Feeling Blue? Me too. Let's stop it - March 30, 2020

[Kevin]

Hey Everyone, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m posting parts of my Special Update getting emailed and posted on the Palladium Books Website later today. It is some thoughts I wanted to share and some reminders of sales coming to an end tomorrow and Wednesday. Read on. (And more Murmurs to come).

If you are like me, this Covid-19 stuff is starting to get to you. Starting to wear you down and make you feel more uncertain and worried with every passing day. The news is all gloom and doom and you are probably feeling helpless to do anything about it, stuck at home with nowhere to go. Everything feels more real. More urgent. Closing in. That’s how I felt this past weekend.

Hold on a minute. If you stop and think about it, nothing has really changed. This is what the experts have been predicting from early on. The projections and concerns haven’t changed. We were just hoping against all odds the experts would be wrong. Well, they are not. And here we are waiting it out. And the worst part is the uncertainty, the feeling of helplessness, and the waiting.

Hey, we’re gamers! We are better equipped to handle this than anyone. We aren’t trapped at home. We can travel anywhere. Not just to any city in the world or the jungles of Africa, but back or forward in time, and to wondrous alien worlds and strange dimensions. This isn’t a joke. I’m not trying to make light of this nor drum up sales. I am completely serious.

Gamers are among the most amazing people I have every known. Intelligent, resourceful, kind, generous, and blessed with warm hearts and vivid imaginations beyond most people’s comprehension. It is time to use those imaginations. Not to worry and fret about what might befall us or the people we love, but to escape cabin fever and your daily worries by traveling anywhere ... everywhere ... in your mind’s eye. And take your friends and family on that journey with you. If you cannot gather in person use the telephone, or Skype, or Discord, Roll20, and many other means of connecting.

Use those imaginations to slay dragons, or befriend dragons, or be the dragons! Seriously. Push out the scariness and dread and replace them with wild adventure and raucous laughter across the infinite Megaverse®. I don’t care if you do it with Palladium’s RPGs, D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, GURPS, or whatever, but do it. Do it to help time pass and to prevent falling into despair. Do it to carry your children/siblings/friends and loved ones to lands of heroic adventure and happy endings. Do it to keep the faith and your spirits buoyed, and to bring some relief.

Don’t forget, most of us will survive this. Even the vast majority – like 98% – of the people who catch Covid-19 will survive. In the meanwhile, please be smart, stay at home, don’t hoard, practice social distancing, wash hands frequently, and unleash those beautiful imaginations.

Stay hopeful and positive. I know that is more difficult than those four little words sound. I know, because I’m a very positive and hopeful person by nature, and I have been battling the blues myself. That is why I have written this and present it as the first thing you read rather than as my Closing Thoughts. I hope you read this and find some spark of inspiration, ideas, a smile, or something — anything, to help you get through these frightening and uncertain times. You are not alone. We are in this together and we will get through it one way or another.

I don’t know how any of this will end for us, the Palladium crew, or the company itself, but we are not giving up hope. We continue to mine our imaginations, write books, and keep game product available. Most important, we refuse to feel defeated. We are keeping our friends and loved ones close to our hearts and in our thoughts, if not in person. I implore you to do the same. Take a deep breath. Smile. Unfurl your imagination and game on, damn it. Game on.

And now for some Reminders, Sales ending, and Business stuff (and I’ll try to keep it short)

PDF SALE on DriveThruRPG.com – ALL Palladium Horror titles – Sale Ends Wednesday night, April 1st

Dead Reign®: Spit in the face of death, save lives, fight 37 different types of zombies, and rescue survivors. Nightbane®: Super-hero horror, global conspiracy, and a secret demon invasion only you can stop by becoming a monster yourself. You are the Nightbane. Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG: Modern horror. By the way, Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG 1st Edition offers playing Victim Characters™ – movie-style horror films brought to life by Erick Wujcik for something different and always a joy to play. All horror titles on sale now thru April 1st, 2020.

And with In the Face of Death™, a Dead Reign® sourcebook coming soon, this is a good time to catch up and start planning your next Dead Reign® campaign. Each setting offers epic adventure, suspense, and supernatural horror. And all are on sale as PDF titles at DriveThruRPG.com – now thru April 1, 2020.

