Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – July 13, 2023
One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure
By Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson
Thank you for your support of Palladium’s Zombie Fighter Sale enabling you to battle the undead across the Megaverse®. Ghoulish fun.
COMING! Yin-Sloth Jungles 2nd Edition, Expanded and Revised has been sent to the printer. So has Rifts® New West, temporarily out of stock. We hope to have both at Gen Con.
COMING! Yin-Sloth Expeditions! Yin-Sloth Expeditions is in the final stages of writing tweaks and editing before it goes into layout. As explained in last week’s Update, our love and passion for Yin-Sloth Jungles™ caused our expansion and revisions to grow. Everyone involved wanted it to be the best we could make and before we knew it, we were staring at a 320+ page book. Rather than cut out half of these awesome expansions of places, people, magic, and adventures, we decided to split the material into two epic world books. Each filled with more fascinating details, fun, and loads of opportunities for players and Game Masters alike.
The two releases will be slightly staggered. Yin-Sloth Jungles™ will ship first and we hope to have advance copies at Gen Con, and Expeditions should be available a month or so later. See the new book descriptions below to learn what you can expect in both Yin-Sloth Jungles™, 2nd Edition, Expanded and Revised and Yin-Sloth™ Expeditions.
UPDATE: Titan Robotics™ Rewards now shipping. It has been all hands on deck as Titan Robotics® backer rewards get pulled, double-checked, packed, labeled, and shipped. And it is why we are keeping this Update short.
We have already processed shipping charges through BackerKit, but about a dozen charges failed for one reason or another. Please verify your charges went through via BackerKit. If you have not updated your credit card in BackerKit, please do so now, especially if you are located outside the USA – otherwise you will end up being charged much more for shipping and none of us wants to see that happen.
For those of you waiting for the Rifts® Titan Robotics Savage Worlds digital rewards – they are coming soon. The Savage Rifts team has done their review and Sean is giving them his final review and tweaks as he does layout.
All of the physical rewards look amazing. We are very proud of the quality and can't wait for you to see the rewards yourself. Our thanks to all of you for your enthusiasm and support in this adventure.
COMING SOON! Rifts® Titan Robotics™ Sourcebook
Shrouded in secrecy and rumor, the true story of Titan Robotics™ is finally revealed. Part a high-tech toy box, part Secrets of Archie Three, part adventure book with whole new ways to play, and filled with new types of Titan Robotics power armors, giant robots, vehicles, weapons, and gear. Join a Titan Robotics Courier Team and delve into the company’s many secrets, including ARCHIE-3’s plans and program to monitor and manipulate the outside world.
- Visit the gleaming steel and metal of a Titan Robotics™ showroom, and test-drive their newest models.
- 18 giant robots.
- 12 power armors.
- Weapons, gear and notable vehicles.
- Gunny’s Depots – arms dealer and part of Titan’s hidden network.
- Play a Syntharoid sentient human replica android.
- Play a Titan Dispatcher and join a Titan Robotics Courier Team.
- Discover ARCHIE and Hagan’s hidden agendas and secret operations.
- Explore Titan’s shadowy web of informants and how it prospers and grows.
- Explore alternative time lines, campaign prompts, adventure outlines, intrigue, espionage, and more.
- Art by Steven Cummings, Charles Walton, and others.
- Written by Sean Owen Roberson and Matthew Clements.
- 192 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 899.
COMING SOON! The Cyberworks Collection Hardcover
Featuring must-have ARCHIE-Three™ source material gathered into one, big, attractive hardcover edition. It contains:
- Rifts® Sourcebook One, Revised & Expanded.
- Rifts® Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids®.
- Rifts® Shemarrian Nation™ Sourcebook.
- Rifts® Aftermath Archie-Three™ source material.
- 5 page index in the back of the book.
- Color end sheets.
- 384 pages – $49.99 retail – color cover hardcover – Cat. No. 900. Coming soon.
COMING SOON! Cyberworks Poker Deck
The cover art from the original Rifts® Sourcebook One is featured on the back of each card. Color throughout. Attractive and durable.
- 52 cards, plus red and black Jokers.
