts.

Here mages and visitors from across the Megaverse safely rub shoulders with adventurers, mages, mercs, D-Bees, dragons, and creatures of all sorts. Many of these outsiders are bristling with rumors and tales of their exploits, treasures to be won, monsters and villains to be slain or opposed, and wonders to be experienced by those up to the challenge.

Rifts® Lazlo Raw Preview – Collectors Edition – limited to 350 copies

• An overview of the Free State of Lazlo.
• Its government, business districts, Schools of Magic, and more
• New magic O.C.C.s.
• New Techno-Wizard items and armor.
• New spells.
• Erin Tarn, notable characters, notable places.
• Adventure ideas and more.
• Only 350 copies of this limited collector’s item are available.
• Sold on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.
• Written by Mark Oberle.
• 160 pages – $25.99 retail – Cat. No. 882-RAW.
• At the printer – ships November 16, 2020. Place your orders now.
• 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 200-350 copies and is fun for collectors to have something rare and unique. Game Masters and players get a glimpse into the future and may be able to get a jump on visiting Lazlo and plotting adventures. It is especially handy for writers and game designers who get to see the development process at Palladium when they compare what is in the Raw Preview and what sees print in the final book; i.e. what gets expanded, developed further, added, dropped out, etc. And remember, Rifts® Lazlo is likely to be the first of 3 or more related, but stand alone titles. That is how comprehensive we want to make Lazlo. Heck, fans have waited 30 years for Lazlo to be defined, and we do not want to disappoint. The Raw Preview is 160 pages all by itself. Note: Yes, you may request it in your Surprise Package Wish List but this is a limited edition collector’s item so only a certain amount are being put aside for the Surprise Package.

AT THE PRINTER! Rifts^® Novel: Hammer of the Forge^™: The Cosmo-Knight^™ – Ships around November 16

The fabric of space and time is torn asunder and Earth becomes a nexus – a gateway – to countless alien worlds and the forces of magic and the supernatural. Thus begins the saga of Rifts®.

Now imagine not one, but three galaxies said to contain millions of inhabited worlds.

At its center is Phase World, itself the commercial and technological center of the universe and terminus of all known spacelanes. A world where transdimensional gates reach to hundreds of other universes.

All of it is said to be the creation of the mythical Cosmic Forge. A wonder capable of giving birth to a million galaxies. A sentient force of magic and technology and life that, when misused but once, long ago, hid itself away, but watches and waits. For what, no one knows. While it waits, the Forge sometimes reaches out to touch the few who are worthy, and gift them with the power of the cosmos.

Becoming a Cosmo-Knight™ is something children across the Three Galaxies dream about. But for Caleb Vulcan of Earth, the stories of the Cosmic Forge are unknown. As he teeters at a crossroads, he has no idea what is speaking to him nor the power of the choice he is about make.

Join Caleb on his adventures across the Megaverse®, visit Phase World and meet an eclectic range of people from True Atlanteans and Space Wulfen to the Kreeghor and Cosmo-Knights.

• 5 x 8 inch paperback.
• Written by James M.G. Cannon.
• 288 pages – $13.99 – Cat. No. 306 – available in November.
• Re-edited and compiled into two novels. The second available in December.
• Note: Hammer of the Forge will be made available as physical books from PalladiumBooks.com as well as PDF books on DriveThruRPG.com – epic adventure that spans the Megaverse®.

BACK IN STOCK for the Holidays only – Systems Failure^™ RPG – BTS Boxed Nightmares – Nightbane^®: Shadows of Light sourcebook

You loved it when we did this a couple years ago, so we thought we would do it again. A limited run of the following select out of print titles. Available on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.

- Systems Failure™ RPG: It is time to fight back, kill some bugs, and take our world back! In this invasion setting you battle a plague of bugs – alien bugs – that drink electrical energy and have plunged the world into crisis. This fun, standalone post-apocalypse game was designed at the start of the New Millennium and poked fun at the Y2K fears about the end of the world in 2000. The game is a blast whether you play it deadly serious or with a touch of humor. Kill the bugs! $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 650 – Order now, ships Monday.

- Boxed Nightmares, a Beyond the Supernatural sourcebook: Six adventures, monsters, and many adventure ideas. Scary fun. $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 701 – Order now, ships Monday.

- Shadows of Light, a Nightbane® Sourcebook: The angel-like Athanatos, Fallen Guardians, the Reapers, info about various factions, a vampire conspiracy, a Pittsburgh adventure, and more. $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 734 – Order now, ships Monday.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Novel: Sonic Boom – New size – Re-edited – Available now

Experience Rifts North America through the eyes of soldiers of the Coalition States. Follow the exploits of a CS platoon led by the courageous and well-intentioned Lieutenant Greg Merrick and Military Specialist Lieutenant Michael Sorenson, sworn to protect humankind from all threats be they aliens, dragons, or masters of magic.

