Weekly Updates 2

Print Sale and News – Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – April 3, 2025

Weekly Update

ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE

BY KEVIN SIEMBIEDA

Print Sale and News – Palladium Books®

Weekly Update – April 3, 2025

There’s a lot to talk about this week, so I’m gonna dive right into it. Enjoy the new sale, the news, and something different for Closing Thoughts.

Art Print Sale – Grow Your Collection with 50% off most prints

Palladium’s ever-popular annual spring art sale starts today and runs for a few weeks. It’s time to redecorate your gaming space or add to your art print collection. Full color and black and white prints are half-price, so spruce up your gaming area with some of your favorite RPG artwork. Related art on sale: Bookmarks and Rifts poker decks. All of these items make fun birthday gifts and surprise Easter and Father’s Day presents (Mother’s Day too!).

- Nearly all of Palladium’s art prints – half price! Check ‘em out.

- Palladium Bookmarks Set One – Cat. No. 2554 – only $2.50 for a set of 4. Each one features different art (RUE, Fantasy, Heroes Unlimited, & Dead Reign).

- Palladium Bookmarks Set Two – Cat. No. 2555 – only $2.50 for a set of 4. Each one features different art (Chaos Earth, Nightbane, Phase World & Beyond the Supernatural).

- Rifts Poker Deck #1 (full color) – Cat. No. 2575 – only $5.98

- Rifts Poker Deck #2 (black and white art) – Cat. No. 2576 – only $5.98

- Rifts Cyberworks Poker Deck (full color backs and face cards) – Cat. No. 2609 – only $7.50

Update! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux

We are excited to share that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Redux project rewards are heading to the printers!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux and TMNT Transdimensional Adventures are done! That includes the four variant covers and the two impressive Black White & Red Editions. The final versions are all complete, and once approvals are finalized, they will be heading to the printers, probably this week. We’re one more step closer to getting these into your hands!

There is a ton of New and Expanded Content! We initially promised 256 pages in the core rule book, but thanks to your support and our dedicated team, we've expanded to 272 pages – that’s 16 pages of bonus content, in addition to a sleek new layout and typesetting, color artwork throughout, including TMNT comic strip, easy to read tables, a new index, there are 20 new mutant animals, new animal abilities, stats for Karai (new art by Kevin Eastman),  clarified and enhanced combat rules, 20 new vehicles, and more! That’s not counting the 15+ delightful, new, pinup pages of Tribute Art by comic book and gaming artists, wonderful written remembrances, the behind-the-scenes story about the making of the original RPG,  concept art and notes, and fun insights.

Get all the details and see more artwork in the newest Kickstarter Update by clicking the button below.

Likewise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Transdimensional Adventures – is a juicy 256 page sourcebook that combines the original content of Transdimensional TMNT with the TMNT Guide to the Universe, and TMNT Adventures – now remastered and expanded with the same level of new layout, colors, comic strips (20 pages total; originally created specifically for these sourcebooks), as the core rule book. It too offers rules clarifications and expanded contents such as Fugitoid's Stats, expanded vehicle creation rules,  expanded vehicle combat rules, vehicle hit location and critical damage tables, tribute art,  more behind-the-scenes insights, and touching and funny written remembrances.

As final approvals come in, we are sending the books, Game Master screen, dice, miniature sets, poker deck, print sets, and all the rest to the printers.

Once again, our humblest and most sincere thanks to every single one of you for supporting this project. This project is truly a labor of love, and we cannot wait for you to dive into this expanded and remastered TMNT & Other Strangeness Redux content.   –  Sean Owen Roberson

Note: Anyone can still pre-order the mainstream books at Kickstarter prices – a saving of $5-$10 per book. So do it while you still can, because the Pre-Order Store will be closing in a few weeks.

IMPORTANT ALERT: BackerKit Pledge Adjustments Now Unlocked!

The pledge adjustment feature in BackerKit has been UNLOCKED, and you can now make changes to your pledge FOR ONE WEEK ONLY. Whether you're looking to add more items or adjust your current Kickstarter Pledge Level selection, the system is now fully operational. But just for one week, because we need to send FINAL numbers of these Kickstarter Backer Exclusives to the manufacturers as soon as possible! The Kickstarter Backer Exclusives will only be available through the night of April 10, 2025, and no longer available after that date.