- Face cards feature iconic Rifts® Cyberworks/Archie 3 artwork (Spades: Cyberworks, Hearts: Shemarrians, Clubs: Mechanoids, Diamonds: Titan Robotics).
- Number cards feature a color energy swirl in the suit and a circuit board pattern.
- Textured linen cards for a nice touch and durability.
- Professional quality playing cards.
- 52 cards plus two Jokers – $14.99 per deck – Cat. No. 2609 – coming soon.
At the Printer! Yin-Sloth Jungles™, 2nd Edition, Expanded and Revised
We hope to have advance copies available at Gen Con! Yin-Sloth Jungles™ presents a setting unlike any other Fantasy RPG and it’s all fun. It opens with an overview and history of the region, followed by nuts and bolts, like skills, poison, and weapons. Players will drool over the 15 truly unique O.C.C.s ideal for jungle adventures and beyond. Players and Game Masters will love the lavishly detailed jungle people and monsters. Then you get a little taste of what’s to follow in Yin-Sloth Expeditions, making it a bit of a player’s guide and bestiary. Ah, but there is magic and strangeness, and your first hints of wild adventures across the sprawling jungle.
- 15 O.C.C.s, all updated and expanded, making them seem brand new: Beastmaster, Holy Crusader, Jungle Fighter, Man-Catcher, the unique Tezcat and Pygmy Shamans, Spy, Undead Hunter, and Witch Hunter, among others.
- 18 Jungle People and monsters updated and expanded, plus a few additions, also expanded so they feel like new.
- New and expanded Shaman Chant magic.
- New and unique Pygmy Shaman Chant magic.
- New and expanded history of the Yin-Sloth Jungles.
- Expanded and clarified weapons, jungle armor, poisons, & more.
- The Orcish Empire and a few notable cities.
- All new maps by Phil Stone.
- Comprehensive double-page map (grayscale) by Will Erwin.
- Deluxe color map of the region by Will Erwin to be made available separately.
- Filled with great artwork by Peterson (ROG) and Mike Mumah.
- Written by Kevin Siembieda, John Klinkel, and Patrick Nowak.
- 160 pages – $24.99 retail – Cat. No. 459. At the printer!
COMING SOON! Yin-Sloth™ Expeditions
The Yin-Sloth Jungles are a hostile wilderness filled with the ruins of lost civilizations, forgotten magic, and strange creatures found nowhere else in the world. And it’s all waiting for you to explore!
Expeditions provides more details about the Yin-Sloth Jungles and notable cities, their people, NPCs, hidden dangers, and opportunities for bold adventurers. Discover strange places and exotic beings, unravel mysteries, expose conspiracies, battle unspeakable evil, recover magic artifacts, or champion one of many human and non-human fledgling kingdoms across the jungles.
The original Yin-Sloth Jungles material has all been updated, expanded, and re-mastered from start to finish with additional text, adventures, details, art, and loads of maps (all new). I had forgotten how many exotic locations and great adventures were in the original book, plus ideas for a zillion more. All re-mastered, updated, and expanded for the delight of new and long-time Palladium Fantasy® fans alike.
- Villains, NPCs, magic items, adventures, and fun galore.
- Find adventure or become a hired mercenary in the Orcish Empire.
- Delve into cities like Mishala and others.
- Retrieve relics from an ancient catacomb of Dragonwright.
- Stop rebellion and save the city of Terellia.
- Explore the Lost City of Kor.
- Brave the madness at Shaldon’s Keep and save a village.
- Confirm rumors of a kingdom of monsters forming at the Great Fire Bog.
- Discover what evil lurks in the tomb of Gavin.
- Investigate a sect of Sea Giants restoring the city of Freedara.
- Unearth ancient secrets, face eldritch evil, battle the undead, fight giants and monsters, stand against a wicked dragon, and face all manner of beasts and challenges.
- 10 adventures and countless ideas for more.
- 30+ new maps by Phil Stone and dynamic artwork throughout.
- Written by Kevin Siembieda, John Klinkel, and Patrick Nowak.
- 160-192 pages – price yet to be determined – Cat. No. 460 – in final editing. Goes into layout soon.
