Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – August 10, 2023
One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure
By Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson
We are back from a great Gen Con. As we understand it, Gen Con broke attendance records with approximately 80,000 attendees. The exhibitor hall seemed to be larger too. Every exhibitor we spoke with reported excellent sales, Palladium Books included.
Gen Con was great! We met with old friends, made new friends, reconnected with writers Carl Gleba and Carmen Bellaire (both of whom will resume writing for Palladium), found out Jim Steranko would like to do more work for Palladium, and we met and chatted with a number of talented artists we are excited to work with in the future.
We also enjoyed many surprise visits and time spent with Mike Pondsmith, Michael Stackpole, Jolly and Barbara Blackburn, Dave Kenzer, Rick Meintz, Frank Uchmanowicz, Don Reents, John Zinser, Johnny Roccia, Jodi and Clint Black, Allen Blount, Darrel Hayhurst, Ryan McDaniel, Brandon & Sarah Aten, Mark Dudley, Richard and Richie Cook, various members of the Hall family, the Brown family, Lonnie, among others, and nine-zillion wonderful fans! Thank you all for making the 2023 Gen Con special for us.
Best selling items at Gen Con
Number One Best Seller: Titan Robotics™ and all things Rifts®! We sold lots and lots of Titan Robotics™. Not only was Titan Robotics (Cat. No. 899) flying off the shelves, but many individuals came back to tell us how much they loved the book! We also sold Rifts® Ultimate Edition by the dozens, Coalition Manhunters™ (Cat. No. 894; gamers are finally discovering this epic sourcebook about the Coalition’s Thought Police and psychic assassins and going wild over it), the Rifts® Cyberworks™ Collection, D-Bees of North America, Rifts® Bestiary Volume One, the Rifts® novels (we sold out of a few), and many other Rifts® books. It was great.
2nd Best Seller: Yin-Sloth Jungles™ EXPANDED Fantasy sourcebook (Cat. No. 459)! People are crazy about this much expanded, revised edition soft cover; it is nearly as hot as Titan Robotics!
3rd Best Seller: Original Palladium Fantasy RPG hardcover (Cat. No. 449). Old school gamers came out of the woodwork to buy this bad boy and regale us with tales of decades long first edition campaigns. Actually, all of our hardcover RPGs were selling like crazy, but we nearly sold out of the Original Fantasy RPG hardcover.
4th Best Seller: The entire Nightbane® RPG series – Urban Fantasy (Cat. No. 730). We nearly sold out of every Nightbane® RPG softcover, hardcover, and sourcebook we brought. This one caught us by surprise, because Nightbane® hasn’t had a new release in a few years now, but it was super-hot. I’ve always called Nightbane super-hero horror, but it really falls squarely into the category of fiction known as Urban Fantasy. We looked into it and Nightbane® checks every box for Urban Fantasy: A gritty, fantastical modern world setting, epic world building, magic and the supernatural, with teenage and young adult heroes who share a dark secret and wield magic and supernatural powers against a dark and monstrous supernatural foe. Tragic heroes who struggle to find their place in the world while battling the dark forces that hunt them. The Nightbane heroes have two forms: Their human facade and their fantastic (beautiful or monstrous) Morphus. Not to mention a cast of exotic and fantastic creatures including vampires and others.
We don’t know how folks found out this awesome setting is “urban fantasy,” but we are glad they did. It seemed to start with a couple of gamers asking if Nightbane® was urban fantasy. I was unfamiliar with the term, but explained the key elements of the RPG setting and had them flip through the books. They got very excited and said it was definitely urban fantasy. The next thing we knew, Nightbane® kinda went viral at Gen Con and was selling like hot cakes. We are so glad people are discovering this unique and fun game line. I’m sure Mark Oberle’s keen insight and writings for Nightbane® played a role as well. Cool.
5th Best Seller: Dead Reign® – Our unique Zombie Apocalypse RPG series was also popular with fans old and new alike! Several people bought the entire game line and we sold out of the hardcover core rule book. Palladium’s plausible explanation for zombies, how they function, the array of unique yet plausible zombies, and the scope of the Dead Reign® setting resinated with many gamers.
