Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – October 14, 2021

Christmas Surprise Package season has begun!

Explore the Megaverse^® – One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

By Kevin Siembieda

I hope you are all staying healthy and as positive as can be expected in our frustrating world these days. Try not to let things get you down. Find ways to relieve the stress and bring a little joy into your world. I have started to read comic books again and I’m taking a bit more time to hang out with Kathy. I have also been talking about running games again after the first of the year. And stay in touch with your friends and family. I need to work on that last part myself, but we have been so busy here in this corner of the Megaverse®.

For you, a big stress reliever is likely to be reading and playing games. We can help on that front with the annual return of Palladium’s beloved Christmas Surprise Package offer. A fun way to get a pile of RPGs, sourcebooks, world books, The Rifter®, novels, note pads, pencils, mouse pads, and other fun stuff on the cheap. All books are signed by me and available staff members if you request autographs (happy to do it). The Surprise Package is a great way to replace well-loved battered books, try new RPGs and world settings (like Palladium Fantasy or Systems Failure), get ideas for adventures, complete your collection, AND of course, as gifts to give to your gaming friends and families. (See complete details below and in the online store.)

It’s the Palladium “Christmas” Surprise Package because the gift-giving spirit and wonder of Christmas was my inspiration. Even though we were poor, my parents always made Christmas feel magical. I want to do the same. A gift to you from us. Our way of saying “thank you” for your support and patronage. Ah, but these Surprise Packages are suitable gifts for any holiday – Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, etc., as well as birthdays, anniversaries, and simple acts of kindness and displays of appreciation for the gamers in your lives, especially during these chaotic and troubling times. So from all of us to all of you: thank you, happy holidays (starting with our second favorite, Halloween), and game on.

Placing any holiday orders sooner than later may be a very good idea. The way the US Mail and shipping in general has been, you should assume any package shipped via the US Postal Service, particularly Media Mail, is going to take a while to arrive. We have seen delays from the US Post Office for 18 months now. And it is weird, one customer will get their Media Mail package in 3-5 days, the next person in 10-20 days. Moreover, the US Postal Service recently announced that delivery will be slower than in years past when it comes to First Class Mail and “packages.” Media Mail is the least expensive method of shipping in the US, but it is also one of the lowest priority classifications of mail. Last year, packages ordered via Media Mail in mid-November, December, and January (i.e. Christmas rush) took 8-12 weeks to be delivered. It was insane. That was 2020 mail delivery. What do we expect in 2021? It is hard to say. We hope it will not be that bad, but we’re guessing it will take at least a few weeks, not days, for Media Mail packages shipped after November 20th to arrive. Heck, US Mail service has been spotty all year already. Note: Though pricey, last year UPS, and that includes UPS Ground, was the most reliable method of shipping even a week before Christmas. Also note that UPS Ground arrives to virtually ALL states, except Alaska and Hawaii, in 3-5 business days. 2-3 days east of the Mississippi River. Still, order sooner than later, because with supply chain shortages and delays, we may run out of certain products.

Supply chain issues, printing delays and shortages. There is a shortage of toys, paper, furniture, trucks, and all kinds of things. I have been taking measures to try to make sure we do not run out of any back stock titles by sending books to the printer weeks ago, but even so we cannot guarantee we’ll be able to keep everything in stock. For example: The popular Rifts® 30th Anniversary Commemorative Hardcover is sold out and though we sent it to the printer three weeks ago, we do not expect it back in stock before December 10th. And that’s assuming all goes well with no unexpected delays. While we have sent nearly two dozen other titles to our four printers, we know despite our best effort we will almost certainly run out of some titles before Christmas, particularly hardcovers (which take the longest time to reprint). Another reason to order the books you know you will want as holiday and birthday gifts sooner than later. We do not want to disappoint anyone.

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 continues to be 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 the fallout of the pandemic and 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 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 $55 (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, 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 24th Annual Christmas Surprise Package gets you $95-$105, sometimes MORE, worth of product for ONLY $55 (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.

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®, Systems Failure, Mechanoid Invasion®, Rifts®, After the Bomb®, etc. – or to get something for your favorite Game Master. Or perhaps, to get your player group to consider a new game or setting.

Your “Wish List” is vital – the Palladium Surprise Packages are designed to simulate the joy and surprise of the Christmas Season of Giving. To do this, you submit a list of 12-15 Palladium products (or more) FOR EACH Surprise Package you order. This list of 12-15 items for EACH Grab Bag is critical, because you will not know which items we will select to send you. That makes it just like a Christmas gift because it really is a surprise. Surrogate Santa, Kevin, personally hand-picks every item for every Grab Bag, and 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), Kevin and 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. It includes 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 $55 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 you know they will love. 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-$105 (often more) worth of product and only paying $55 plus a small handling charge. Shipping via Priority Mail International (required for packages weighing 4 or more pounds) to most locations in Europe, Canada, Australia, 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.

Systems Failure^™ RPG – BACK IN STOCK for the holidays – available now

Systems Failure™ RPG is an often overlooked gem. When Sean Roberson read it he went wild over it. “Kev, this is a complete game and fun! I had no idea. You can play this as an ongoing campaign and have a great time. And I love the art too.” – You will fall in love with it too.

When the cities fell, and everything went “off-line,” all seemed lost. Anarchy reigned. All that is left are families struggling to survive and the survivalists, nature-lovers, rowdy farmers, gun fanatics, eggheads, and backwoods wackos living on the fringe – either people out in the boonies or preppers ready for the collapse of civilization.

Join the fight as unlikely heroes battling to save a post-collapse world in an action-packed role-playing game that can be played straight and serious, or with a touch of satire and humor. Reclaim the world for God-fearing humans and go destroy the Bugs!

Oh, and there are the “Bugs” – alien, insect-like things that feed on electricity and turn humans into mindless slaves. Things are worse than anyone could have imagined, but these survivors aren’t ready to give up. And they mean business. America (then the world) will be free!

• A complete, stand-alone role-playing game.
• The Villains: Monstrous invaders from another dimension drawn to all things electronic. Deadly and weird.
• Unlikely Heroes: Play outcasts, nutcases, and survivalists.
• 11 O.C.C.s including the Exterminator, Freebooter, Wacko, Survivalist, Splatterpunk, NORAD Psychic, and more.
• Plenty of world information and adventure ideas.
• Written by Bill Coffin from concepts by Kevin Siembieda.
• Conversion notes for Rifts® and other Palladium settings.
• 144 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 650. Available now as a physical book from PalladiumBooks.com and as a PDF from DriveThruRPG.com.