Rifts® Bestiary Volume 2 Megaverse® Insider Offer – ENDS tomorrow – Tuesday March 31 – last chance

What is a Megaverse® Insider offer? A way to pre-order fun and unique, special Rifts® Bestiary Volume Two related products available ONLY during the limited three weeks that the Megaverse® Insider is running. When it ends, these special items are no longer available, which is what makes you an “Insider.” Only those of you who participate are guaranteed these special collector items at “Insider” prices. And most of the offers automatically get your name published in the credits pages of the book as one of our Insiders.

Bestiary, Vol. 2 “Megaverse® Insider” offers include such opportunities as a PDF of the book months before the PDF is made available to the public, signed and limited edition collector’s hardcovers, limited edition signed prints, sneak previews, original concept art, your name woven into the book as an unstatted character, and more! But you need to do it fast because it ends Tuesday March 31,2020. However, we may re-offer the Megaverse® Insider items in May for a week or two when things simmer down with the coronavirus. But if you know you want to participate, this is the time to do it so you do not miss out. Available only from Palladium Books. See full details at PalladiumBooks.com.

- Inside Help – Available.
- In Memoriam – Available.
- A “Real” Character Tribute – (List a favorite character in the book) – Available.
- Cyber-Insider Volume TWO PDF – (PDF of Vol. 2 + your name listed in book) – Available.
- Retro-Cyber-Insider Volume ONE PDF – (PDF of Vol. One + your name listed in Vol. Two) – Available.
- Palladium Insider – Hardcover – (Signed, Limited Hardcover Edition – Color Cover + your name listed in the book) – Available.
- Imperial Purple Beast Insider – Hardcover – (Signed and Numbered – Purple Foil Collector’s Hardcover Edition + your name listed) – Available.
- Enhanced Imperial Purple Beast Insider – (Signed and Numbered – Purple Foil Collector’s Hardcover Edition, name listed + PDF of Vol. 2) – Available.
- Top Insider – (Both Vol. 2 hardcover books, signed, the PDF, dragon head sketch by Siembieda, a limited print + your name listed in the book) – Available.
- Ultimate Insider – (Both hardcover books signed, PDF of Vol. 2, Siembieda dragon head sketch, Walton monster sketch in foil hardcover, 5 limited prints, name listed in book + signed Lazlo “Raw Preview”) – Available.
- Benefactor – (Limited to a total of 12 Benefactors – Both hardcover books signed, PDF, Siembieda dragon head sketch, Walton monster sketch in book, something Top Secret, 10 limited prints, your name as an unstatted character in the book, name listed in book, signed Lazlo “Raw Preview” + an original concept art sketch) – STILL AVAILABLE for now.
- SOLD OUT Monstrous Benefactor – (Be a Chimera-Builder; limited to 5 people)
- SOLD OUT Ultimate Benefactor – (Limited to one. A ton of stuff plus build and name a monster, get your face to appear as a person with the creature, the original art, and more).
- Offer ENDS Tuesday, March 31, 2020, but as noted, due to the situation with Covid-19, we may make it available again, for a short time, later this year when things improve. How is that for positive thinking? This offer is available only from PalladiumBooks.com.

We are shipping orders and staying frosty

We may only be a skeleton crew of a few, but we are continuing to ship out orders as they come in. Of course I am taking precautions, cleaning surfaces, wearing gloves as we process orders, etc. We appreciate your show of support as many of you continue to order Palladium product.

Murmurs from the Megaverse®

What is it about a crisis that get’s me yapping? I am trying to post a new Murmur from the Megaverse® every few days to keep you up to date on what is happening at Palladium Books, the progress of book titles, and my random thoughts and views.

We’re still standing

We are too stubborn and have too many great books to finish to get sick. So, please keep orders coming in – the more the merrier – as we continue to process online orders and ship for as long as we can with a skeleton crew.

Meanwhile, we are all healthy and doing fine as we continue to work on upcoming releases. In fact, I need to reach out to my freelance artists and writers to tell them to keep busy by finishing the art and writing they are supposed to be doing. Good ‘ol Glen Evans sent me a couple of small manuscripts this weekend for my consideration for Palladium Fantasy, and Steve Dawes sent me an email with an update on the Creature Feature™ Beyond the Supernatural™ adventure sourcebook he has been working on. Looking good. Keep safe and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, & Game Designer

© Copyright 2020 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved. This Murmur release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.