Palladium Books® Weekly Update – March 17, 2016

By Kevin Siembieda

Our imaginations were truly unleashed this past week, with a lot of final writing and editing for Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™ Sourcebook and The Disavowed getting done. As well as what I think will be a new CS equipment book that goes hand in hand with both titles. The latter is the result of going wild with ideas for Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™ and new CS power armor, weapons and equipment. Chuck and I have cut loose and don’t want to hold back on things we know you will love.

In fact, Chuck Walton and I have been so fired up that we have both been dreaming about the conflicts, characters, demons and new materials going into these books! Tuesday morning I woke up at 4:30 AM, could not fall back to sleep, so I got up, showered, had breakfast and was writing away at the office by 6:00 AM! I also reached out to a bunch of my artists to get them lined up for artwork on this and various projects. There are a lot of interior illustrations and covers needed for upcoming books.

I continue to write like crazy and am trying to wrap up Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™ Sourcebook by the end of next week. Chuck has been drawing so fast and furious that his shoulder has been cramping up. So many fun new concepts, gizmos, equipment, expanded O.C.C.s ... thrilling stuff. And we feel that way as fans of role-playing and Rifts® ourselves. Kinda crazy being a fan of your own creations, but that’s what keeps us so passionate about writing new books for you. It’s all about giving you guys new toys to make your characters more deadly and fun, and new avenues of adventure to explore. The next 4-5 Rifts® and other game titles in the pipeline will do that in spades.

As usual, when I wasn’t writing I was coordinating work for a number of upcoming products and conventions. Dang, conventions are a lot of work. I enjoy exhibiting at them, selling product and interacting with fans, but the actual logistics and prep work take up more time than you might imagine. This has been especially true of Anime North (May), which involves all sorts of Customs documentation, shipping and import paperwork, as well as other documents, on top of determining the product to bring, display materials, panel talks, games, demos, etc. For AdeptiCon (March/April) we’ll have a few more Robotech® RPG Tactics™ prototypes to display at the booth, including the SDF-1.

Read on and happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

Savage Rifts® for Savage Worlds® rules

Things continue to move forward as we provide more approvals, input and material. Looking great!

UPDATE: The Rifter® #74 – Spring issue

As I mentioned last week, Wayne is looking to make his final selections for the material going into The Rifter® #74 over the next couple of weeks, so if you were planning on submitting material, send it on in. And we are always looking for new contributors. I need to assign out the artwork for various articles yet. At least half of this issue’s content is “official” source material.

UPDATE: Coalition States: Heroes of Humanity Sourcebook

Writing, art and editing continue at a fever pitch. Heroes of Humanity is jam-packed with a wealth of background information about the Coalition States, Psi-Battalion, ramping up CS Juicer and Cyborg programs, military strategies and tactics, battle plans, and adventure ideas galore. It will also contain some new weapons and equipment, but as a zillion ideas and cool stuff keep coming into our minds, I’m becoming increasingly convinced we need to turn Coalition States: Heroes of Humanity™ into TWO sourcebooks released one right after the other. I’m writing it all as if it is ONE big book, but I’m thinking we could do more with weapons and equipment, and the art for it, if we broke them into two books. The second book being called something like CS Heroes of Humanity™ Weapons Manual or Heroes of Humanity™ Arsenal. Epic stuff that opens up and sets the stage for all kinds of new adventures and mixed group dynamics – namely CS characters working with D-Bees and practitioners of magic against the Minions of Hell – wicked supernatural beings who threaten to turn Rifts Earth into an extension of Hell itself.

UPDATE: Rifts® The Disavowed

As noted above, we are rockin’ n’ rollin’ on Heroes of Humanity™ and notes and text for The Disavowed and Haunted Tech™ as the ideas come. These two books are stand-alone products related by theme, time-line and interlocking events that tie-in nicely with Heroes of Humanity™ or any campaign. Wild stuff. In Haunted Tech™ the Republicans reveal themselves but things do not go according to plan.

UPDATE: Secrets of the Atlanteans

In final development. Still thinking about who I want to assign this cover to. I also need to assign the interior artwork.

UPDATE: Rifts® Sovietski

In final development. The cover has been assigned to John Zeleznik. I still need to assign the interior artwork.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics

In development. Things are brewing on this front on several different levels. Oh, and please note that we’ll have the SDF-1, and hopefully all three modes of the YF-4 and the Armored Valkyrie on display at AdeptiCon. And, of course, we’ll share them online too. The couple of announcements we had secretly hoped to make there will have to wait, as details are yet to be finalized.