Boxed Nightmares^™ – BACK IN STOCK for the holidays by next week Friday

This is the 96 page adventure sourcebook created for Beyond the Supernatural, 1st Edition rules but is easily adaptable to BTS-2 and maybe even Nightbane®. It includes six BTS adventures, Jack the Ripper, Tasmanian Devils, monsters, source material and adventure ideas.

The original 16 page tabloid that came with it is now printed in the back of the sourcebook. It ties in to the adventures in the sourcebook and offers clues or insight to them and well as silly fun. Many of the articles are funny and offer adventure ideas.

• Written by Kevin Siembieda. Artwork by Kevin Long.
• $17.99 – 114 pages – Cat. No. 701 – available as a physical book from PalladiumBooks.com and as a PDF from DriveThruRPG.com.

NEW! Nightbane^® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – Available now

The Nightbane® RPG Hardcover and Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG Hardcover are flying off our warehouse shelves. Both hardcovers offer additional “bonus” material and look fabulous.

At first, people thought Dark Day – the day the sun did not rise anywhere on the planet – was the end of the world. When the sun rose again, everything looked the same, but it wasn’t. Some people have disappeared. Others seem different, darker, crueler, and the world seems more malevolent and dangerous.

Only the newly awakened Nightbane understand that governments and the authorities around the world are being quietly taken over by the sinister Nightlords and their Doppleganger minions. Demonic creatures from a mirror dimension filled with evil and dark magic. Only the Nightbane, born human but who learn they are something else, something more than human, and other creatures that live in the shadows such as vampires and Guardians, dare stand against the gathering darkness.

• A role-playing game of modern horror, conspiracy, and self-discovery. A new genre we call superhero-horror.
• You play the Nightbane®. Mostly young, seemingly ordinary people, who since Dark Day can transform into frightening or beautiful monsters blessed (or cursed) with superhuman powers and magic.
• Nightbane® creation tables – each a different, horrific humanoid or strangely beautiful being who wields powers they must learn to master or fall prey to the Nightlords and their demonic legions. Powers they can only unleash in their monstrous Morphus form.
• Nightbane “Talents” are supernatural and magical abilities.
• Nearly a dozen other player characters including the Sorcerer, Mystic, Vampire, Wampyre, Guardian and others.
• Magic, psionic abilities, and supernatural powers.
• Nightlords and their minions: the Hunters, Hounds, Hollow Men, etc.
• Wicked Dopplegangers, mirror travel, magic, and more.
• The hellish Nightlands™, madmen, and adventure ideas.
• Compatible with Beyond the Supernatural™, and adaptable to Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, Dead Reign®, and the entire Palladium Megaverse®.
• 60 pages of “bonus” material gathered from The Rifter®.
• 304 pages – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 730HC – available now. (Also available as a 240 page softcover RPG; $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 730).

NEW! Chaos Earth^® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – Available now

The Great Cataclysm as it unfolds! The Golden Age of Science and human civilization is shattered with the return of magic and the Coming of the Rifts. Humanity struggles to survive against impossible odds as ley lines appear and Rifts tear open the fabric of space and time to unleash all manner of alien invaders, demonic horrors, and monsters. Natural disasters – storms, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis – topple cities and create panic and chaos on a global scale.

You play survivors or the heroes of NEMA (the Northern Eagle Military Alliance) as you battle against the elements, madness, the demonic, the alien, the monstrous, and the magical amidst the devastation. You are equipped with Chromium Guardsmen (Glitter Boys), Silver Eagles (SAMAS), and a host of giant robots, power armor and advanced technology, but is it enough to stand against a rising tide of enemies and invading horrors from other worlds?

You and other survivors are humanity’s last and only hope to survive the apocalypse that will become known as the Great Cataclysm. These are the heroes you play in an ever-changing, nightmare world that can only be described as Chaos Earth.

• A complete RPG and the origins of Rifts® Earth.
• Overview of the Great Cataclysm as it unfolds.
• Introduction to NEMA and its weapons and resources.
• 11 different character classes, including robot pilots, the Para-Arcane, Demon and Witch Hunters, Chromium Guardsmen & more.
• Robots, power armor, vehicles, weapons, and equipment.
• Monsters, chaos and adventure. Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• 30 pages of “bonus” material gathered from The Rifter®.
• 192 pages – $36.99 retail – Cat. No. 660HC – available now. (Also available as a 160 page softcover RPG; $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 660).

List of RPG Hardcovers Currently Available:

• NEW! Chaos Earth® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – 192 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 660HC – 30 extra pages of bonus material – available now.
• NEW! Nightbane® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – 304 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 730HC – 60 extra pages of bonus material – available now.
• Dead Reign® RPG (Zombie Apocalypse) Hardcover – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 230HC
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 700HC
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 336 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 450HC – Our second best selling hardcover after the Rifts® 30th Anniversary edition.
• Heroes Unlimited™ RPG, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 500HC
• After the Bomb® RPG Hardcover – 296 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 503HC – includes bonus material.
• Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG Hardcover – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 525HC – includes bonus material.
• Rifts® Ultimate Edition RPG Hardcover – 376 pages – $44.99 – Cat. No. 800HC
• Rifts® Game Master Guide Hardcover – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 845HC
• Rifts® Book of Magic Hardcover – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 848HC
• Rifts® Adventure Guide Hardcover – 192 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 849HC
• Rifts® “original” RPG, 30th Anniversary Commemorative Hardcover – 288 pages – $49.99 – Cat. No. 800HC30 – includes bonus material.
• COMING! Splicers® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover
• COMING! Palladium Fantasy RPG®, “First Edition” Red Foil Stamped “Bonus” Edition Hardcover on faux leatherette. The cover is a recreation of the Red and Black first edition, plus it includes the Arms of Nargash-Tor adventure sourcebook. Yes, this is one of the surprises.
• COMING! “Original” RECON by Joseph F. Martin

Note: As per our new policy and the unpredictable print times, we will not be releasing estimated release dates for these last three hardcovers and upcoming new releases.

Retailers can buy direct from Palladium

Help Your Game Store Find Palladium RPG Products! With game stores opening back up we are happy to report that our distributors are doing a good job at stocking our many titles. If your store is having trouble ordering Palladium titles from distributors or they find getting product from their distributors is too slow, tell them they can buy wholesale directly from Palladium Books. We usually succeed at keeping most of our 200+ titles in stock at all times. You might also point them to Alliance, Studio 2, and Universal Distribution (Canada), who are all doing an especially good job keeping Palladium titles in stock and available. A few store owners reached out to us just this past week, thanks to your efforts, so keep up the good work!

