Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – November 3, 2023
One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure
By Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson
Three big things you do not want to miss (and a bunch of cool stuff)!
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Kickstarter launched at noon on Tuesday and was funded in 4 hours. We will continue to reveal the names of contributors like Larry Elmore and Ciro Nieli, post actual book pages, covers, artwork in progress, miniature designs, and stretch goals, so please stay tuned and spread the word. Reminder: Pledge sooner than later because you can always upgrade and add-on later in Backerkit. See more updates and details below.
2. Gigantic savings and earthshattering fun with the Palladium Apocalypse Bundle of Holding SALE! Build your digital library with these three fun apocalyptic horror settings. Limited time offer. This bundle offer ends November 13, so do not delay. Note: Physical books of these titles are also available via Palladium’s Christmas Surprise Package offer (see details below).
Summary of the post-apocalyptic settings in the Bundle:
- Dead Reign® RPG and sourcebooks – The Zombie Apocalypse RPG Palladium-style and a great introductory game for new players. Fast, fun, and easy to learn. The zombies are unique, not just the usual fare. Each sourcebook offers new world information, player options, and other dangers (including 23 disasters, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc., in Hell Followed, and survival in big cities and the suburbs, In the Face of Death).
- Splicers® RPG and sourcebook – Think the Terminator meets Guyver in a dark future where an insane A.I. uses its monstrous robot legions and bionic abominations to corral and pacify humans, and crush all who dare to oppose it. Unable to even touch metal, humans have turned to bio-tech and genetic engineering to fight back with living suits of armor, symbiotes, and living weapons.
- Systems Failure™ – It is the aftermath of an alien invasion, and while human civilization has fallen, humanity continues to survive and fight back against the invading aliens. Fun. Inspired by turn of the century end of the world conspiracy theories.
3. SALE! The 2023 Palladium Christmas Surprise Package offer is now shipping! Huge savings, surprises, and autographs that thrill the purchaser. No other game company offers anything like it. This is the 25th year we are offering this fan favorite Christmas bargain because we love doing it as much as you love getting them. These Surprise Packages are truly the best deal in gaming. One gamer looking to rebuild his collection has already purchased 17 Surprise Packages! A new record.
This is a great way to build your collection, try new world settings, and to get gamers gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solistice, birthdays, and anniversaries in the coming months. Keep those orders coming and tell your friends. And order now to beat the holiday rush and so you can buy one or two more before the offer ends December 24th.
NEWS! Ciro Nieli to contribute a new TMNT & Other Strangeness Tribute page of art. A crazy busy Wednesday ended for me and Sean with an incredible Zoom call with none other than Ciro Nieli – the man who created the stellar, 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness CGI animated series on Nickelodeon. I love that series and it was a privilege speaking with Ciro. What was supposed to be a short chat turned into an hour-long love fest as we all talked about the TMNT TV series, Palladium’s TMNT RPG books (he owns them all), the TMNT comics, and our affection for Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
Ciro was kind enough to agree to create at least one new, color piece of art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux, possibly two, one for each book! He may also write some TMNT memories for the book (he has a lot of great stories) as well as promote it on Instagram. Awesome!
NEWS! Larry Elmore to contribute a new TMNT & Other Strangeness Tribute page of art. This is a big deal as the legendary D&D/Fantasy artist is retired and doing artwork only for himself, and the rare outside job. When I invited him to contribute to this very special project, he said he’d have to check his schedule and give it some thought. I was touched when he called me back the very next day and said, “I can’t say no to an old friend like you, Kevin,” and agreed to do a pen and ink rendering to be colored by one of the fine color artists Palladium has working on this project. Thank you Larry, we love including you among the other top talent and legendary artists in this special redux of our beloved RPG. You’re the best, my friend.
NEWS! Watch for a lengthy interview with Through Gamer Goggles – On Wednesday morning, Matt Lemke at Through Gamer Goggles drove in from Dayton, Ohio to interview me and Sean at the Palladium Books offices. That meant he had the rare treat of seeing the laid out color pages of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG, a ton of colored artwork, concepts and yet to be colored tribute art, and some of the digital sculpts for the miniatures in various stages of completion. His eyes were wide the entire time and there were many instances where he gasped, oohed and aahed, and a few moments where I thought he was going to pass out from excitement. It was fun letting an outsider see all the work that is done and the many works in development. The interview should be available by this weekend, maybe even tomorrow. Check it out at Through Gamer Goggles.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3o5KrUc34nQ7KPYA1aJOcXh4RBcp4-h2
Some other fun TMNT RPG posts
https://breakfastpuppies.com/podcasts/glitterbois/episode0144/
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/55493/fanroll-palladium-books-reveal-tmnt-dice-sets
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Kickstarter – funded in 4 hours and going strong
We have the support of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, both of whom are doing new original art for these two redux special hardcovers to the original RPG and TMNT sourcebooks. These beloved books will be collected as two super-deluxe, full color redux editions. Yes, full color. Glorious color plus variant covers, new artwork by Eastman and Laird, a ton of gorgeous tribute pages of art by name comic book and RPG artists, plus making of, concept art, written tributes, and surprises. Think of these two books as director’s cut special editions filled with bonus material from the creators! And we are giving it all the deluxe treatment.