Rifts® World Book PDFs on DriveThruRPG.com

Rifts® World Book 21: Splynn Dimensional Market, Rifts® World Book 22: Free Quebec and Rifts® World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion are available as PDFs right now on DriveThruRPG.com.

They join Rifts® World Book 20: Canada and Rifts® World Book 19: Australia from last week, Rifts® World Book 18: Mystic Russia, Rifts® World Book 17: Warlords of Russia and Rifts® World Book 16: Federation of Magic from the previous few week, and a slew of other titles that have gone up over the last several weeks. There are also previews of The Rifter® #73, Northern Gun 1 & 2, Lemuria, Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms, Bizantium and many other Palladium titles. Things remain in place to see 2-3 new PDFs of Rifts® World Books and other titles added every week.

In addition to the titles listed above, The Minion War™ series of books, the Rifts® Coalition Wars®/Tolkeen series, Chaos Earth® Resurrection, all of the Dead Reign® (Zombie Apocalypse) titles, Splicers® RPG and most issues of The Rifter® are available NOW! So are first edition rules of the Heroes Unlimited™ RPG and sourcebooks, Palladium Fantasy RPG® and sourcebooks, The Mechanoids®, and much more, available on DriveThruRPG.com.

Available right now:

Palladium Collectibles Available in Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles Store

Don’t miss out. Original art are one-of-a-kind items, so when they are gone (like the TMNT sketches and drawings) they are gone. Many other offerings are signed, limited editions or are items that have been sold out for some time.

A few out-of-print issues of The Rifter® have been added to my online store (including The Rifter® #26, #31 and #35) with more collectibles, artwork and toys being added over the next week. A couple weekends ago we added the super-rare “Defilers” Fantasy print (11x17 inches, black and white). Fewer than 50 were ever even printed. Originally only people who played in my three and a half year long campaign got one. It is one of my favorite illustrations of all time and I have put one up for sale in my store.

We’re adding a number of other Palladium collectibles, hardcovers, out-of-print titles, original artwork, and toys and items from my personal collection to my ebay store. We add items on a regular basis and offer sales, so check it out from time to time. Includes one-of-a-kind original artwork, prints, Rifts® and Robotech® artwork by Kevin Long, me and others. There is also a range of limited editions, rare book titles and limited edition hardcovers, toys and more available with frequent new items added. Items include original art, out-of-print titles, redlined proofreader photocopies signed by me and the staff, signed manuscripts with editors’ corrections, some original art, hardcover books (including Rifts® Lemuria, Northern Gun™ One, Northern Gun™ Two, Megaverse® in Flames™, Beyond the Supernatural™ Gold, Rifts® Machinations of Doom™ Gold and Rifts® Ultimate Gold), hundreds of toys and action figures, all from my personal archives and collection. Take a look every weekend or two for new items added.

http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles

Convention Dates of Note

UPDATE: AdeptiCon – Chicago Area – March 31-April 3, 2016

AdeptiCon is coming up fast, only 2 weeks away. We’ll be there with Robotech® RPG Tactics™ items as well as Rifts® and other products to sell, and a few new things to show fans, like the SDF-1, all three modes of the YF-4 and the Armored Valkyrie. Yes, we’ll post ‘em online too. Drop by our booth to chat, have us sign books, run RRT demos and buy stuff.

http://www.adepticon.org

Anime North – Toronto, Canada – May 27-29, 2016

Please join Palladium Books in the gaming hall where we’ll be selling Rifts®, Robotech®, Robotech® RPG Tactics™ and many other gaming products as well as displaying a wide range of artwork, running a few RRT demos and maybe even a role-playing game or two. Greg Diaczyk, Wayne Smith, Charles Walton II and a few other Palladium creators will be present to chat, sign books and enjoy some fun and games in Toronto with you. Oh, and Chuck and I will also be part of several panel discussions. Check the online schedule. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

http://www.animenorth.com

Gen Con Indy – Indianapolis, Indiana – August 4-7, 2016

Gen Con is big, fun and awesome. If you are attending please stop by the Palladium Books booth. We will be there with new and old RPG titles, Robotech® RPG Tactics™, and original art and collectibles for sale. Palladium creators are happy to chat with fans, sign your books, and have a blast.

