Palladium Books® Weekly Update – June 21, 2013

By Kevin Siembieda

Geez, it has a been another action-packed week of long hours and hard work. We’re still pushing hard so I’ll keep this one brief. We’re feeling pretty exhausted but excited as can be as products come together.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #63 – July release

Articles are continuing to be selected and artwork assigned for The Rifter® #63. A couple pieces have come in from artist Tanya Ramsey and they are perfect. John Zeleznik is done with the cover and it looks great too. Another fine issue is shaping up.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics

Much of our attention this week has been on Robotech® RPG Tactics as it nears completion. 90% of the artwork, and 80% of the sculpts have been tweaked and approved. Wayne and I have been working on the final editing and polishing of the text for the rules. The actual rules have been done for a while now. The rules are solid, fast and fun. The text has been retooled for clarity and understanding. I think we’re in good shape with 90% of that work now done as well. Along with all of that, there have been nonstop emails, phone calls and discussions regarding design elements, text and approvals between Palladium, Ninja Division, Harmony Gold, artists and the creative team. Whew.

Almost done. The game book, packaging and all the many other design elements for the boxed game and expansion kits go into final layout next week.

I want to say this game is great and you will love it . . . but I think all of us are too close to it for an objective opinion. Like everyone giving birth to a child, idea or product, we love it. I believe it is damn good. I can assure you that EVERYONE who worked on this game at Palladium Books and Ninja Division, as well as the many freelance artists, sculptors and play-testers, have given their all in the creation of this game. We’ll know in the Fall what the final verdict is when you, our customers and Robotech fans, get the finished product. We’re thinking it will be love at first sight, but we don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch.

UPDATE: Rifts® Northern Gun One

[expletive deleted]! Despite our best efforts and high hopes, Rifts® Northern Gun™ One is not yet finished and will slide into a darn July release. With Robotech® RPG Tactics™ done and to be sent into manufacturing by the end of next week, and with most of the Gen Con convention details worked out, we’ll be able to focus ALL of our time and attention on getting this epic sourcebook done and to the printer. And I mean ALL of our attention.

UPDATE: Northern Gun Two

As soon as Rifts® Northern Gun™ One is finished, I will dive into Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two. We are going to do everything we can to have NG-2 done in time for Gen con. After that, we hope to release one rockin’ book after another.

UPDATE: Kickstarter Pledge Manager

Things are continuing to progress on this front. Those of you who have contacted us about your Kickstarter pledge not going through, should have gotten an email from Palladium to make sure you are counted among the KS pledges and get to participate in the Kickstarter offer. If you have not heard from us, don’t delay, please contact us at 734-721-2903 or send us a message through Kickstarter, just be aware it will take us longer to get back to you. We don’t want anyone who tried to be part of the Kickstarter to get left behind. We greatly appreciate the tremendous support you’ve all given us and want everyone to be satisfied. If you got left out and want in, contract the Palladium offices (734-721-2903 order line).

DriveThruRPG.com – FREE Rifter® #62 Sneak Preview is available now; your place for PDFs of more than 90 Palladium titles

The FREE Sneak Preview of The Rifter® #62 is available now (includes the missing Experience Tables for Rifts® Black Market and Vampire Kingdoms™), as well as Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook and an early one for Rifts® Northern Gun One (with a newer one coming in a few weeks), on DriveThruRPG.com for your enjoyment. There are also previews available for Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™ (Revised Edition), Rifts® Black Market, Rifts® Lemuria, Dead Reign™ RPG, Endless Dead™ sourcebook and others. The original Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms World Book is also available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG, for those of you who may be interested.

More than 90 other Palladium titles can be found on DriveThruRPG.com as PDFs, including Splicers®, Rifts® RPG (the edition before RUE), The Rifter® #1-52, and first edition rule books and sourcebooks for Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, Beyond the Supernatural™ and lots of other good titles. DriveThruRPG.com also offers the Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® Game Master Kits ($5 each; both written by Carl Gleba and complete with maps, combat matrix, character sheets, spell list, and 20 pre-rolled characters created by Julius Rosenstein).

Gen Con® Indy – Palladium Booth #1025 – August 14-18, 2013

We have continued to work on Gen Con plans. In fact, Palladium’s Gen Con Email Blast has been submitted and will go out sometime today. Our Coupon Book entry has been submitted, and many other arrangements hammered out. All we need to do is place our order for any furnishings, electricity, and the truck. Gotta remember the truck!

As noted in the last Update, we plan to make a big splash at Gen Con this year. There will be all kinds of Palladium product available – new titles and back stock, original art, prints, Robotech® demonstrations, painted samples of Robotech® game pieces on display, convention specials, and myself and other Palladium creators to autograph books, chat and have loads of fun.

Gen Con will be a star-studded event for Palladium fans with the following Palladium creators present at Booth #1025:

Please come to the Palladium booth #1025 to chat, get autographs, and find out the latest news. We’ll also have some sneak previews, original artwork by Chuck Walton and others, prints and special promo items (even some Robotech® RPG Tactics™ game pieces!) available, and you’ll be able to demo the game itself. Join the fun.

Detroit Fanfare – to include a Palladium Gamefest ... but we need your help and support – October 25, 26 & 27, 2013

I’ve talked with the convention people and Palladium has been given the green light to orchestrate gaming and to have a huge presence at this growing comics, games and media convention. I want to see us host dozens of Palladium RPG events, but I NEED volunteers to run games and gamers to attend to enjoy them. Like I said last Update, I can see us making this a Palladium Open House style event. And if it goes well this Fall, it could be the home of an annual Palladium event. Please helps us make this happen!