Kickstarter Exclusives include: Variant covers, 2 sets of miniatures, 5 sets of dice, dice bags, print sets, and more – plus stretch goals that you will love. See details below and make your pledge before you forget (and please don’t forget).
Tell every gamer and TMNT fan you know about these books, miniatures, dice, and array of other items that gamers, fans, and collectors of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will love to own. Thank you! – Kevin and Sean
* The 256 page, hardcover, core rule book collects the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG, Turtles Go Hollywood and Truckin’ Turtles sourcebooks, and has oodles of bonus material that includes: tribute artwork, written tributes, the story behind the making of the RPG, and never before seen concept art. Artwork by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (including their 8 page comic strip originally created exclusively for the RPG), as well as art by Kevin Long, Freddie E. Williams, Sophie Campbell, Steven Cummings, David Petersen, and many others, all in glorious color.
* The 256 page, hardcover, sourcebook collection presents Transdimensional TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, TMNT Guide to the Universe, including time travel rules, spaceship creation rules, dimensional magic, adventures galore, and more bonus material like tribute artwork, written memories by TMNT creators and a surprise or two. Artwork by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (including 20 pages of comic strips originally created special for these sourcebooks), Kevin Long and others, as well as new artwork by Jim Lawson, Ben Bishop, Freddie E. Williams, Sophie Campbell, and many others, all in glorious color.
* New Homage Covers by:
- Freddie E. Williams II and Michael Majestic
* New Variant Covers by:
- Kevin Eastman
- Sophie Campbell
- Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
* New Black, White, and Red Special Edition Covers by:
- Freddie E. Williams II and Jeremy Colwell
- Yes, we are doing a special black and white edition with red masks for all the Turtles, plus red spot color for blood, headlines, etc.
* New Tribute art by:
- Nick Bradshaw
- Ben Bishop
- Sophie Campbell
- Jeremy Colwell
- Steven Cummings
- Luis Antonio Delgado
- Kevin Eastman
- Larry Elmore (just added)
- Vincenzo Federici
- Michael Gustovich
- Scott Johnson
- Peter Laird
- Jim Lawson
- Michael Majestic
- Michael Mumah
- Ciro Nieli (just added)
- Apollo Okamura
- David Petersen
- Ramon K. Perez
- Fero Po
- Kevin Siembieda
- Michael Rooth
- Freddie E. Williams II
- Michael Wilson
- John Zeleznik
- And others to be added.
* New TMNT Game Master Screen
KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVES
* Heroes Miniature Set (8 figures + stretch goals; the TMNT, Casey Jones, and more.)
* Villains Miniature Set (8 figures + stretch goals; Shredder, The Foot, the Terror Bears and more.)
* Custom Dice Sets created by FanRoll
- Donatello Dice Set
- Leonardo Dice Set
- Michelangelo Dice Set
- Raphael Dice Set
- Shredder (aluminum) Dice Set
* Custom Dice Bag created by FanRoll
* TMNT Dice Tower
* TMNT Dice Tray
* TMNT Poker Deck (a stretch goal)
* Print Sets
* Stretch Goals and maybe a surprise or two.
“This is incredibly exciting! I am 1000% onboard to help bring this historic and original TMNT Role Playing Game series back in a truly first class deluxe collected edition which will not only thrill the original fans, but open the door wide to a lot of new ones. I've made available all my archives for expanded behind the scenes and will be providing a new painted cover, as well as a few top secret surprises you need to be part of... stay tuned.”
Bundle of Holding – Palladium Apocalypse – Now thru November 13 –
Dead Reign® (Zombie Apocalypse) – Splicers® – Systems Failure™
Enjoy tabletop horror in the ruins of the apocalypse. Whether it is beating the odds against the hungry dead (Dead Reign), fighting the robotic army of an insane Artificial Intelligence (Splicers), or standing against inhuman alien invaders (Systems Failure), this Bundle has a little something for everyone. All use Palladium’s Megaversal game rules.
For those of you new to the Bundles of Holding, you pay less when you buy during the first week or so of the offer. Ah, but a Bundle of Holding is always a bargain no matter when you get in. Even on the last day! We recommend getting the Starter AND Bonus collections; $147 worth of PDF books for $28.92 at the current threshold price. Or get the 3 core rule books for just $9.95.