Brick and mortar stores can request the Retailer Terms by contacting Palladium via the Help Desk on our website or by telephone (734-721-2903). Thank you for your help on this front. Please keep spreading the word. Thank you.

After the Bomb^® Podcast is a hit among fans – new episodes are coming

This is why I love the Palladium family of fans. The Palladium community has worked together to create something special. Thanks to your help supporting and promoting the fun Real Play Games Podcast it is a hit and growing. They are already moving into securing advertisement deals and charting on Canadian Spotify well ahead of their projections. And these folks are gamers and Palladium fans just like you following a dream. How cool is that? Thank you for doing this.

They have wrapped After the Bomb®: Purrsuit Season 1 and are in the planning stages for Season 2, which will pick up with characters selected by the podcast audience. It is interesting to note that almost none of the podcast players had any prior experience with Palladium’s Megaversal game system prior to running the After the Bomb® podcast, but now they’re hooked. They like it so much they have slated SIX Palladium games for recording over the course of the next year!

You can learn more and listen to After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Knowledge adventures by using the links below. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

• Schedule: Biweekly (episodes released every other Friday).
• Website: http://www.realplaygamespod.com
• Twitter: @realplaypod

NEW! After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Knowledge: Episode 8 – 2xDs? Nuts! As the battle rages across the Land of Caster, the Empire ups the threat level, deploying deadly power-suited attackers as they attempt to purge the remaining mutant animals from the area, but the Fursome Foursome, Piero, and the Rodent Cartel aren't planning on going down without a fight! Death-defying dodges! Evil birds! Axe tossing! Exclamation points! You'll get at least some of these when you tune into the episode!
Expected Release Date: October 8, 2021
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Drug Use, Violence

After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Knowledge: Episode 9 – The Battle of Hershey Avenue. Whether you call it a sky-van or a helpercopter, whatever it is spells a lot of trouble for the Fursome Foursome and their allies, and not everyone's going to make it out of this one fully intact. This one is for all the marbles, and the reverberations that come from this will change things not just now, but in the future. Is GM John going to bump off your favorite mutant animal? Better check and see on this one!
Expected Release Date: October 22, 2021
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Violence

After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Knowledge: Episode 10 – Homes: Lost, Sought, and Found. In the aftermath of the battle between the Empire of Humanity and the Rodent Cartel, the Fursome Foursome finds themselves at a crossroads. The ramifications of the things they learn and the choices they make will shape the future in ways both large and small, and when we pick back up on them next, there'll be new faces and new stories to get to know, right alongside your old favorites. There's no such thing as a goodbye with the promise that you'll meet again.
Expected Release Date: November 5, 2021
Content Warnings: Alcohol and Drug Use, Adult Language

After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Discussion Bonus Show. Game Master John and the whole cast take some time to answer listener questions from email and Twitter, the gang talks about some of the background information behind their characterizations, speculate on some things that came up in game, and just have a fun time chatting about the game we just played before we roll into another one in two weeks. Also, we somehow get back into the mutant kangaroo boob thing again, that just seems like it's going to be a running thing.
Expected Release Date: November 19, 2021
Content Warnings: Adult Language

Heroes Unlimited 2E Christmas Special is just one. When the megavillain speedster Railgun is contracted to abduct and ensure the safety of Santana Villarosa, a popular Youtube doll refurbisher, he'll have to face hired killers, ninja, the Gnomes of Zurich, the forces of Dracula Jr. and more to see to it that she'll make it home for the holidays! We start recording this one in mid-October and ideally will have a weekly set of releases for the first four weeks of December 2021.

And coming over the next 12-18 months ...

• After the Bomb: Purrsuit Season 2
• Beyond the Supernatural 2E – Cozy Caverns Mysteries
• Palladium Megaversal system – Baby, I Shrunk these F*$#ing People!
• Nightbane®
• Rifts®

Please continue to support and spread the word about Real Play Games and their RPG Podcast: After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of Knowledge™.

Still Hot! Rifts^® Automated Character Sheet for EXCEL

The next step in character data collection! This EXCEL template provides automation to your Rifts® character creation process. Done in Microsoft Excel, this character template will allow you to build your character with substantial ease and speed. Ideal for the new gamer who doesn’t know all of the Palladium Books® rules just yet, it’s also a highly effective tool for Game Masters and advanced players alike who make multiple characters, NPCs or just like to min/max or theory craft characters between games.

• Dice Roller: A simple dice roller is on the main page of the character sheet to help with character creation or in-game dice rolling needs.
• Automated Attributes and Stat Block: All the bonuses and features from attributes are presented in a large stat block allowing you to easily see your bonus to save vs Psionics, Mind Control, etc. You can pick your strength type (Normal, Augmented, Robotic or Supernatural) to determine your carrying and lifting capacity and even your M.D. punch damage if your strength is high enough and of the right type.
• Automated Combat Stats: The main page holds a section where you can pull up data for your various combat stats, from hand to hand abilities such as Strike, Parry, Dodge and Disarm, to W.P. bonuses including those of the W.P. Sharpshooting variety. This section draws upon all of your character’s selection of skills and abilities and even offers customization from odd O.C.C. or racial abilities.
• Automated Psionics: All psionics from Rifts® Ultimate Edition, Rifts® World Book 12: Psyscape™ and Rifts® World Book 32: Lemuria can be selected from a dropdown menu that then populates tables with the information on psionics for your character. Each psionic ability’s data including damage, M.D.C. and range also automatically increases based on the character’s level of experience.
• Automated Spells: All Common Invocations, Necromancy, Ocean Magic and Biomancy spells (yes, all the Lemurian Biomancer spells too!) can be selected from a dropdown menu that then populates tables with the information on spells for your character. Each spell’s data including damage, M.D.C. and range also automatically increases based on the character’s level of experience.
• Automated Skills: All skills from the Rifts® Ultimate Edition, Rifts® World Book 25: China 2 – Heroes of the Celestial Court™ and Rifts® World Book 32: Lemuria can be selected and then automatically add bonuses from prerequisites and related skills. Physical skills that provide bonuses also add those bonuses directly to attributes and combat stats. Bonuses that require dice rolls are denoted and can then be manually rolled and added to the character sheet. Custom percent bonuses such as O.C.C. bonuses can also be added to individual skills.
• Automated Cybernetics & Bionics: All cybernetics and bionics from Rifts® Ultimate Edition along with some favorites from other books can be selected from dropdown menus which then tabulate bonuses and add them to your combat stats. Prices also sum up so an enterprising Headhunter can keep track of his hardware and upgrades. Simple cybernetic body part diagrams even allow players to allocate the locations of their various cybernetic and bionic components.
• Freeform O.C.C. and Racial Power Section: A section for non-standard powers, special O.C.C. or racial abilities allows the player to add custom skills and powers that can be linked to those features to draw upon the character’s level of experience, I.Q. bonus or other stats so powers grow as the character advances.
• Character Building Section: On the main page of the document is a section to help you build your character, from customizing attributes, to adding non-standard bonuses from O.C.C. or racial abilities, to an optional point buy system for attributes.
• Helpful Hints and Suggestions: Red triangular tabs appear throughout the document. Hovering over the red tab with the mouse cursor will reveal useful data from sourcebooks, hints, suggestions and other information, such as what a particular stat means, how it’s used in the game and what things can add bonuses or affect it. There is also a page with overview instructions on how to use the sheet, and a number of instructional videos will be posted via Palladium TV on the ins and outs of the character sheet. The first can be found here: http://youtu.be/a89XzAV37sE
• Portrait: A special sheet is set up so you can add an image to the document for a custom portrait for your character. That image is then displayed on the main page and is protected from accidental movement or deletion from the main page.
• Password Protected: Several pages of the document are password protected so players won’t accidently delete formulas and ruin the character sheet’s automated features. The password is provided so players can customize the sheet to their liking then protect the sheet again so they don’t undo all their hard work.
• Note: The file is best used in Microsoft EXCEL 2016 or above. Some data may be lost if not using Microsoft EXCEL, such as when using similar products like Open Office.
• Available from PalladiumBooks.com AND DriveThruRPG.com – make them characters!