More Next Week – Wayne caught a bug at Gen Con and is out sick, so I promised to keep this update short. Honestly, we are all a bit worn out, so we’ll try to talk more about Gen Con in Closing Thoughts and in the next Weekly Update. Those of you who took photos of the Palladium booth, me, and the crew, please send them to us at rifter{at}palladiumbooks.com and we’ll try to post a bunch in the next Weekly Update. Again, our thanks to the multitude of fans who came by to say hello, chat, and make purchases. You made this Gen Con special and memorable for me and all of us. – Kevin
Rifts® Titan Robotics™ Sourcebook – AVAILABLE NOW!
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 – Softcover.
Cyberworks™ Poker Deck – AVAILABLE NOW!
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 – available now!
Yin-Sloth Jungles™ Expanded and Revised – AVAILABLE NOW
It is at the printer and we are told should arrive July 28, just in time for Gen Con – ships July 28. 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.
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 for Fantasy! Yin-Sloth Expeditions
In depth world information, villains, monsters, strange gods, a lost city, ancient civilizations, dark magic, several fully fleshed out adventures and ideas for a zillion more. Ideal for players and Game Masters alike. There is no place that offers the same range of adventures as the Yin-Sloth Jungles. August or September release.
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 – final size and price yet to be determined – Cat. No. 460 – in final editing. Goes into layout soon.
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!
Discover the Palladium Megaverse® ...
- 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.
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
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.
Collectibles include Palladium limited edition hardcovers, out of print items, signed books, one-of-a-kind proofreader copies, art prints, posters, comic books, 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. Hundreds of items. Take a look every weekend or two for new additions.
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 negative is truly unique and resembles woodcut art.
- It is 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.
- Each signed negative comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
- A one-of-a-kind work of art and a 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, but still look awesome matted or framed.
http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles
Closing Thoughts – GEN CON thank you from Sean Owen Roberson
Howdy loyal readers, I just wanted to publicly thank all of you for coming by our booth at Gen Con, picking up new books, and having a friendly chat with us. I quickly lost count of how many times someone walked up to Kevin, quickly shook his hand, and expressed a variation of "Sorry to interrupt Mr. Siembieda, but I just wanted to shake your hand and thank you for many years of joy and gaming." This was invariably followed up by a personal statement like "your games kept my friends and I out of trouble," or "you helped me get through tough years," or "you inspired me to become an artist (or writer or other creative)," or similar variation.
I personally had a blast chatting with many of you, getting to know the attending Palladium freelancers better, and meeting tons of talented artists. I also enjoyed spending time with Jodi Black, Clint Black, Tracey Sizemore, Darrell Hayhurst and others associated with Savage Worlds (PEG Inc), plus Rick Meintz of Chaosium, Jolly Blackburn of Kenzer & Company, Mike Pondsmith of R Talsorian Games (Cyberpunk Red, 2077), Christian Doyle of ZOE, and many others.
A special highlight for my weekend was getting to meet Michael Stackpole, the author of many awesome Battletech and Star Wars novels/comics. As a long-time fan, I was stoked that he went out of his way to talk with me about novel writing, share some of his tools, and chew the fat with me and Kevin.
I was also very pleased to see an old friend of mine at Gen Con, Matthew Eng with Ravensburger. Matt and I were missionary companions in southern Taiwan over twenty years ago, and ended up going to the same university after that. We've kept in touch for decades, and it's great to see his work as the art director on the highly anticipated Disney Lorcana collectible card game.
Best of all, was getting to share Titan Robotics™, Yin-Sloth Jungles™ Expanded, Nightbane®, and other cool books with all of you. Thank you so much for making our time at Gen Con so enjoyable. Your support and fervor mean that we can continue to have a strong presence at the convention and maybe even make a little more money than we spend there ... and that is saying something!
Sean Owen Roberson, adventurer, writer, designer
© 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.
This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.