Palladium Creators at the 2016 Gen Con:

And maybe a couple others to be added.

http://www.gencon.com

GrandCon – Grand Rapids, Michigan – September 16, 17 & 18, 2016

Looking for a nice medium-sized convention of around 2,000 gamers? Then consider GrandCon in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s only about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Westland, and even closer for folks living in Livonia, Plymouth, Novi and cities farther west. Ideal for any Michiganders and gamers living in Illinois, Indiana and maybe even Wisconsin and eastern Iowa.

I (Kevin Siembieda) am a guest along with Sean Patrick Fannon, co-author of Savage Rifts® for the Savage Worlds game system, and many other guests. Sean and I will be doing panels about Savage Rifts® and role-playing game design, world building and running gaming events (I’ll probably run Lord DeSilca), and Palladium Books will have a few tables in the dealers’ room manned by Wayne Smith and Charles Walton II (with artwork for sale). All of us will be present to chat with gamers and sign books. I am thrilled to have a rapidly growing game convention like GrandCon in western Michigan, and they have even bigger plans for 2017. Michiganders, help support this convention. We need and deserve a large gaming convention in our state.

http://www.grand-con.com

Closing thought ...

Working away, writing, editing, and creating new wonders. When books start coming, they should come pretty quick. Need to get back to it. Rifts® Heroes of Humanity gets closer to completion every day and I can hardly wait to dive right into The Disavowed and Garden of the Gods (for Palladium Fantasy). Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on!

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Game Designer

NEW! The Rifter® #74 – Ships Spring

Half to two-thirds of The Rifter® #74 is “official” source material for Rifts®, Splicers® and more, plus news and coming attractions.

Every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factory for players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and find new avenues of adventure. It provides useful, ready-to-go source material you can just drop into your ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. And the many new characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, villains, monsters, adventures and ideas for one setting can be easily adapted to any Palladium setting. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least 2-3 other Palladium game lines. And don’t forget, most of the material can be easily adapted for use in ANY Palladium game setting.

The Rifter® #74 – Spring, 2016:

The Rifter #73

NEW! The Rifter® #73 – Available now!

For the first time ever, the entire issue of The Rifter® #73 is “official” source material for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Splicers® and Dead Reign®, plus news, coming attractions and more. It is a great way to kickoff Palladium’s 35 Year Anniversary.

Every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factory for players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and find new avenues of adventure. It provides useful, ready-to-go source material you can just drop into your ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. And the many new characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, villains, monsters, adventures and ideas for one setting can be easily adapted to any Palladium setting. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least 2-3 other Palladium game lines. And don’t forget, most of the material can be easily adapted for use in ANY Palladium game setting.

Rifter® #73 Highlights:

Coalition States Heroes of Humanity

NEW! Rifts® The Coalition States: Heroes of Humanity – March

In final production. The events unfolding in World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames threaten to change the entire landscape of Rifts® Earth, as the demonic minions of Hades and Dyval seek to bring Hell on Earth and turn the planet into a dimensional gateway to Armageddon!

The Coalition States, along with Northern Gun and Lazlo, take the lead in the defense of North America. Heroes of Humanity explores the good and bad in the Coalition’s efforts to save humanity and send this new threat back to the pits of Hell.

Rifts The Disavowed

Rifts® Secrets of the Coalition States: The Disavowed™ – Spring

“Desperate times require desperate measures. War has nothing to do with morality or justice. It’s all about winning or dying. We cannot bind our hands with high ideals, even our own, or worry about the laws of renegade nations or the rights of alien people. We must fight fire with fire. And you are the match.” – Colonel Lyboc addressing a Disavowed team

The Disavowed are so Top Secret that their existence is known only to a handful of the Coalition States’ most elite, top echelon, with Joseph Prosek II the mastermind behind the Disavowed operation, and Colonel Lyboc its shadowy face. Find out who these men and women are. How the Disavowed get away with using magic, traveling to other parts of Rifts Earth and even to other dimensions in pursuit of enemies and strategic information that cannot be had through conventional means. Learn about the secret parameters in which these hard-boiled warriors, secretly hand-picked by Joseph Prosek II, operate, why almost every mission is considered a suicide mission, and why they must forever be the Disavowed.

NEW! Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans – Spring

True Atlanteans are descendants from Earth’s past. The survivors of the sinking of Atlantis (really a dimensional mishap) and travelers of the Megaverse, wielders of Tattoo Magic and other lost mystic arts. Most people regard them as heroes, but are they? The Sunaj Assassins are mythic villains feared by all, yet they too are True Atlanteans who serve dark forces.