NEW! After the Bomb^® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – Available now

Create any type of intelligent, humanoid, mutant animal from a turtle or raccoon to an elephant or lion. The RPG presents stats for 100+ mutant animals, plus rules for creating any mutant animal you can imagine, and each sourcebook offers dozens more.

Play your mutant animals as super-heroes, vigilantes, or mutants on the run in the Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, Heroes of the Megaverse® or Skraypers™ settings. Or as mutants or monsters in Nightbane®. (You could make a mutant animal the Nightbane’s Morphus!) In Palladium Fantasy® your mutant animal could be one of the forgotten archaic races, a visitor from another world, a creation of magic, or a monster. In Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies, The Mechanoids®, Aliens Unlimited™, Splicers® and similar RPGs, use the creation rules to make new D-Bees, aliens, mutants, or monsters. Or play in the AtB post-apocalyptic Earth setting that makes Planet of the Apes seem tame. Whatever the setting, playing anthropomorphic animal characters is a blast.

• 100+ mutant animal stats included.
• Mutant animal creation rules to mutate ANY animal.
• 52 Mutant Animal Powers.
• 33 Mutant Animal Psionic Powers.
• New Animal Chimeras and their abilities.
• New back story to the After the Bomb® world of mutants.
• The post-apocalyptic Earth setting of “After the Bomb” is just one use for your mutant animal heroes.
• A complete RPG written by Erick Wujcik. His last great work and a sometimes overlooked RPG masterpiece. These are the Mutant Animal Creation Rules you know and love taken to new heights.
• Compatible with Heroes Unlimited™, Aliens Unlimited™, Nightbane®, N&S, Rifts® and any game setting where mutants or aliens are appropriate.
• 72 pages of “bonus” material includes the original After the Bomb® sourcebook and Yucatan Adventures from the old Game Shield.
• 296 pages (72 bonus pages) – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 503HC – now shipping. Also available as a 224 page softcover book ($26.99 retail – Cat. No. 503).

NEW! Ninjas & Superspies^™ RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – Available now

The Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG is the ultimate guide to martial arts with 40 different martial art forms and 48 mystic martial arts powers alone, but there is so much more. Asian combat skills accurately portrayed, each with its own unique fighting style, methods of attack and defense presented on an epic scale, complete with legendary mystic powers. Spies, Cyber Agents, Gadgeteers, secret organizations creation rules, secret identities, gimmick weapons and clothing, cyber-disguises, implants, and more. Compatible with Heroes Unlimited™ RPG and even Nightbane®, Rifts®, and other settings. A complete game PLUS 44 pages of bonus material gathered from The Rifter®.

• 40+ types of hand to hand combat — effectively offering 40 types of martial arts character classes!
• 17 Occupational Character Classes for spies, mercenaries, martial artists and special operatives.
• 48 mystic martial art powers.
• Dim Mak, Chi Mastery, the Arts of Invisibility and more.
• Bionic implants, disguises, weapons, & equipment.
• Secret identities, spy agencies, and creation rules for secret organizations.
• Complete stand-alone RPG with skills, weapons, rules and guidelines for using other Palladium settings.
• Compatible with Heroes Unlimited™, Rifts®, Rifts® China, and the entire Palladium Megaverse®!
• 44 pages of “bonus” material gathered from The Rifter®.
• 224 pages – $36.99 retail – Cat. No. 525HC – RPG by Erick Wujcik – now shipping. Also available as a 176 page softcover book ($22.99 retail – Cat. No. 525). And see Mystic China for an astonishing and fun sourcebook with more mystical martial arts abilities, magic, demons, immortals and more.

NEW! Dead Reign^® RPG Hardcover – The Zombie Apocalypse^™ – available now

The dead have risen and it would seem to be the end of the world.

Civilization crumbles in a matter of days as hundreds of millions of people die and rise as the walking dead. The hundreds of millions of people who fall to the zombies also rise to join the growing legions of undead. Then the world goes silent.

You are on your own. The army is MIA. There is no government. No law. No television, radio or Internet. No media, cell phones or communications of any kind. Cities and towns have gone dark, and zombies fill the streets.

Death Cults have risen, promising protection from the walking dead.

Retro-Savages have forsaken technology and sacrifice the living to the zombies in hopes of bringing an end to the nightmare.

Brave human survivors refuse to lie down and die! They come from all walks of life. Their common goal: survival as they struggle to forge safe havens away from the cities, rescue other survivors and battle the walking dead without respite. For now at least, the planet belongs to the dead.

Dead Reign® is an excellent introductory game that is easy to learn, fast to play, and fun to read. If you are looking for a zombie game that truly captures the feel of survival after the apocalypse and the nightmare of being stalked by zombies, Dead Reign® is it. Game mechanics are designed to create a real sense of escalating terror and dread when the zombies swarm. Sourcebooks expand the world, player options, and adventure ideas as well as new zombies and dangers.

