Will we ever see new BTS books?

[Lord Z]

Was there any mention of this in the Open House two weeks ago?

[gaby]

Maybe later in the year or Next year.

[mrloucifer]

I posted a note about this a few weeks ago in a previous topic, let me find it and I'll repost it here.

[mrloucifer]

I posted a note about this a few weeks ago in a previous topic, let me find it and I'll repost it here.

Here it is...

As promised I asked a few question about the state of Beyond the Supernatural, and these are snippets of what was said/done (I don’t have much time before I out for the weekend again, so snippets will have to do.)

-Kevin said point blank that he has ideas and plans for at least 4 or 5 books and he wants to write them. His plan of action currently is to get the books out that he can write/publish quickly and once those are out then he can sit down to sink his teeth into the BTS books.
He also mentioned that BTS books typically take 2-3 months to write due to their complexity (which as I sit here still slowly progressing on my own writing for a BTS sourcebook I can vouch for the time involved).

-While helping set up the shop with Kevin he did ask me outright about how the progress of my sourcebook was coming along. Reading between the lines a little there it says to me that he’s still interested in the series rather than not.

-I had the privilege Saturday night to talk to Alex M., it was supposed to be a quick 5 minute conversation, but it quickly turned into one that went on for hours (Wayne finally kicked up out around 12:30am). Besides learning what a great conversationalist Alex is, I learned some of the back story of writing the BTS2 book and what research Alex and Kevin put into it and for the next books (I wont go into details, I’ll leave Alex to do that if he’s interested).
What I can say is that he said Tomb Grotesque and Beyond Arcanum would have come out soon after BTS2 did, but the Crisis of Treachery took place just as Kevin was ramping up to write them.

-Sadly, I didn’t get a great opportunity to get into the plans for the magic system of BTS with Kevin. But the few snippets I got made it sound like magic will work in a similar capacity like Psionics in that they’re weak and usually inept without the presence of the Supernatural to energize their abilities.

-Jeff Hanson is hard at work on the “Urban Jungle” book and it will be using the same core rule system as BTS (and the recent Dead Reign). I got to see his sneak preview of Urban Jungle and I think it will be a great addition to the series and will offer a lot in the way of gangster and police stats, weapons, equip and such for use in BTS. Those of you who haven’t read the “Warpath” book written by Jeff, I encourage you to order it on the Palladium site or Amazon as it’s a good book (I’ve read twice with plans for a third soon.)

-Besides myself, there were a few other blokes who seemed interested in writing a BTS sourcebook as well, so you never can tell what’s coming with BTS… its just a matter of time.

P.S. Speaking of my stuff, I introduced one of my entities that I’ve written for my sourcebook during my VIP night Ghost Story adventure, and it met with high praise along with other new things I plan to write in. Its nice getting confirmation from other gm’s / players who like what I’ve done so far.

[Jefffar]

My own correspondence with Kevin more or less amounts to the same thing, they want to make BTS2, they just have to put other priorities further up the list at the moment. A book that can be made in half the time and will sell probably twice as well as a BTS book is just more important to the company right now.

[Jefffar]

There is some truth to that, but right now you could say the same for more Robotech Books, more Nightbane books and more PFRPG books and to my understanding those lines have done commercially better than BTS2. Then there's also Rifts which traditionally sells well even when there's a glut of it out there. The relative production drought of the last 5 years means that fans from all the Palladium lines are Jonesing right now.

[mrloucifer]

There is some truth to that, but right now you could say the same for more Robotech Books, more Nightbane books and more PFRPG books and to my understanding those lines have done commercially better than BTS2.

I blame the lack of product for the commercial deficiency, but thats another topic all together.

[Vidynn]

The BtS sourse books are some of the most awaited they'd sell like hot cakes because we want them that bad. Supply and demand, this is in high demand but theres no supply.

Im afraid BTS-2 sold really bad - take a look at Dead Reign, I guess it sold quite good or otherwise PB wouldnt have been that quick in releasing a sourcebook. if BTS-2 would have sold like hot cakes, it would get support. but of course, it doesnt sell good cause it gets no support and is incomplete. AAAAAAH!

[mrloucifer]

I know Ive mentioned this on several other posts on this paticualr forum... but its not the case at all. There have been books planned for years (Ive seen the artwork and many of the notes for Tome Grotesque and Ive talked to Both Kevin and Alex at great length about more books being planned) and they will one day see the light of day.

I understand where this is coming from as I am the self proclaimed #1 BTS fan, but there are hold ups and things behind the scenes that are slowing them down right now. But be patient, more is coming gang!

Sigh... if I can get time, I may sit down and write it all out again with updated info to help relieve your worries.

[Natasha]

Palladium's financial crisis intersected all this and compounded by chronic missing release dates snowballed into a strategic shift, I think.
BtS-2 is still playable, so I'm not going to complain even if I am rather disappointed.

[Natasha]

I play it a lot without a problem. I don't find incorporating magic to be difficult whatsoever. So then. To each his own in regards to playability.

Certainly waiting until it was completed is valid complaint - as I said, it's frustrating to not have a complete game.