Bundles of Holding are a great way to build your PDF library on the cheap AND support a worthy charity at the same time – in this case, it is Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and Canada and to regional response agencies around the world.
What’s that? You don’t use the Palladium game system? No problem. Dead Reign and Systems Failure are excellent introductory games; easy to learn and fun to play. Moreover, the characters, villains, weapons, skills, and settings are easy to adapt to 5E and most any game system. So get the PDF Bundle for the fun read and hundreds of ideas for adventures and heroism. Give power to the human spirit against all odds.
Please tell everyone about the Bundle before the offer ends. This really is a great way to build your super-hero PDF library at discount prices and help a charity at the same time. See details below.
The Bundle lineup is as follows:
STARTER COLLECTION starts as $9.95 US Dollars – retail value $47):
- Splicers® RPG ($12.50)
- Systems Failure™ RPG ($12)
- Dead Reign® RPG ($11.50; zombie apocalypse; Palladium style)
BONUS COLLECTION: The threshold starts at $27.95 US Dollars – retail value $78. Seven Dead Reign sourcebooks + I Am Legion (Splicers)
- Civilization Gone ($6.50)
- Dark Places ($6.50)
- Endless Dead ($8.50)
- Fear the Reaper ($6.50)
- Graveyard Earth ($6.50)
- Hell Followed ($10.50)
- In the Face of Death ($14)
- Splicers I Am Legion ($19)
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/PalladiumApoc
How the Bundle of Holding Works: The customer can pay any price (minimum $9.95) to get all the titles in the Starter Collection. If you pay more than the threshold (average) price, which was set at $27.95 to start (but goes up as more people make purchases), you also get all the titles in the Bonus Collection.
Bargain price and charity support. The charity receiving 10% of every purchase for the Apocalypse Bundle is Direct Relief. They send protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and Canada and to regional response agencies around the world.
The Palladium Apocalypse Horror Bundle ends November 13; get yours now.
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/PalladiumApoc
All PDF bundles are hosted in association with OneBookShelf, DriveThruRPG’s parent company, and you get your PDF bundle added directly into your DriveThruRPG library. What? You don’t have a DriveThruRPG account yet? No worries, they are FREE and very easy to set up.
Please spread the word and tell everybody about this PDF bundle.
NOW SHIPPING! Christmas Surprise Package offer
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. It’s a way for you to get physical books (and autographs if you want them) at PDF prices! $100+ worth of Palladium products for only $60 (plus shipping)! That can nab you four or more items when these days one core rule book can cost you that alone.
These Christmas 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 bent or crunched corner, etc.) so we can send you more.
No other RPG company on the planet has an offer like this. Truly the best deal in gaming to get unique and special holiday gifts for the gamers in your life, or for yourself.
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®, Beyond the Supernatural, Rifts®, RECON, 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 $100+ worth of product. Yes, often more for only $60 plus shipping. 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. Only from PalladiumBooks.com – happy holidays. 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 $110 (often more) worth of product and only paying $60 plus shipping. 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 $70-80 US dollars. HOWEVER, because the cost of the product is so low, that’s the equivalent of paying retail for the products and only $20-$40 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. Only from PalladiumBooks.com – happy holidays.
NEW on DriveThruRPG.com – Creature Feature™ sourcebook for Beyond the Supernatural™
NEW! Creature Feature™ PDF book on DriveThruRPG.com – due to popular request, this epic Beyond the Supernatural(BTS) sourcebook is now available on DriveThru for you digital enjoyment.
Creature Feature is for players and Game Masters alike and a fun read for anyone.
- 15 detailed and expansive supernatural horrors unlike any you see in most other horror games.
- Creature encounter tables.
- Tips on making (and playing) better creatures.
- Rules clarifications (lots of them).
- Player and G.M. tips.
- BTS world information.
- One full adventure and numerous adventure hooks.
- Dynamic art by Steven Cummings, Phil Stone, and Siembieda.
Also available on DriveThru: The 1st and 2nd Edition Beyond the Supernatural RPG, and Boxed Nightmares sourcebook; not to mention Dead Reign® (zombies) and Nightbane® (Urban Fantasy/superhero horror). All these books, including BTS 2nd Edition (softcover and hardcover), BTS RPG 1st Edition hardcover, and the Boxed Nightmares™ (1st edition rules) are available as physical books from PalladiumBooks.com offering a Megaverse® of adventure.