Rifts® Sonic Boom™ is your introduction to the multi-genre setting of the popular, post-post-apocalypse science-fantasy Rifts® Role-Playing Game. Where high-technology, magic and the supernatural coexist on a transformed Earth that is both familiar and alien.

Read all three novels in this epic journey of discovery and adventure.

• 5 x 8 inch paperback.
• Written by Adam Chilson.
• Book One in a fast paced trilogy.
• 294 pages – $13.99 – Cat. No. 301 – available now.
• Rifts® Sonic Boom™ has been re-edited, slightly expanded, and cleaned up for your enjoyment.
• Note: All three novels are available as physical books from PalladiumBooks.com as well as PDF books from DriveThruRPG.com – the three novels make a great read.

Rifts^® Novel: Deception’s Web – available now

Lt. Merrick’s mission: To hunt down and destroy the so-called Army of the New Order. A terrorist group composed of mercenaries and practitioners of magic. They have been a thorn in the side of the Coalition States for long enough, it’s time to put a stop to them.

When their seek and destroy mission suddenly goes sideways, the soldiers find one of their own accused of treason and arrested for court-martial. The lives they had known and the people they trust collide with events and realizations that strain friendships and test their loyalty to the Coalition States and each other.

Hard choices, strange bedfellows, a living enigma, and the hand of evil each play a role in Rifts® Deception’s Web™.

• 4 x 7 inch paperback.
• Written by Adam Chilson.
• Book Two in the trilogy.
• 409 pages – $9.95 – Cat. No. 302 – available now.
• Note: All three novels are available as physical books from PalladiumBooks.com as well as PDF books from DriveThruRPG.com – the three novels make a great read.

Rifts^® Novel 3: Treacherous Awakenings

It seems clear to Lieutenants Merrick and Sorenson and the elite team under their command that they are being used as pawns in a larger conspiracy. A secret agenda that may lead straight to the top of the Coalition’s High Command.

But who? And how do they ferret out that person and find the evidence they need to bring an end to it without destroying themselves in the process?

Rifts® Treacherous Awakenings™ is the pulse-pounding conclusion to a trilogy of books based on the popular Rifts® Role-Playing Game.

The epic conclusion is satisfying and fun.

• 5 x 8 inch paperback.
• Written by Adam Chilson.
• 426 pages – $15.99 – Cat. No. 303 – Available now!
• Note: All three novels are available as physical books from PalladiumBooks.com as well as PDF books from DriveThruRPG.com – enjoy.

NEW! 4 different Palladium Coffee Mugs – available now

With so many people working from home, Palladium’s fun and attractive coffee mugs have been in high demand. The Rifts® logo mug sold out a couple of weeks ago, and the Palladium Fantasy® mug sold out last week. As a result, we sent them in for another printing as well as two new mugs: A new, dynamic Dead Reign® zombie mug with an illustration by Steven Cummings done specifically for use on this coffee mug, and a Rifts® Titan Robotics™ mug, also featuring artwork by Steven Cummings. All four are in stock and ready to ship now! See details below.

NEW! Dead Reign® (Zombie attack) Coffee Mug – now shipping

A nice, large, 16 ounce coffee mug with artwork that appears on both sides of the mug, and the mug has a color interior, adding a nice splash of color to your morning or game time beverage. Everyone loves these mugs.

• The “Dead Reign®” logo with three hungry zombies ready to attack. Art designed specifically for this mug by artist Steven Cummings of comic book renown (Wayward® and various Marvel Comics). White on a black mug. Very dynamic.
• Art is located on the front and back of the mug.
• Glossy black exterior with a blood red interior.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2594.

NEW! Rifts^® Titan Robotics^™ Coffee Mug – now shipping

A nice, large, 16 ounce coffee mug with artwork that appears on both sides of the mug, and the mug has a color interior, adding a nice splash of color to your morning or game time beverage. Everyone loves these mugs.

• The “Rifts® Titan Robotics™” mug features the Rifts logo with the words Titan Robotics below it. Above the logo is one of the new Titan robots from the upcoming book release, standing in a dynamic pose. Art by Steven Cummings.
• Art is located on the front and back of the mug.
• Glossy black exterior with a blue interior.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2595.

Fan Favorite: Rifts^® LOGO Coffee Mug – now shipping

Back due to popular demand! A nice, large, 16 ounce coffee mug with large artwork that appears on both sides of the mug, and the mug has a color interior, adding a nice splash of color to your morning or game time beverage. Fans have been loving these mugs.

• The famous Rifts® logo in white on a black mug.
• Art is located on the front and back of the mug.
• Glossy black exterior with a bright blue interior.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2587.

