I cannot do this without you -- April 19 2020

[Kevin]

I cannot do this without you.

When I write these Murmurs and Weekly Updates I try to be upbeat and encouraging and offer what I think are fun ideas for your gaming consideration – like the Teenage Mutant Easter Bunny and suggestions about super-hero gaming, and the After the Bomb®/HU2/Ninjas & Superspies™ sale that people loved (and why I have quietly let that sale continue to run). The same goes for Palladium’s current Battle the Bugs PDF sale on DriveThruRPg.com so you can kill a stinking bug or a bunch of bugs/monstrous invaders to help get out your frustrations by having fun gaming.

I figure we can sit around moping and worried or we can try to find some fun and silliness through role-playing to bring a little laughter and sunshine into our lives in this moment. That’s why I keep trying to remind people that us gamers can escape the Stay-At-Home order confinement and travel the Megaverse® to find adventure on countless worlds. We all possess the awesome superpower of unchained imagination, so use it to set yourself and your family free and have some fun.

I have always been a positive “the glass is half full” kind of guy. Still, all the concern about the pandemic and corresponding financial worries still get to me. And I’m sure you feel the same.

I worry about the Palladium crew and pray they all stay safe and healthy. I worry about my children and grandchildren, friends and family and all the people I love. I worry about Palladium’s financial survival. And I worry about you, because I think of you as members of the Palladium global family. I have pals across North America, England, Germany, Chile, Brazil, Japan, and ... well ... all over the place. Some are in hot zones and some are in the medical field. That’s why I try to be there for you as best I can via these Murmurs and Weekly Updates, and offer some sales to inspire your creativity and lead to fun role-playing.

That worry weighs on me some days more than others and when it does, it dampens my creativity. Thankfully, all of you are there for me just as I try to be there for you. How awesome is that? You are there to say and do things that make me smile and inspire me to hang tough and keep plugging away. Which I am doing, so thank you.

I have been hearing from a lot of people who have started playing more Heroes Unlimited™ and/or After the Bomb® campaigns because they are so fun and family friendly. One gamer has been using the Book of Heroes from the Heroes of the Megaverse® sourcebook as a vehicle to launch what sounds like an epic, dimension hopping, super-hero campaign. Another has a “zombie superhero” campaign going on — as in many of the super-heroes and super-villains are turning into super-zombies! And they are contagious! Of course, a villain who can control zombies is the mastermind behind the zombie plague. I spoke to others who are playing Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® and Beyond the Supernatural™ and Nightbane® games (or combining two or more of these settings). And to those Spliceheads out there, let the splice flow. They all sound fun to me.

One kind soul shared the following: “... my son is six now and we have been playing Palladium Fantasy to help keep his imagination sharp and to help him deal with some of his fears and confusion with this whole situation [involving the coronavirus]. He loves playing Goblins... we are having some amazing bonding time doing it too. I am hoping soon we can play some Heroes Unlimited™ ... I appreciate everything you guys do ... Keep up the amazing work.”

Another person wrote: “I just wanted to thank you guys for all that you do and for staying open to help get new books for my game! It means a lot to me and I really enjoy those random signatures. Stay safe and stay healthy.”

And there have been many similar comments coming in by many means of communication. Thank you, they all mean the world to me, to all of us at Palladium. I hear more and more from entire families using our role-playing games to find joy and escape from our current “situation,” and that is wonderful and rewarding to hear.

This may sound silly, but while I hope a random signature or one of my dragon head drawings that I put inside a book brightens somebody’s day, I don’t actually know if its does. It seems like such a little thing and one I’m very happy to do, but I wonder if the recipient will be pleased or unhappy. I know some people don’t like to get autographs, though the majority do, so I always hope it puts a smile on someone’s face and not a frown. My goal doing these things is to say, “Thanks, you are special and appreciated and I want you to know that.”

I am always humbled and thrilled that our games and our little acknowledgments bring such joy and help people in such simple and yet profound ways. All I want to do is bring people fun and joy through our games and to inspire their imaginations whether it be through gaming, writing, artwork, or storytelling. It is a true honor and a gift from god to be able to fuel imaginations, bring joy, and touch the hearts and minds of other people in a positive way. It is a privilege I never take for granted and one I feel deeply.

Despite Palladium’s ups and downs and new challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic, I regularly stop to reflect and marvel at how fortunate I am. I have a job I love making books and games I love, with people I respect and love. And I make them for people I appreciate and care about. That’s you, by the way. I really do. I’m always thinking of ways to surprise and delight you, my audience, my friends. I try to give you new ideas to open doors to the imagination. Ideas and characters and worlds of adventure that fire up your own creativity and to send you into nerd nirvana the same way certain writers, artists, and storytellers have done for me.

So when I know I have accomplished any of these things and hear so much excitement and sense of wonder in the people I have been speaking with, or comments like those I have shared with you today, it puts me in a good place. A great place. It reminds me how we are all connected and why it is good to do good things, nice things, no matter the circumstance. No matter how small. And it all means even more during scary and uncertain times like these.

Though you may not realize it, all of you are “the wind in my sail.”
The wind that fires up my imagination and keeps me moving forward through thick and thin. You are my inspiration. My muse. And I appreciate and thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I hope you are all staying safe, hanging tough, and keeping those beautiful imaginations burning bright.

Stay Well,

Kevin Siembieda
That Publisher Guy


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