Gen Con® Indy – only 3 weeks away – August 3-6 – Palladium Books Booth #903
New releases at Gen Con! We will have all our new releases: Titan Robotics, The Cyberworks Collection, the Cyberworks poker deck and even a few dozen of the limited edition gold foil hardcover books (while supplies last!); and with any luck, some advance copies of the Revised and Expanded Yin-Sloth Jungles.
Plenty of Backstock. We are also bringing nearly our entire game line, plus miniatures, poker decks, art prints, one-of-a-kind negatives, perhaps some original artwork, and other goodies. Please remember, we can only bring so many copies of titles and may run out. Sold on a first come, first served basis.
Many Palladium Creators at Palladium Booth #903: We have a larger than usual roster of Palladium personalities this year too, and we are all happy to sign your books and chat for a bit.
- Founder, Publisher, Game Designer & Writer – Kevin Siembieda
- Creative Director, Game Designer & Writer – Sean Owen Roberson (Titan Robotics, Rifts® for Savage Worlds)
- Writer – Carmen Bellaire (Rifts® MercTown, Black Market, Powers Unlimited®)
- Writer – Glen Evans (Bizantium, Lopan, and more)
- Writer – Mark Oberle (Nightbane Survival Guide, Dark Designs)
- Writer, Artist & Cosplayer – Madman Mike Leonard
- Editor/Rifter® – Wayne Smith
- Sales/Warehouse Manager – Crystal Willard
- And maybe some others.
Rifts® Coalition Manhunters™ is a blast and on sale
People are discovering Rifts® Coalition Manhunters™ and they are loving it. Recently, a number of gamers, including two freelancers, raved to me about the book, telling me it was a great read and they thought it was outstanding; so much so that it should be considered an essential core rule book as important as Rifts® Sourcebook One, Atlantis, Triax, and Coalition War Campaign™, among others. They were thrilled with the section about the Seven Dangers first introduced in Rifts® Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids®, and love the scope and insight into the Coalition States, its citizens, and its secret police. I’m glad people are discovering this epic sourcebook, so I put it on sale.
Rifts® Coalition Manhunters™ contains new source material about the Coalition war machine, CS society, CS thought police, psychics as the Coalition’s secret weapon, 80+ new and balanced psionic abilities that will blow your mind, the role of Dog Boys and Kill Hounds, and of course, the Coalition Manhunters – their existence so secret most people don’t believe they are real. ON SALE! To help more people discover Rifts® Coalition Manhunters™ I have included it in our current sale. Enjoy. Note: This book has nothing to do with the old Rifts® Manhunter book published under license by a third party company in the 1990s.
BACK in STOCK! “Original” Palladium Fantasy RPG® “Bonus” Edition Commemorative Hardcover, 1st Edition – Available now
The ever popular Original Palladium Fantasy RPG® Commemorative Bonus Hardcover (first edition rules) is back in print. It is a deluxe, foil stamped edition that presents the original, First Edition Fantasy rules, expanded with the inclusion of the long out-of-print Arms of Nargash-Tor adventure sourcebook and Tombs of Gersidi.
- The complete, original RPG – the game that started Palladium Books.
- First Edition rules are easily adaptable to current Fantasy titles.
- Includes The Tombs of Gersidi adventure and setting.
- The Arms of Nargash-Tor adventure sourcebook is included as “bonus” material back in print for the first time in 35 years.
- Easily adapted to all 2nd Edition rules and sourcebooks.
- Deluxe hardcover edition. Probably limited to fewer than 1,000 copies.
- 320 pages total with “bonus” material – $55 retail – Cat. No. 449HC – available now!
List of Palladium Books® RPG Hardcovers Available Now
- NEW! “Original” Beyond the Supernatural RPG® Commemorative “Bonus” Foil Hardcover (1st Edition rules) – This is the original 1st Edition rules (1988) in a deluxe hardcover format. The first time ever as a hardcover and includes the original O.C.C.s, monsters, and magic. 28 monsters, adventures, G.M. tips, Erick Wujcik’s infamous “victim character” rules, and 32 bonus pages of adventure material for BTS-2. The cover is a blood red foil image, imprinted on black faux leatherette. 288 pages – $55 retail – Cat. No. 699HC – Available now!
- Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 700HC.
- BACK IN STOCK! “Original” Palladium Fantasy RPG® Commemorative “Bonus” Foil Hardcover (1st Edition rules) – Holiday demand cleaned the shelves of this fan favorite hardcover, but it is back in stock. This is the original 1st Edition Rules RPG including Tombs of Gersidi and the first Fantasy sourcebook: The Arms of Nargash-Tor. The cover is a classy crimson foil image, imprinted on black faux leatherette to replicate the original red and black RPG fans love. 320 pages – $55 retail – Cat. No. 449HC – available now.
- Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 336 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 450HC – Our second best selling new hardcover after the Rifts® 30th Anniversary edition.
- “Original” Rifts® RPG 30th Anniversary Commemorative Hardcover – available now! This collector’s item sports the original Parkinson cover, an additional 32 page color section, history of Rifts®, unpublished concept art, gallery of all Rifts® covers through 2020, and more. Can be used with ALL Rifts® supplements – 288 pages – $49.99 – Cat. No. 800HC30 – Available now.
- Rifts® Ultimate Edition RPG Hardcover – 376 pages – $44.99 – Cat. No. 800HC – epic.
- Rifts® Ultimate Edition “Softcover” is a new format. RUE has only ever been available as a hardcover, and it still is, but it is now also available as a softcover – 376 pages – $34.99 – Cat. No. 800SE.
- Rifts® Game Master Guide Hardcover – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 845HC.
- Rifts® Book of Magic Hardcover – available now – BACK in stock – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 848HC – available now.
- Rifts® Adventure Guide Hardcover – 192 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 849HC.
- Chaos Earth® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – 192 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 660HC – 30 extra pages of bonus material – available now!
- Heroes Unlimited™ RPG, 2nd Edition Hardcover – 352 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 500HC.
- Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG “Bonus” Hardcover – available now – BACK in stock – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 525HC – includes bonus material – available now.
- After the Bomb® RPG “Bonus” Hardcover – available now – BACK in stock – 296 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 503HC – includes bonus material – available now.
- Nightbane® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – available now – 304 pages – $39.99 – Cat. No. 730HC – 60 extra pages of bonus material – available now.
- Dead Reign® RPG (Zombie Apocalypse) Hardcover – available now – BACK in stock – 224 pages – $36.99 – Cat. No. 230HC – available now.
- Splicers® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – The Splicers® RPG plus 50 pages of extra material gathered from The Rifter®. 280 pages – $44.99 – Cat. No. 200HC – available now.
DriveThruRPG – 300+ RPG products offer a dozen unique world settings from across the Megaverse® – and they all use one game system to bring you endless adventure.
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!
The new Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive NPC Sheet is a Microsoft Excel-based system for creating Non-Player Characters quickly and easily. Once you know the system, you can have NPCs up and ready in minutes! Great for making a quick NPC at the last moment, or saving time when designing the big bad of an adventure.
- Design compatible with the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet.
- 20,000+ preset NPC combinations ready to go in less than a minute.
- 15 nonhuman Palladium Fantasy races and 23 O.C.C.s.
- 300+ Wizard and Warlock spells programmed with quick stats.
- 70+ psionics, options for Minor Psionics, and more.
- $4.00 – Available on DriveThruRPG.com and PalladiumBooks.com – Created by Travis Guerrero.
Also Available – FREE Creature Feature™ Preview provides you a glimpse of what you will find in this epic book. There also FREE Sneak Previews of Rifts® Coalition Manhunters, Northern Gun 1 & 2, Hell Followed, and select other titles. Those are just some of the 300+ Palladium RPG titles available as PDF books.
300+ titles and nearly every game genre available now – and more is coming. Discover the Palladium Megaverse® right now.
- 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. 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.
FUN Podcast Adventures
These fun podcasts are created by Palladium fans like you.
* Heroes Unlimited™ Christmas Special and the Cozy Caverns Beyond the Supernatural RPG adventure podcasts from the creative minds at www.realplaygamespod.com.