Fan Favorite: Palladium Fantasy RPG^® “Dragon” Coffee Mug – now shipping

Back due to popular demand. A nice, large, 16 ounce coffee mug with large artwork that appears on both sides of the mug, and the mug has a color interior, adding a nice splash of color to your morning or game time beverage. Fans have been loving these mugs.

• The fan favorite “3-Headed Hydra” battling a knight from the iconic, original Palladium Fantasy RPG® cover. Red art on a black mug harkens back to the original RPG red and black cover.
• Art appears on the front and back of the mug.
• Glossy black exterior with an attractive orange interior.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2589.

COMING! Playmats featuring Palladium fan favorite artwork – as well as other playmats with dynamic art by other Red Duke Games artists in their November 16 Kickstarter

For the first time ever, 24x14 inch playmats featuring full color art from select Rifts®, Nightbane®, Dead Reign®, Fantasy, and other Palladium game settings will be offered by Red Duke Games – on Kickstarter. This limited offer goes live starting November 16, 2020, and also offers an array of other fantasy and horror playmats. Red Duke Games is the company that brought you the ever popular Necronomnomnom Cookbook (with more products in the works). See the link below.

This is a fun, unique offer that is probably only going to be available via RDG’s holiday Playmats Kickstarter. They enjoy our games, love our artwork, and are good guys, so when they asked about licensing some Palladium artwork for playmats, I said yes. Get ‘em while you can, because I do not know if they will be offered again. I’m told the Kickstarter is scheduled to start November 16, so watch for it.

We will be sure to remind you when the Kickstarter launches. Meanwhile, spread the word and click on the link below to see the preview pages of their Kickstarter (subject to changes and additions):

Red Duke Games Playmats Kickstarter Preview

COMING (tentative): Re-releases of fan favorite sold out Rifts^® miniatures

As I believe I mentioned in a previous Weekly Update, I am looking into re-releasing some old favorite Rifts® miniature sets. I’m waiting on quotes right now. That would include the Coalition soldiers and the original Glitter Boy. The G.B. is not quite as large and dynamic as the new Glitter Boy miniature, but we know collectors still want it, so we are considering offering it again. More details when I know more.

And we may be releasing other new miniatures created by Carmen Bellaire. Keep your eyes peeled.

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!

In the Face of Death^™ – Available now

A Dead Reign® Sourcebook that reimagines 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.

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^® Titan Robotics^™

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

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) – shooting for a fall or winter 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.

NEW on DriveThruRPG.com – Rifts^® Hammer of the Forge^™ Novel

Rifts® Hammer of the Forge, Volume One: The Cosmo-Knight is now available as a PDF novel. The second novel will come in December. Both are epic. See the description for The Cosmo-Knight earlier in this Update.

Also Coming: Sneak previews of upcoming books, more novels and fun.

Available now! In the Face of Death™, the latest in Palladium’s Zombie Apocalypse series. It deals with survival in the big city and the suburbs where it is said survival is impossible, and yet communities thrive. New survivor O.C.C.s, human urban predators, cults, heroes, city resources, new villains, bold survivor children as player characters, superhuman survivors, 101 adventure ideas, and much more.

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

I hope you are holding up through all the stuff happening in the world, most notably talk of rising pandemic numbers, holidays in isolation, and political rhetoric. All of it disappointing to say the least. It has been bumming me out lately. Please be smart, stay safe, and remain as positive as possible. I know that is a tall order, but stay strong. It sounds like we only have to tough it out for another 6-8 months before a vaccine should be available. We can do that. We are resourceful gamers. To have a vaccine so fast is something to be positive about all by itself.

Until then, we have the Rifts® Lazlo Raw Preview Edition and Hammer of the Forge Novel to keep you busy. Both are available to ship on Monday. Meanwhile, I’m pounding away on Rifts® CS Manhunters, plan to get Creature Feature in your hands next, followed by Rifts® Titan Robotics, and getting art done for Rifts® Antarctica, Chaos Earth® First Responders and other titles. And yes, that includes more Palladium Fantasy titles.

I hope you enjoy the first batch of Surprise Package fan comments, below. Please continue to spread the word about our games and the Surprise Package offer and stay positive and hopeful. Remember, while you may be isolated at home, your imagination can carry you anywhere.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Game Designer, Friend

Surprise Package comments from fans like you

Every year there is a section where the customer can offer comments and suggestions with his or her Surprise Package order. Every year, in acknowledgment of our fans, and because they are fun to read, we offer a sampling in the Weekly Updates. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who have stuck with Palladium through thick and thin and now these new strange days. Please help use our games to find escape from the pandemic and to bring a little joy, laughter, and adventure to the holiday season.

I want you to know that your comments and support mean the world to all of us. Everyone at Palladium enjoys reading your brief comments and they always brighten our day. Thank you for making us smile and feel useful. As always, I have tried to write a short response [in brackets] to each.