For the first time, much of the story behind True Atlanteans and their secrets are revealed.

Rifts® Haunted Tech – Spring or Summer

Faced with the imminent threat of the Minion War and ensuing demon plagues across Rifts® North America, heroes and nations rise! Archie Three is taking none of it lying down. The insane machine-god is obsessed with sending the demons back to hell and saving “his” world.

The Rifter #73

BACK IN PRINT: Island at the Edge of the World

A Palladium Fantasy RPG® Sourcebook – available now

Island at the Edge of the World™ is back in print as a short run, special printing. This is the original Palladium RPG® sourcebook VI that utilizes First Edition rules. That said, it is very easy to adapt for use with Second Edition rules.

Island at the Edge of the World™ reveals some of the little known history of the Palladium World, the Time of a Thousand Magicks, the Changeling Inquisition, and dark secrets that could threaten the world. Learn about forgotten Crystal Magic (as powerful as Rune Weapons), the Church of Scar, the legendary Circle of Absolute Elemental Power and frightening prophecies about the end of the world.

Garden of the Gods – a Palladium Fantasy RPG® Sourcebook – Spring

This has been a secret project of Kevin Siembieda’s that he has been plotting and writing in what little spare time he has. The Garden of the Gods is said to be a holy place watched over and even frequented by the avatars of the gods. According to legend, the god may visit heroes and followers in dreams or in person by an avatar of the god, to be given guidance, inspiration, heroic quests, and gifts of knowledge and magic. More details about this title will follow.

Hell Followed – A Dead Reign® Zombie Apocalypse Sourcebook

At 160 pages, Hell Followed™ is the largest Dead Reign® sourcebook yet. Spring or Summer release. Can you survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Find out by playing Dead Reign®. The results may surprise you.

Rifts® Chaos Earth® Sourcebook: First Responders – Summer

The Great Cataclysm has devastated civilization, but humanity fights for survival. The struggles of civilian law enforcement, fire and rescue, and everyday men and women are some of the most epic tales to be told in a world gone to hell. They fight monsters, aliens, the paranormal, the elements, and each other, all with the hope of reclaiming their lives from the Chaos.

Robotech RPG Tactics

Robotech® RPG Tactics Wave Two is coming ...

– but you can get started with the core box set and Wave One expansions right now

If you love Robotech®, you want to take a look at this game. Beautifully detailed game pieces of your favorite Robotech® mecha, and fast playing rules that capture the Robotech® experience in a new, exciting way. And this is just the beginning. We have so much more planned for the years ahead.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ "Starter Box" (Main Box Game) – Cat. No. 55100 – $99.95 retail price. This is the game Robotech® fans have wanted for decades. 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. Get yours now, so you can build your armies and have them ready when Wave Two is released.

The First Six Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Expansion Packs are available to retail along with the main box game. Here are the SKUs and retail prices:

DriveThruRPG

Palladium PDF Books – download from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made more than 100 PDF products available for digital download from DriveThruRPG.com, as well as Fantasy Paper Miniatures, Game Master resources and other good things with more to come. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include:

Schedule of 2016 Releases for the First 6 months

Also coming:

Upcoming Palladium Books® Convention Events

Palladium Books does not have to be an exhibitor at a convention or be counted among the guests to support that convention. We are happy to support events running Palladium games with prizes for best players, other swag, and donations to charity auctions. If you are a Game Master running Palladium gaming events, or a convention hosting them, PLEASE contact Palladium Books via the Help Desk or the Megaversal Ambassadors, or call the Palladium offices to get our support. Just give us plenty of advance notice so we can confirm the conventions and the Palladium gaming events, determine the swag and ship it out. Plus we are glad to promote conventions and gaming events right here in the Weekly Updates. Below are just some of the conventions hosting Palladium game events this year.

Kevin Siembieda and Charles Walton II are guests at the 2016 Anime North. A few other Canadian Palladium creators may also be in attendance at the Palladium booth in the gaming hall. Anime North is one of the largest and longest running anime conventions in North America, with 26,000+ in attendance in 2016. The range of special guests, voice talent and cosplay is amazing. If you are attending Anime North, please drop by the booth to say hello or sit in on any of Kevin’s panel talks about game design, licensing and Hollywood, writing, world building and others. We love this event and highly recommend it. Tickets sell out fast, so order yours and book a hotel room immediately.

© Copyright 2016 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. RPG Tactics™, Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, 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.

This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.