I’m telling you it ain’t true

[Kevin]

I’m telling you it ain’t true.

For some reason, there’s been a lot of industry chatter and speculation lately about role-playing games and the declining RPG market. Regrettably, I fear Palladium Books has contributed to some of that speculation by producing very little so far this year. But that’s about to change, and change big time.

None of us at Palladium Books thinks role-playing is dead or dying. Hurting, absolutely, but we plan on keeping it alive and bringing it back to new heights over the next five years, starting now.

We spent most of the last year or two rebuilding, planning and reorganizing Palladium Books. We’ve got something like 14 manuscripts lined up for production next year, and that does NOT include the 7-9 books currently in production for release August thru December 2008. Does that sound like a company that thinks role-playing is dead? Heck, no.

Palladium has been dealing with the Crisis of Treachery (yes, deep wounds take a long time to heal, plus recovery and rehabilitation time), rebuilding from the carnage of that event, and setting a new, strong foundation upon which to grow. That time to grow has come. As a result, we have one great new product lined up after another.

- Rifts® Anthology: Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™ – August 6
- Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® RPG “Deluxe HC Edition” – August 6
- Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® RPG “Gold" Collector's HC Edition – August 6
- Robotech® The Macross Saga™ sourcebook – August or September.
- Robotech® The Masters Saga™ sourcebook – September or October.
- The Rifter® #44 – Monster Extravaganza – October.
- Dead Reign™ (Zombie) RPG – October.
- Rifts® Dimension Book™ 11: Dyval™, Hell Unleashed (Minion War™) – probably November, sooner if I can swing it.
- Rifts® Dimension Book™ 12: Dimensional Outbreak™ (Minion War™) – November or December.
- Rifts® Heroes of the Megaverse® (Minion War™) – slotted in there somewhere between October and December.
- Heroes Unlimited™/Rifts®: Armageddon Unlimited™ (Minion War™) – Fall or Winter.
- Mysteries of Magic™ – Fall or Winter.
- Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ – Winter.
- Nightbane® sourcebook – Fall or Winter.

And those are just the major titles currently on our schedule of MUST DO releases. There are a whole lot more we’ve been talking about as well as other manuscripts in the can (Lemuria, Rifts® Voodoo, Dark Woods, etc.) or in development (Warpath: Urban Jungle, Chaos Earth: First Responders, etc.).

The 2009 Palladium Open House devoted to RPG fun

The Open House is another example that role-playing is alive and well. Attendance increased in 2007 and we expect it to increase again in 2009. As it should, because there is nothing like the Palladium Open House – the number of guests, game events, atmosphere and fun.

Don’t forget
V.I.P. Thursday Tickets go on sale July 31, 2008

- Tickets are limited to around 55 V.I.P. gamers and are sold on a first come, first served basis.
- V.I.P. Thursday – April 30, 2009, Palladium Open House
- Time: Starts at 4:00 P.M. Dinner served around 5:30 P.M.
- Attendance: Exclusive and limited to 55-60 gamers. Approx 90-100 people total, including Palladium staff and creators.
- Cost: $60 per person. Available on a first come, first served basis, while available slots last.

Hotel – $69.95 per night for 2009 Open House - Reserve your room as soon as possible!

We suggest you reserve your rooms at the Comfort Inn Plymouth Clocktower as soon as possible too!

It sounds like we might see a record number of people attending the 2009 Palladium Open House, and might need to reserve more rooms at a second nearby hotel. That’s easy, but this Comfort Inn is really nice (I’ve seen it) and the price is very affordable. Rooms at the Comfort Inn are limited, only 50 Double, the rest are Kings.

TO MAKE A RESERVATION you MUST tell them you want a room in the Block Reserved for Palladium Books in order to get the discount price. 734-455-8100 tel.
Comfort Inn Plymouth Clocktower
40455 Ann Arbor Road (right off of I-275)
Plymouth, MI 48170
734-455-8100 reservations

Palladium Creators Scheduled to Attend (so far)
Kevin Siembieda – publisher, writer, artist & game designer
Wayne Smith – editor-in-Chief of The Rifter®
Alex Marciniszyn – editor, writer and researcher
Jason Marker – writer, editor, and freelancer coordinator
Julius Rosenstein – writer, proofreader and Game Master
Kathy Simmons – sales, marketing and cook extraordinaire
Josh Hilden – writer and co-creator of Dead Reign RPG
Brandon Aten – writer (tentative)
Carmen Bellaire – writer
Braden Campbell – writer (tentative)
Matthew Daye – writer & Podcast host of Gateway to the Megaverse®
Carl Gleba – writer
Jeffry Scott Hansen – writer
Mark Oberle – writer
John C. Philpott – writer
Jason Richards – writer
Joshua Sanford – Writer and co-creator of Dead Reign RPG.
Josh Sinsapaugh – writer
Taylor White – writer (tentative)
Nick Bradshaw – artist
Kent Burles – artist (tentative)
Mark Dudley – artist
Mark Evans – artist/cover painter (tentative)
Mike Majestic – artist
Allen Manning – artist
Brian Manning – artist
Apollo Okamura – artist/cover painter
Chuck Walton – artist
Chris Perrin – Podcast host of Echoes from the Rifts®
And more to be announced . . .

That’s it for now. I just came back from approving the proof copy of Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs anthology book at the printer (looks great and is on schedule), and I have a Robotech® sourcebook to finish (I'm writing the Zentraedi and some other stuff).

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Artist and RPG True Believer!

© Copyright July 29, 2008 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, ‘Burbs, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.

Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.