• Six Apocalyptic Character Classes (O.C.C.) including the Reaper, Shepherd of the Damned, Hound Master, Apocalyptic Soldier, Scrounger and Ordinary People.
• Seven types of zombies plus the Half-Living. (Sourcebooks offer many more.)
• Secrets of the Dead: Everything you need to know about zombies and need to ask.
• Death Cults, their Priests, power over zombies and goals.
• Random tables galore and the fundamentals of survival.
• Strong setting, world overview and many adventure ideas.
• A complete role-playing game. 224 pages – $36.99 retail – Cat. No. 230HC – now shipping. Also available as a 224 page softcover RPG ($26.99 retail – Cat. No. 230).

Rifts^® RPG 30th Anniversary Commemorative Hardcover

The “original,” 256 page Rifts® RPG from 1990 plus an extra 32 additional pages of color at the back of the book. This new section includes the history and people behind the making of Rifts®, a gallery of ALL Rifts® covers to date (160+ of them including those coming soon), never before seen concept art, other artwork and fun. Note: This is a different rule book than the expanded 376 page Rifts® Ultimate Edition (RUE), but the original remains completely compatible with RUE and all World Books and sourcebooks.

Rifts® merges science fiction with fantasy, horror, heroic adventure, and other genres in a thrilling and plausible setting that will set your imagination on fire. Travel the Rifts to any location on Earth, or leap across the dimensional divide to visit alien worlds and dimensions in a matter of seconds. And just as you can travel to other worlds, aliens and the monstrous travel to Earth and stalk the innocent.

Rifts® is a fusion of ideas, settings, genres, and characters unlike any game on the market. An endless Megaverse® of adventure™ in which if you can imagine it, you can play it. Are you up to the challenge?

The Rifts® Commemorative 30th Anniversary Hardcover is the original first edition Rifts® rule book (1990) that started a phenomenon. It is a complete RPG suitable for use with ALL existing Rifts® World Books, Sourcebooks, and Dimension Books. It is an earlier and somewhat simpler edition given the deluxe treatment. Expanded with bonus art, an additional 32 color pages, color end sheets, history about the making of Rifts®, notes, concept drawings, color concepts, photographs, and a gallery of every Rifts® cover published between 1990 and the end of 2021. The cover features the famous Keith Parkinson painting of the Splugorth Slave Barge. Provided to you due to popular demand.

• The “original” Rifts® RPG (1990) back in print for the first time in 16 years.
• Color cover of the famous Splugorth Slave Barge by Keith Parkinson.
• A color gallery of 160+ Rifts® covers.
• An extra 32 pages of color.
• More comprehensive contents pages.
• Concept art and pencil illustrations often with notes by the artist.
• History of Rifts®, personal notes, commentary, and nostalgic material.
• Color end sheets.
• Countless memories, and loads of fun.
• A simpler, earlier version of the core rules.
• A complete role-playing game suitable for use with ALL existing Rifts® World Books, Sourcebooks, and Dimension Books.
• Available in stores and from Palladium Books.
• This is NOT the signed or numbered limited edition, but we are happy to sign copies at conventions and the Palladium Open House. The print run is likely to be limited to a few thousand copies.
• 288 pages – $49.99 retail – Cat. No. 800HC30 – Available now. Also see the 376 page Rifts® Ultimate Edition RPG for the current Rifts® rule set.

UPDATE: Rifts^® CS Manhunters – Bigger, Bolder, Epic, 190+ pages

Somehow the Rifts® CS Manhunters Sourcebook has become epic and grown in page count. I am nearing the finish line on this greatly expanded title which is now part Coalition States adventure sourcebook and part psionics sourcebook, with the psionic elements being in the limelight in a similar vein as the Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook was for bionics, only with an emphasis on how the Coalition States use psychics. There are revisits, clarifications, and expansions of some of the classic psionic abilities, and 50+ new psionic powers that are fun and intuitive. Only a handful are limited to the Manhunters. As for the CS Manhunters ... I think they will quickly become the new villain you love to hate. In addition, the sourcebook provides insight about CS psychics, Dog Boys, Kill Hounds, Psi-Stalkers, the Minion War, CS citizens, and Emperor Prosek. I love this book and I’m confident you will too.

Rifts® CS Manhunters presents dark secrets of the Coalition States involving CS psychics, the super secret Psi-Ops Division (the thought police of Emperor Prosek), and the deadly super-patriots that are the enigmatic CS Manhunters. Includes 50+ NEW psionic abilities with real punch, insight into the Dog Boys and Kill Hounds, meanings revealed about the Seven Dangers Prophecy (first introduced in Rifts® Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids®), and gadgets and implants, and surprises. All of it building toward something epic.

• New Coalition Psychic O.C.C.s.
• 50+ 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.
• Secrets of Psi-Ops Division and insight about Coalition psychics.
• Deciphering the Seven Dangers Prophecy.
• The impact of the demon plagues unleashed by the Minion War.
• Player Characters, NPCs, background info, adventure ideas, and more.
• 192-224 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 894 – In final production.

UPDATE: Creature Feature^™, a Beyond the Supernatural^™ sourcebook

This is going to be another fun adventure sourcebook. The manuscript will go into editing and rewrites as soon as I finish CS Manhunters and most of the artwork is done. Though I may add a few illustrations and already have artists lined up. Creature Feature™ 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.

UPDATE: Rifts^® Titan Robotics^™

Here it is, the reveal of the new cover. I hope you like it. I love that it presents the iconic Titan Robotics Combat Robot with a new big gun that hints at what else awaits you inside the book. I also enjoy the combat scene, smoke, and haze of war. Like Northern Gun and the Manistique Imperium, Titan Robotics sells freely to adventurers, mercenaries, and anyone who has the cash. Hence, the owners of these big ‘bots clashing with Coalition Forces.

This is why I call Rifts® Titan Robotics™ a high-tech toy box filled with many new types of Titan Robotics power armors, giant robots, vehicles, weapons, and gear. Some are big bruisers while others are small and sleek. As fun as these new tech toys are, Rifts® Titan Robotics™ delves into the company’s many secrets, including ARCHIE-3’s plans and program to monitor and manipulate the outside world. Learn about Archie’s androids that run Titan Robotics and his current schemes and plans for the future. All of which provides fodder for adventure.

• 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 Walton, Cummings, Atkins, and others. Cover by Mike Majestic.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda.
• 160-192 pages (tentative) – $22.99 retail (or $26.99) – Cat. No. 899.

UPDATE: 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).