Harmony Gold’s Robotech® tour will be there.

Palladium Books will be there, along with many of our artists and writers. And we’ll be running games and demos, and selling books in the dealers’ hall. Palladium creators will include:

● If timing works out, Robotech® RPG Tactics™ may debut there.

● Many comic book guests.

● Media guests.

● Dealers’ room.

● Artists’ alley and more!

Detroit Fanfare is estimating 7,000-9,000 people in attendance this October! And growing. It’s held at the Adoba Hotel (formerly the Hyatt Regency and only 20 minutes from the Palladium offices), in Dearborn, Michigan, October 25, 26, 27, 2013. Join the fun.

Palladium Books needs Game Masters to run events! Like the Open House, volunteer G.M.s will get a discount on Palladium products. We’ll also see if we can get you in to the convention for free if you run three or more games, but no promises. Let’s make this a fun Palladium event within an already fun convention.

Palladium is looking for a dozen or more Game Masters to run events and demos. Interested? Contact us. I’ll run something. So will Julius Rosenstein and Carmen Bellaire, but that’s just the start. Megaversal Ambassadors, this is exactly why we need you to help us make this a reality. Give the office a call or contact us via Private Message and such. Need to be lining up Game Masters willing and able to make a commitment by July 15. Let’s kick some . . . um, you know what! :)

Gamers, we’ll need you too. Attend and make this event a haven for Palladium gamers.

Here’s the link to the Detroit Fanfare convention. Palladium is not listed yet because we’ve yet to determine whether or not we can do this gaming program. Either way, myself and the Palladium crew will be present.

Need to run. Keep those imaginations burning bright.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Game Designer

The Rifter #62

The Rifter® #62 – Available now

The Rifter® #62 is truly special, with page after page of “official” source material and one great idea after another. Do not miss out on this issue.

Each and every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds.

The Rifter® Number 62 includes:

The Rifter #63

The Rifter® #63 – Ships July

Each and every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds.

Rifts Northern Gun One

Rifts® World Book 33: Northern Gun One

Northern Gun™ is the largest independent manufacturer of high-tech weapons, robots and vehicles in North America. Outside of the Coalition States, one could argue, no other kingdom is as powerful or influential, at least when it comes to technology and weapons. The manufacture and sale of Northern Gun weapons and vehicles has given virtually every kingdom, town, colony of settlers and adventurer group a chance to survive and prosper. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, NG has been the premier outfitter of mercenaries, adventurers and upstart kingdoms for generations. Now, for the first time ever, learn Northern Gun’s history, goals and plans for the future. Of course, that means new weapons, robots, power armor, vehicles and gear.

Rifts Northern Gun Two

Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun Two

More information about the weapons, vehicles and practices of Northern Gun, including the new rage of robot gladiatorial combat.

Rifts Megaverse in Flames

Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

Palladium Fantasy Sale

Palladium Fantasy RPG® Anniversary Sale – 30% price reduction

Love Game of Thrones? Use Palladium Fantasy® to create your own epic fantasy adventures in the frozen north dominated by the Wolfen. Explore the decadent wonders of the Western Empire. Help build and defend the burgeoning kingdoms of the Eastern Territory, or explore the monster-filled lands of the Baalgor Wastelands. Or perhaps fight pirates or explore the Floenry Island chain or the foreboding Mount Nimro region, land of giants. And those are just a few of the places that await you.

Have you wondered what the Palladium Fantasy RPG® is like? Now’s the perfect time to give it a try and find out. Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, 2nd Edition, is a world steeped in tens of thousands of years of history, magic and dark, dark secrets. At the moment, it is humans who dominate the land, as the times of Titans, Dwarves, Elves and others are long past. Still, the future of humanity is uncertain, as the Wolfen and the other canine races in the north challenge their dominance, and monsters gather in the fabled lands of the Old Kingdom.

Non-human races provide a host of unusual beings as player characters, including Changelings (who can assume the shape and appearance of any humanoid), Wolfen, Trolls, Ogres, Goblins, Kobolds, Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, humans, and dozens of “optional” creatures found in both the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Monsters & Animals and other titles.

Do you already love Palladium Fantasy® like we do, and have you been thinking about getting more sourcebooks for it? This is the time to expand your collection.

Fantasy Sale! Palladium Fantasy turns 30 years old this month, and to celebrate, we have reduced the price of every title in the game line by 30%. So give it a try or expand your collection. It will also give you a leg up for when Palladium Books releases several new and expanded Fantasy titles next year. We have exciting plans for Palladium Fantasy.

Robotech RPG Tactics

Robotech® RPG Tactics – Coming Fall 2013

If you’re a Robotech® fan, this is the game you’ve wanted for decades, with beautifully sculpted, in scale, game pieces and the fast action of Robotech®.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ is a fast-paced, tabletop combat game that captures the action and adventure of the Robotech® anime. Two or more players can engage in small squad skirmishes or scale up to massive battles. Relive the clashes of the First Robotech War, engage in stand-alone tactical games or use the dynamic game pieces to enhance your Robotech® RPG experience. Or simply collect your favorite mecha from an expanding range of top notch game pieces.

Mecha vs Mecha. Take command of the fighting forces of the United Earth Defense Force (UEDF) valiantly defending Earth from alien annihilation. Or lead the massive clone armies of the Zentraedi Armada to recover an alien artifact of immense power and enslave humankind.

Robotech® RPG Tactics Box Set

DriveThruRPG

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include:

© Copyright 2013 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Beyond the Supernatural™, Chaos Earth, Coalition States, Dead Reign, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, 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.

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

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