NEW! FREE Nightbane® RPG digital Sneak Preview on DriveThruRPG.com – Have you been wondering what the buzz is all about for Nightbane® and Urban Fantasy? Well, now you can see for yourself with this fun Preview of the core rule book. There are also free Sneak Previews of Creature Feature™, Dead Reign®, BTS, and numerous Rifts® books and other titles, including Rifts® Manhunters™, Titan Robotics™, Northern Gun™ One and Two, Lemuria, and more.
300+ RPG titles from Palladium Books
No other game company offers game worlds for so many different genres. Best of all, learn to play one Palladium RPG and you can play them all, because each uses the same basic core rules and combat. There are differences, but the fundamentals are the same. This also means you can bring characters, villains, monsters, powers, magic, weapons, gear, and adventure ideas from one setting into another or mash them together!
- Rifts® titles. Rifts® is the ultimate setting in which you can combine any number of genres and play any style of gaming you may desire: science fiction, fantasy, supernatural horror, heroic adventure, dimensional travel, modern knights, cyborgs, giant robots, dinosaur taming, sleuthing, magic, monsters, heroes and legends. Or combine them all. There has never been a game quite like Rifts®.
- Rifts® Chaos Earth® titles. 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.
- The Rifter® #1-85. Each issue is a wealth of source material for Rifts® and 3-5 other Palladium game settings. More than 8,600 pages of source material and counting. Most issues are only available in digital form.
- Palladium Fantasy RPG® titles. A rich, original setting in which you can play humans or any number of nonhuman species of people in a world of magic, heroes and wonder. All of it epic.
- Dead Reign® RPG and sourcebooks. The Zombie Apocalypse unleashed. A great introductory RPG that is surprisingly uplifting, fun, fast, and easy to learn.
- Heroes Unlimited™ RPG Second Edition titles. Create any type of superhuman you can imagine to build your own super-hero universe.
- After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks. Play anthropomorphic, intelligent, mutant animals as crime-fighting mutants and super-heroes or survivors of a crumbling post-apocalyptic Earth.
- Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG and the Mystic China™ sourcebook. 41 types of martial arts, ninjas, super-spies, gizmos, mystic powers, and magic in the main book, plus even more in Mystic China.
- Nightbane® RPG and sourcebooks – Urban Fantasy. Only you know the truth. Only you can see the Nightlords and their demonic minions, and you have the power to stop them. But you must transform into a monster yourself in order to use your powers. Trust no one.
- Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG and sourcebooks. Modern horror; 14 character classes, 42 occupations for “ordinary people,” 100+ psychic abilities, 16 monsters, and more.
- 300+ Palladium titles in all, plus G.M. kits, paper miniatures and more. 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 (Beyond the Supernatural), zombies (Dead Reign®), The Rifter® sourcebook series, novels, paper minis, and more.
Closing Thoughts – Ninja Turtles Whirlwind
As you may imagine, Sean and I have been consumed with the Kickstarter, doing interviews, and moving all aspects of the books and Kickstarter forward. We should be revealing covers and artwork soon, some miniatures next week (tentative).
We are trying to squeeze in more interviews over the next few weeks.
Thank you for your support and keep spreading the word. These books, G.M. screen, dice, miniatures, art prints, posters, and more are going to be beautiful. Many items are limited to the Kickstarter and destined to become instant collector items.
We are pulling out all the stops. Not just us, but every contributor is presenting their best work. And we cannot believe how involved Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird have been. Awesome, and now we have Ciro Nieli contributing, and Larry Elmore, what’s looking to be around 30 brilliant TMNT creators, artists, writers, and celebrity fans like Rawson Marshall Thurber (writer/director of Red Notice, Central Intelligence, DodgeBall, and other films).
This is a dream come true for us and you. Please take advantage of this incredible opportunity to get a beloved role-playing game remastered – new edits, layout, and bonus material, in glorious color for the first time ever! All things you will love. As stated elsewhere, think of these books as a director’s cut filled with bonus material – and the Kickstarter exclusives as limited collectibles.
As we stated in the last Update, Rifts® Bestiary Volume 2, Yin-Sloth Expeditions, Rifts® Antarctica, and other titles are NOT forgotten and remain at the top of our To Do List.
Remember to take advantage of the Palladium Horror/Apocalypse Bundle of Holding happening right now. It’s a phenomenal deal and helps a worthy charity. And nothing beats our epic, 25th Annual Christmas Surprise Package offer, happening now till Christmas. I have been loading them up full of RPG goodies. Spread the word about all these things and enjoy!
Kevin Siembieda – Game Designer, Writer, Friend
P.S.: Check out the great article from comicbook.com
© 2023 Palladium Books, Inc., Palladium Books, Dead Reign, Splicers, and all related titles and names are trademarks of Palladium Books.
TMNT © 2023 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