New on DriveThruRPG.com as a PDF product – Erick Wujcik’s “Lost first RPG” Sector 57

Sector 57 is Erick Wujcik’s very first RPG (1980, self-published) – a tournament game, actually. I played it way back when with Erick and it was fun. I think you will enjoy it, and it is a fun piece of history. ALL proceeds go directly to the Wujcik Estate and probably toward the education of Erick’s beloved grandchild, Tristan.

As most of you know, Erick would go on to write the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG, Ninjas & Superspies RPG, Amber Diceless, and contribute to a number of other RPGs and sourcebooks.

Sector 57 is written by Erick Wujcik and illustrated by me, Kevin Siembieda. Making it Erick’s and my first published collaboration. The tournament has space travelers find a derelict alien spacecraft to explore and answer questions like is it safe to fly and take as their own? What happened to the crew? Is there danger lurking onboard? Can you figure out how to pilot the spaceship? We are selling it for the original 1980 price of $5.00 making it a deal. Available only as a PDF from DriveThruRPG. Enjoy.

Coming to DriveThruRPG.com – The Original RECON by Joe F. Martin (1982), RECON® Supplement One: Sayaret, RECON® Module Two: Hearts & Minds, and if we can swing it, San Succi, the big newspaper style module and maps. In addition to releasing these as individual PDF products, Palladium also intends to collect and release them as a special, deluxe, hardcover RPG and sourcebook in the months ahead.

Palladium Books has settings for every genre: Fantasy RPG, science fiction (Rifts®, Splicers®, and The Mechanoids®), super-heroes (Heroes Unlimited and After the Bomb), superhero horror (Nightbane®), modern horror (Dead Reign® and Beyond the Supernatural), plus The Rifter® sourcebook series (by fans like you), novels, paper minis, and more.

Rifts® Novels: Duty’s Edge – The lone surviving soldier from a New German Republic Special Forces operation struggles to complete the mission on his own. A stand-alone Rifts® novel complete in itself. 236 pages, Cat. No. 308. The Cosmo-Knight and The Reckoning (Phase World®, the Three Galaxies, and Cosmo-Knights), the Rifts® trilogy of novels: Sonic Boom, Deception’s Web, and Treacherous Awakenings, as well as the Rifts® Anthology: Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs (11 authors), Machinations of Doom (graphic novel by Ramon K. Perez), and Path of the Storm (a proposed Rifts® movie script) and 300+ other Palladium Books RPG titles.

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 – Ho, ho, ho, Happy Holidays

Halloween is just around the corner and it will be quickly followed by Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the New Year. That means it is time for the Palladium Surprise Package offer! Last year you ladies and gents bought a zillion of these Grab Bags. Well, they are back for your gaming and holiday enjoyment. Our gift to you – our extended family. A way to show our appreciation and put smiles on people’s faces, so please enjoy them and spread the word to your fellow gamers.

Speaking of special offers, I have a sale going on at Kevin’s Toys & Collectibles, my ebay store. Alex and I will also be adding some special items over the next few weeks. Again, in time for Christmas.

I wish Kathy and I were doing our Halloween display, but we are so busy this year and Covid-19 numbers are high in Michigan – so we decided not to do it. Next year, we hope. Halloween is Kathy’s favorite holiday and my second fave, so we are missing it quite a bit. Christmas is my number one favorite holiday, so I always get pumped up when the Surprise Packages are made available. We love and appreciate each and every one of you, so we are thrilled to be able to make the holidays a little more special for our gaming community.

Life is precious and far too short. A very dear friend just lost his mother unexpectedly after a routine surgery. Our hearts go out to him and his entire family. Hang tough and know you are in our thoughts and prayers. A tragic reminder for us all to tell the people we love how important and special they are to us while they are still in our lives.

Otherwise, we are pounding away on various projects. The most immediate being Sean working on The Rifter® #185 Annual and Wayne is finishing up on the hardcover editions of Splicers® RPG and the Original Palladium Fantasy RPG® (1st Edition rules) given the deluxe treatment for the first time ever, and both hardcovers include bonus material. All three should be available before Thanksgiving. Just got word that 13 of our back stock titles should arrive from one of our printers by the end of next week, including the Rifts® Primer & Adventures, Boxed Nightmares, Dark Places, and a number of other temporarily out of print or running low titles. Working hard to keep the books you want in stock and need to get back to it.

Please enjoy the Christmas Surprise Package offer, spread the word to other gamers, keep your spirits high, and know we are thinking of you with deep fondness.

- Kevin Siembieda, Surrogate Santa, Gamer, Friend

NEW! Rifts^® Game Master Guide^™ Hardcover – Available now

The Rifts® Game Master Guide™ hardcover 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 – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 845HC – available now. Also available in softcover.

NEW! Rifts^® Book of Magic^™ Hardcover – Available now

Nearly 1,000 magic spells and 400 magic weapons and devices from across Rifts Earth, plus magic tattoos, herbs, stones, and more. 352 pages of pure magic.

• 900+ magic spells, Elemental Magic, Ley Line Magic, Temporal Magic, Necromancy, Nature Magic, Cloud Magic, Ocean Magic, Biomancy and more.
• Plus Tattoo Magic, Stone Magic, Whalesongs, Conjuring, Nazca Lines.
• 290+ Techno-Wizard weapons and items, including TW Bionics, Automatons, and Iron Juggernauts.
• 80+ other magic items, Rune Weapons, Holy Weapons, Fetishes.
• Bio-Wizard Weapons, the Bio-Borg, Symbiotes, and herbs.
• Magic stones, talismans, magic items of Japan, and more.
• Millennium Tree wands, staves and armor.
• 352 pages – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 848HC – available now. Also available in softcover.

NEW! Rifts^® Adventure Guide^™ Hardcover – Available now

Inside information to create and run RPG adventures: How to get started, building on ideas, character archetypes, tables for creating Rifts towns and cities, mercenary companies, traveling shows, and player created organizations, plus random Rift tables, information about the Chi-Town ‘Burbs, 32 ‘Burb adventure ideas, another 101 adventure hooks, and still more adventure ideas, and additional player and Game Master tips by Kevin Siembieda, Erick Wujcik, and Bill Coffin.

• 150+ adventure ideas.
• Game Master and player tips from Kevin Siembieda.
• Adventure creation tips from Kevin Siembieda.
• Why and how to use alignments by Kevin Siembieda.
• Tricks of running a large group, G.M. tools, and more.
• Additional Player and G.M. tips from Wujcik and Coffin.
• Overview and info about the CS Chi-Town ‘Burbs.
• 32 adventure ideas in the ‘Burbs.
• Random Dimensional Rifts & other tables.
• Tables for creating towns, merc companies, and traveling shows.
• 192 pages – $36.99 retail – Cat. No. 849HC – available now. Also available in softcover.