Coming this summer from Real Play Games Podcast: A dozen plus episodes of After the Bomb®: Purrsuit of the Heart, with other good stuff in development like a new story arc for the Beyond the Supernatural inspired Cozy Cavern Mysteries, and more.
* Rifts® Live Play Podcast is available for your viewing enjoyment – Rifts®: Ghost in the Machine. It is produced and Game Mastered by none other than long-time Palladium freelance artist, Mark Dudley. You can find the first several episodes on Imaginos TV. Click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9OKt2SBYwybo_sV8zmdOBSQ1eaJP3rj9
Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store
I am adding new collectibles and Palladium negatives over the next several weeks, so check ‘em out. Alex and I will try to post new items on a regular basis, so check in every week or so to see what’s new.
One-of-a-kind Palladium Books negatives (special and rare collectibles). Negatives are always very popular items at the Palladium Open House, Gen Con, and conventions, and are catching on as rare collectibles, unique in and of themselves. 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. We have been cutting them loose and making them available to you. I am only keeping a few dozen pages of negatives and a few complete books for myself, the rest are all being slowly offered to you, in no particular order.
- Each is truly unique, attractive, and fun to have.
- Own a piece of Palladium Books and RPG history you will treasure.
- Each was used to print the very book you may have in your collection (1981-2004).
- Each signed in silver ink by Kevin Siembieda, the founder and owner of Palladium Books. He is also the game designer and often the author or co-author of the book from which the negative originates. And some negatives bear his artwork.
- Each signed negative comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
- Each signed negative is a one-of-a-kind work of art (on rare occasions, two-of-a-kind if a page or section of pages were replaced or a second edition was made) that resembles woodcut art, and a very dynamic conversation piece.
- Each signed negative is on a white board inside a clear plastic bag.
- Negatives looks fabulous matted or framed! Fits in an 8x10 inch matt opening. Each neg is roughly 8½ x 11 inches.
- Prices vary depending on the title, the art, and quality of the negative. Note: Many have scratches, or blemishes, and/or an opaque medium on the negative. Still, they look great and are a piece of RPG history. We recommend you carefully examine the photographs of each item to avoid disappointment.
- We have been making the negatives available, in no particular order, for a number of years, and will continue to do so. However, cutting them loose, signing and bagging is a time consuming process.
- Note: The negatives from the TMNT RPG, TMNT Adventures, and some Rifts® titles are already sold out. Moreover, the negatives from many titles were destroyed, so when you see one you like, get it when you can. Enjoy.
Original art – My Ebay store is one of the few places where you can find original artwork by me (Kevin Siembieda), Kevin Long, Charles Walton, and others, as well as one-of-a-kind negatives from classic Palladium books (they look awesome framed), and other Palladium memorabilia. Some are concept sketches, others are finished works of art, as well as a selection of prints and posters.
Other collectibles include art prints, posters, comic books, Palladium limited edition hardcovers, out of print items, signed books, one-of-a-kind proofreader copies, Star Wars toys, superhero action figures, and many other toys and items from my personal collection. Yeah, I used to be a crazy toy and art collector. 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.
http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles
Closing Thoughts – It’s all coming together
We have been working hard on so many projects, but it’s all coming together. We are thrilled to be shipping Titan Robotics rewards to our Kickstarter backers and soon Titan Robotics products will be available to everyone via our online store and we’ll have ‘em at Gen Con. Yin-Sloth Jungles is now two big beautiful books filled with awesomeness, and the first one is at the printer. I’m doing the finishing touches on Yin-Sloth Expeditions among other things. Rifts® Bestiary Volume 2 and Rifts® Antarctica will follow later this year along with a few surprises (we hope).
Gen Con is around the corner, but we are all looking forward to it. We’ll have a lot of new products along with a zillion back stock books, and the largest line-up of creators in a long time. We hope to see some of you there. Remember, we are always happy to sign your books and chat awhile, time permitting. Please visit our booth #903, right near one of the main entrances.
That’s it for now. Stay healthy, happy, and enjoy a great weekend.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Friend
© 2023 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.
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