Exclusive Add-Ons ONE WEEK ONLY

For one week only, these campaign exclusives are available to our Kickstarter Backers. Add them to your pledges while you can. For example, the two Mutagen Green Foil Editions sport brand new artwork by Kevin Eastman AND Peter Laird created specially for these two collector’s editions. A rare and triumphant collaboration by the two legendary Ninja Turtle creators that TMNT super-fans will desire for years to come – if they can even find one on the secondary collector’s market – because they will be so limited and rare! But Backers can still order them until April 10, 2025:

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux - Kevin Eastman variant color cover featuring the TMNT, Shredder, and the Foot Clan.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Transdimensional Adventures Redux - Sophie Campbell variant color cover featuring the TMNT and dinosaurs.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Redux Miniature Set: Heroes
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Redux Miniature Set: Villains
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Redux Illustrated Poker Card Deck

Mutagen Green Foil Variant Covers by Eastman and Laird

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux Mutagen Green Foil Cover - new cover art by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
  • TMNT Transdimensional Adventures Redux Mutagen Green Foil Cover - new cover art by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird

To get the Mutagen Green variant covers the Backer must Pledge at a Level that offers these variant foil covers. That starts at the Mutagen Mystic pledge level and higher. However, even at the minimum threshold of Mutagen Mystic you can ADD as many additional copies as you can afford.

The print sets! These are available ONLY in specific pledge levels and are not available as individual add-ons. If you really want one or all of the print sets, you need to pledge accordingly.

Don't miss this limited opportunity to secure these exclusive items! We will be locking them down on April 10, 2025.

The Official History of Palladium Books on YouTube

Please continue to enjoy and spread the word about the Official History of Palladium Books on the Palladium YouTube channel. Every YouTube episode is fun, candid, and offers insight and behind the scenes information from the publisher/creator of your favorite Palladium role-playing games, Kevin Siembieda. Hear fun stories, details and thought processes you probably never heard before. We are now getting into some of our most famous and beloved games: Palladium Fantasy RPG and Secrets of the Defilers have been a big hit. Behind the scenes of Heroes Unlimited RPG is the most recent episode, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG releasing today. Did you know that TMNT & Other Strangeness was Mirage Studio’s very first license, or that Kevin introduced Eastman and Laird to licensing agent Mark Freedman who helped take the Turtles mainstream? Get the behind the scenes story straight from the guy who was there.

New Episodes coming on the Official History of Palladium Books with Kevin Siembieda & J-M DeFoggi. Behind the scenes insight into the making of one Palladium blockbuster RPG of the 1980s and 1990s after another.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG – available now.

  • Secrets of the Defilers, Part 4: Battle through Hades – April 10th.

  • Robotech RPG series – April 24th.

  • Ramon K. Perez interview – fan favorite comic book and game artist Ramon K. Perez – May 8th.

  • Watch for a new episode every other week and enjoy.

Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson on Legion of Myth.

Last Sunday’s chat went great and was a lot of fun. We spent an hour talking about the status of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Kickstarter (most everything has been approved and should be heading for the printer and manufacturing soon), so that topic may be broken out into a separate interview. Then we talked about using Palladium rules as a framework for any setting and kit-bashing two (or more) games/settings like Beyond the Supernatural and Rifts into a unique world/dimension of its own. That’s the beauty of Palladium’s Megaversal game system,  you can bring any character, monsters, weapon, magic, etc., from one world setting into another with ease. The spirited conversation was a blast. Check it out. Note: Our next chat with the Legion will be at the end of April.

Glitterbois Chats are back starting April

More Glitterbois Chats with Kevin Siembieda are starting up again in April. Keep your ears open for them.

Now Available!
Palladium Spring-Summer 2025 Catalog

NEW! Catalog of Palladium Books®, Spring/Summer 2025 – Folks are loving Palladium’s new, printed, color catalog. There’s just something about holding a physical catalog in your hand, especially one as fun and colorful as this one. Due to popular request, we’ve made it available for purchase. The price is what it cost Palladium to print them. Enjoy.