J.M. in Bonney Lake, Washington, writes: Favorites: Rifts® and Heroes Unlimited. I have loved your games for almost 30 years now. You guys and gals are amazing.

[Well, thank you J.M., we are thrilled you think so. We think you’re pretty amazing as well. Game on. – KS]

E.C. in Wausau, Wisconsin, writes: The Surprise Packages I purchased as gifts for my two friends were hits and greatly appreciated. Thank you! Palladium’s RPGs remain some of my favorites and have, for decades, provided storytelling inspiration and great memories. Thank you Kevin and crew.

[Glad the Surprise Packages were a hit with your friends, E.C. These Grab Bags make great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, and any gift giving occasion. I am delighted our games have brought you so much fun over the years. That is the beauty of role-playing games, the good times with friends and lasting memories. Game on. – KS]

C.B. in Arlington, Washington, writes: Favorites: Rifts®. Best game ever created! Thanks for everything guys and gals! Keep up the great work.

[Thank you, C.B. We are thrilled you think so highly of Rifts® and our work. – KS]

K.W. in Ekton, Virginia, writes: I loved the first gift box [Surprise Package] I got. Keep up the good work.

[I hope you enjoy this second Surprise Package just as much, K.W. – KS]

J.W. in Forth Worth, Texas, writes: Favorites: Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural and Rifts® settings. Keep up the wonderful work. This is my go to system since I was introduced to it by a friend. My god that was a long time ago.

[You made us laugh, J.W. (and feel old). Thank you for the compliment and keep that gaming spirit of yours as vibrant as ever. – KS]

M.S. in Brighton, Queensland, Australia, writes (in part): Just a massive thank you to Kevin and everyone involved with Palladium for so many years. I’ve been a long-term player of your games and once gamed with the late Erick Wujcik. He ran a one-off RPG adventure that I will never forget. And signed my copy of Ninjas & Superspies. I’m hoping my Wish List has given you some thought and also a bit of a chuckle. Keep up the good work! Happy Holidays.

[Hi M.S. You did give me a few chuckles and I especially appreciate your story about gaming with Erick. He really was something, wasn’t he? I think of him often and feel his presence looking over my shoulder and sending me ideas as I write. Happy Holidays and game on! – KS]

M.K. in Magna, Utah, writes: Favorites: Rifts®, Nightbane® and Robotech®. I am looking forward to a bunch of Rifts® books – CS Manhunters, Titan Robotics, Antarctica – soon, but this Christmas Package ought to keep me occupied until they’re ready. Thanks for all the great adventures over the years. And especially THIS year!

[You are very welcome M.K. and I appreciate your generous comments. I am working away on all of those titles, so hopefully you will not have to wait too long. I think you’ll enjoy the Surprise Package. – KS]

R.H. in Tonawanda, New York, writes (in part): Thank you so much for this deal! Back in the mid-1990s I played a ton of Rifts®, but unfortunately I got busy with life and fell out of the hobby. Cut to about a year ago when my son, now 15, and his friends discovered D&D. We dug some of my old storage boxes out of the attic which were full of comics, magazines, and, of course, bunches of old RPG stuff. My son and his friends went nuts for it.

Recently, however, they have encountered the problem many people have with D&D, it is too bland. Too vanilla. I was waiting for this. I showed them all my old Rifts® books (not much but enough to whet their appetites) and they were hooked. Anyway, that’s enough back story. This deal is perfect for getting back into the hobby, so thank you.

[Hi R.H., that was a great back story, and I hope you don’t mind me sharing it here. I think a lot people are enjoying similar experiences of rediscovering RPGing through their children. Awesome. I hope you enjoy the Surprise Package and continue to have fun with our games. Happy Holidays! – KS]

D.T. in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, writes (in part): I have enjoyed playing and G.M.ing most of Palladium’s games. While Fantasy has always been my favorite since its inception, all of my groups are traveling back and forth to various parts of the Rifts world, and thoroughly enjoying themselves ... I’ve been praying for you and all the crew there during these unbelievable times ...

[Sounds like you have some great games going on, D.T. I am glad you have enjoyed our games for so many years and I hope you continue to do so for many years to come. Your warm regards and prayers are very much appreciated and welcomed. You are very kind. Please stay healthy and happy yourself. Tell your players the Palladium crew says hello and to game on! Ho, ho, ho. – KS]

C.A. in Applegate, California, writes: Favorites: Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited, and Palladium Fantasy. I have characters that I play in every game setting that you guys have. I have played them all. Keep up the good work and keep doing the Christmas Surprise Package!

[Sounds pretty cool, C.A. I hope our games continue to bring you fun and adventure for years to come. And as long as I am running Palladium Books, you can count on the Surprise Package offer every year. – KS]

Rifts^® Bestiary^™ Vol. Two – Coming

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.

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!

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!

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.