HARDCOVER Palladium Fantasy RPG^®, 2nd Edition – available now

A fantasy setting like no other, rich in history and inviting adventure. Not only are you able to play iconic fantasy heroes like the Wizard, Knight, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Assassin, and others, but also characters such as the Mind Mage, Druid, Diabolist, Summoner and many others. Moreover, play an array of nonhuman characters from Elves and Dwarves to Wolfen, Changelings, Kobolds, Orcs, Ogres, and many others.

• The hardcover is exactly the same as the softcover edition.
• Color cover, same art, variant logo, hardcover.
• 25+ Occupational Character Classes (O.C.C.s).
• 14+ inhuman player races (more in sourcebooks).
• 300+ magic spells.
• 60 magical Wards. 50 magic circles.
• Dozens of magic items potions and more.
• 70+ psychic powers, the Mind Mage, and more.
• Weapons, gear, demons and adventure ideas.
• New sourcebooks like Land of the Damned 3, Lopan, and others are coming.
• 336 pages – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 450HC – available now.

HARDCOVER Heroes Unlimited^™ RPG, 2nd Edition – available now

The Heroes Unlimited™ RPG has been a hit RPG for 30+ years because it enables you to create any type of comic book hero you can imagine. Make characters pulled right from any comic book you grew up with and love, or design your own league of extraordinary heroes.

If you seek comic book heroic adventure, Heroes Unlimited™ does the job on an epic scale. Plus a dozen sourcebooks provide you with more super abilities, hero categories, bad guys and adventures.

• The hardcover is exactly the same as the softcover edition.
• Color cover, same art, variant logo on the hardcover.
• Create any type of hero you can imagine.
• 101 super abilities plus a multitude of sub-powers within them, bonuses and special combat capabilities.
• 100+ magic spells plus enchanted weapons and objects.
• 72 psychic powers.
• Enchanted weapons that instill super abilities.
• Mega-Heroes and immortals.
• Alien super beings.
• Bionics and cyborgs.
• Psionics and Psychics.
• Robots and power armor.
• Masters of magic, wizards and spell casters.
• Mutants and Super Soldiers possessing super abilities.
• Inventors, super-geniuses and super-vehicles.
• Special Training: Martial arts, Sleuths, weapons, more.
• Cover by comic book legend Jim Steranko.
• Art by Ramon K. Perez, Paulo Parente, Mike Gustovich, and others.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• 352 pages for a complete RPG – $39.99 retail – Cat. No. 500HC – available now.

HARDCOVER Beyond the Supernatural^™ RPG, 2nd Edition – Available now

Supernatural horror in the modern world that feels plausible and real. Your characters are the few who know the supernatural is real because they have experienced it face to face. Some are psychics, some are experts in the paranormal or the arcane, and others are ordinary people like you and me. Ordinary people who are never the same after their own close encounter. All of these unlikely heroes stand against supernatural evil in a world of disbelievers who brand them as practitioners of fringe science or lunatics. Only they know the truth: supernatural evil is real and dangerous. And someone has to take a stand to protect the innocent from supernatural evil in whatever hidden form it may take. Are you ready to join the battle?

• The hardcover is exactly the same as the softcover edition.
• Color cover, same art, variant logo, hardcover.
• A plausible modern horror setting that makes sense and will challenge your role-playing skills.
• 14 Psychic Character Classes.
• 42 occupations for “ordinary” people.
• 100+ psychic abilities, including Fire Walker abilities.
• Creatures of darkness, the Lazlo Agency, and more.
• New sourcebooks are coming soon.
• 256 pages – $36.99 retail – Cat. No. 700HC – available now.

NEW! Miniature Releases – Available now

You have been asking about new miniatures and we are providing. All miniatures come in a plastic bag. The newest three are:

Rifts® Glitter Boy™ & Pilot (original) Miniature Pack – 1st time available in resin – 28 mm resin – $19.99 retail – Cat. No. MI8001. Five Pieces: 1. Complete G.B. body and a small base, 2. right arm and Boom Gun, 3. backpack/thrusters, 4. ammo drum and belt, and 5. pilot. The ever-popular, classic Glitter Boy and Pilot (1993 RAFM) – now in resin for the first time (prior releases were pewter figures). Available now.

NEW! Rifts® CS Firebreather Dead Boy™ Miniature – true scale 32 mm resin – $9.99 retail – Cat. No. MI8047. Five pieces: 1. the body, 2. right arm and gun, 3. left arm, 4. antenna, 5. custom base. Detailed and dynamic figure. Available now.

NEW! Rifts® Juicer™ Miniature – true scale 32 mm resin – $9.99 retail – Cat. No. MI8048. Three pieces: 1. the complete body, 2. crossed swords on the back that fit so snugly that you may not even need to glue it, 3. custom base. Detailed and dynamic figure. Available now.

And don’t forget about the Deluxe Rifts® Glitter Boy Resin Miniature – released in fall 2020 – 32 mm resin – $34.99 retail – Cat. No. MI8046 – a gorgeous, detailed and dynamic figure. Available now.

Rifts^® Novels – Available now

All Rifts® novels are available from the Palladium Books online store as physical books as well as PDFs from DriveThruRPG.com. All are a fun read and highly recommended. Enjoy.

• All novels are 5 x 8 inches in size unless otherwise indicated.
• Page count and price varies.
• Available as physical books from palladiumbooks.com and as PDFs on DriveThruRPG.com
• Rifts® Duty’s Edge is the story of a lone survivor of a New German Republic Special Forces operation who struggles to complete the mission on his own. A mission to destroy wicked monsters and cut off a vital line of support to the Gargoyle Empire. A mission that could save many lives. Of course, it is a journey that takes many twists and turns as one determined individual hopes to beat impossible odds. Set in the Middle East. 236 pages – $12.99 retail – Cat. No. 308 – the newest, stand alone novel.
• 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.
• Rifts® Deception’s Web™, the second novel in this trilogy, reveals a conspiracy within the Coalition military that could spell disaster for our protagonists. Note: Smaller size, 4 x 6 inches.
• Rifts® Treacherous Awakenings™ is the pulse-pounding conclusion of the third novel in this epic trilogy by Adam Chilson.
• Rifts Anthology: Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™. Rifts® short stories by 11 authors including Kevin Siembieda, Carl Gleba, Mark Oberle, Braden Campbell, Taylor White, Jason Richards, and others. Note: Slightly larger size, 6 x 9 inches.
• Rifts® Machinations of Doom™ Graphic Novel & Sourcebook. The comic is by acclaimed Eisner Award winning artist Ramon K. Perez, source material by Siembieda and Perez. Note: 8½ x 11 inches.
• Rifts® Path of the Storm was a Rifts® movie script written on spec. Note: 8½ x 11 inches.
• Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™, Volume One: The Cosmo-Knight. The adventures of Caleb Vulcan, newly minted Knight of the Cosmic Forge.
• Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™, Volume Two: The Reckoning. The epic conclusion of the Hammer of the Forge story.

Gamer 16 Ounce Mug – available now

Whether you drink coffee, hot cocoa, soda-pop, or whatever your beverage of choice may be, this fun mug reminds you of your favorite pastime and that new possibilities exist with every roll of the dice.

The large, 16 ounce Gamer mug presents the word “Gamer” in a box with dice cascading down from above. The design appears on both sides of the mug. Created by Wayne Smith and Freddie Williams II (art directed by Kevin Siembieda). The mug has an orange interior to add a nice splash of color.

• A must for every proud gamer!
• Dice and the word “Gamer” highlighted in a box.
• Glossy black exterior with an orange interior.
• Art and words are located on both sides of the mug.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2596 – available now.

BACK IN STOCK! Property of the Coalition States 16 Ounce Mug – available now

Back due to popular demand! The iconic Property of the Coalition States and notorious CS Death’s Head insignia printed white on a glossy black, 16 ounce coffee mug, with a blood red interior for a splash of color. The design appears on both sides of the mug. Created by Wayne Smith and Kevin Long (art directed by Kevin Siembieda).

• The infamous words “Property of the Coalition States” and the notorious Death’s Head logo and lightning bolts (indicating CS special forces) in white.
• Glossy black exterior with a blood red interior color.
• Art and words are located on both sides of the mug.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2588 – available now.

Other Mugs Available Now

Everyone loves these mugs. Isn’t it time you started your collection? I like to use them to as a secret code to reflect my mood to those around me. To my thinking the Gamer mug means I’m feeling playful. Rifts® Property of the Coalition States: I’m a soldier in the trenches and working hard. Dead Reign®: Back off or I will eat you alive. Fantasy Dragon: My imagination is on fire. Rifts Logo: Feeling the infinite possibilities. Rifts® Titan Robotics: I’m feeling mighty. Of course, they represent something else to each of you or just represent one of your favorite games, like a normal person.

• Rifts® Titan Robotics™ Mug – A dynamic Titan robot and the Rifts® logo. Art by Steven Cummings. White on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blue interior. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2595 – available now.
• Rifts® Logo Coffee Mug – The famous Rifts® logo in white on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blue interior. Logo by Kevin Long. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2587 – available now.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG® Dragon Mug – The famous red on black 3-headed hydra battling a knight from the iconic original Palladium Fantasy RPG cover. Art by Kevin Siembieda. Red on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with an attractive orange interior. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2589 – available now.
• Dead Reign® (Zombie Attack) Mug – A trio of hungry zombies and the Dead Reign® logo in white on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blood red interior for a splash of color. Art by Steven Cummings. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2594 – available now.

Now Shipping

NEW! Rifts^® Notepad

A 5x7 inch notepad featuring the Rifts® logo and color art of the “Coalition Strike Force” print by Kevin Long across the top. It looks great on your desk or gaming table. Perfect for taking notes and feeling that Rifts vibe. Practical and fun.

• 50 sheets per pad – $5.00 each – Cat. No. 2597 – available now.

NEW! 5 Gaming Pencils – 4 Rifts^® Pencils and 1 Fantasy Pencil

Practical and fun conversation pieces that will make you the envy of your gaming group (at least until they buy their own). These pencils are different from the fan fave, Chi-Town ‘Burbs pencil of the past. Each new pencil is imprinted with much larger, bolder type, and a dynamic insignia image, and two change color! All are No. 2 pencils. These pencils and the notepad are some of the silly, little, fun things I hinted at as coming in past Updates.

Why do them? Because we all need fun things that make us smile and just feel good. And these pencils and the notepad do exactly that. Everyone here went crazy over them. I probably should not admit this, but I love glancing over and seeing them on my desk. They make me smile and feel like souvenirs I acquired on my dimensional travels. What a fan boy geek, right? But true all the same. I hope you enjoy them just as much. Note: In my opinion, the photos do not do them justice; not the same as holding one in your hand.

- Rifts® Pencil: Coalition States – Office of the Emperor – $1.60 each – Cat. No. 2598 – available now. Black colored pencil, white printing, CS skull and lightning bolt insignia, pink eraser at the end. No. 2 pencil lead.

- Rifts® Pencil: Lone Star Complex – Engineering the Future – $1.60 each – Cat. No. 2599 – available now. Dark blue colored pencil, white printing, CS Lone Star skull in a star insignia, pink eraser at the end. No. 2 pencil lead.

- Rifts® Pencil: Chi-Town Library – Knowledge is Power – $1.60 each – Cat. No. 2600 – available now. Yellow colored pencil, black printing, image of an open book/rising sun, pink eraser at the end. No. 2 pencil lead.

- Rifts® Pencil: City of Lazlo – Council of Learning – $1.80 each – Cat. No. 2601 – available now. A “magic” pencil that changes color from powder blue to white. (The heat of your fingers and hand causes the color to change.) Black printing, roaring dragonhead insignia, black eraser at the end.

- Palladium Fantasy Pencil: Library of Bletherad – Your Source of Knowledge – $1.80 each – Cat. No. 2602 – available now. A “magic” pencil that changes color from green to yellow. (The heat of your fingers and hand causes the color to change.) Black printing with the Ward image for “Knowledge,” black eraser at the end.

- Rifts® Notepad & 5 Pencil SET – $11.00 retail for the set – save $2.40 – Cat. No. 2603 – available now.

- Rifts® Pen & Stylus – And don’t forget about the Rifts® Pen with Stylus for use with a smartphone – Rifts Logo and the words “Unleash your imagination” printed white on a navy blue ballpoint pen. Black ink. $5.00 each – Cat. No. 2586.

- Rifts® Card Decks – it might be time to snag one or both of our Rifts® poker decks while you are at it. $11.99 each – Full Color Deck Cat. No. 2575; Black and White Art (color card backing, classic black and white art) Cat. No. 2576. See the complete description of each in the Palladium online store.

© 2021 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.