  • Full color, 8½ x 11 inch (magazine size), glossy paper stock, beautiful color.

  • The 48 page catalog describes and shows nearly the entire RPG library and features the TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux Edition on the cover and the first few pages.

  • $2.50 retail – 48 pages – Cat. No. C2025-1

BACK in Stock: Yin-Sloth Jungles, Updated and Expanded, 2nd Edition Rules – The epic jungle adventure book is back. 15 O.C.C.s (like the Beastmaster, Holy Crusader, Undead Hunter, and Witch Hunter), 18 jungle people and monsters, new and expanded Shamans and their magic, the Battle of the Gods, setting overview, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 459. Note: Yin-Sloth Expeditions with 30+ maps, notable locations and a lot of adventures and adventure hooks is coming soon.
Rifts Vampire Kingdoms

BACK in Stock: Rifts Vampire Kingdoms – Everything you need to know about Rifts vampires, variant types, vampire abilities, combat notes and henchmen, plus the Hero Vampire, Deluded Vampire, Vampire Hunters, vampire slaying weapons, monsters, town creation rules, the cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, and more. $26.99 retail – 224 pages – Cat. No. 802-E.
Nightbane Dark Designs

BACK in Stock: Nightbane® Dark Designs – This Nightbane focused book collects and expands upon Nightbane Morphus Tables (18 in all), plus offers 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, Talent creation and conversion rules, Ancient Nightbane, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 736.

300+ RPG products on DriveThru – a dozen unique world settings – one game system – endless possibilities. No other game company offers game worlds for so many different genres. Best of all, learn to play one Palladium RPG and you can play them all, because each uses the same basic core rules and combat. There are differences, but the fundamentals are the same. This also means you can bring characters, villains, monsters, powers, magic, weapons, gear, and adventure ideas from one setting into another or mash them together!

In addition to PDF titles for entire game lines like Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, After the Bomb®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Dead Reign® (zombies), Nightbane® (Urban Fantasy), Rifts Chaos Earth®, Systems Failure™, Splicers®, RECON®, The Rifter® #1-85, and others, there are Game Master and player aids, character generators, paper minis, map packs, and FREE Previews of books like Creature Feature™, Dead Reign, Coalition Manhunters, Titan Robotics™, Rifts Bestiary Volume One, World Books, Dimension Books, and more to give you a glimpse of what’s in the book. Enjoy endless adventures across the Megaverse®.

Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store

I am adding new collectibles of all kinds to my Ebay store every few weeks. Some are Palladium negatives, rare and out of print books, original Palladium artwork, prints, posters, as well as other collectible toys, action figures, Nightmare Before Christmas items, one-of-a-kind proofreader copies, books, and other good stuff – including Erick Wujcik’s rare and sought after Amberzine #12-15. Check in every week or so to see what’s new. All items come from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection.

One-of-a-kind Palladium Books negatives (special and rare collectibles). Negatives are always very popular items at the Palladium Open House, Gen Con, and conventions, and are catching on as rare collectibles, unique in and of themselves. Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed.

  • Each negative is truly unique, attractive, and fun to have.

  • Own a piece of Palladium Books and RPG history you will treasure.

  • Each was used to print the very book you may have in your collection (1981-2004).

  • Each is signed in silver ink by Kevin Siembieda and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

  • Each negative is a one-of-a-kind work of art (on rare occasions, two-of-a-kind if a page or section of pages were replaced or a second edition was made).

  • Looks great matted or framed! Fits an 8x10 inch matt opening. Each neg is roughly 8 ½ x 11 inches.

  • Prices vary depending on the title, the art, and quality of the negative. Note: Many have scratches, or blemishes, and/or an opaque medium on the negative. Still, they look great and are a piece of RPG history. We recommend you carefully examine the photographs of each item to avoid disappointment. The negatives of many books are sold out or were never available.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Thoughts on creating RPG adventures

Sean, Matthew, and I are busy working on various books and reviewing various manuscripts from freelance writers. In addition, several of the most recent chats on Legion of Myth and Palladium’s YouTube interviews (you won’t see them for months) have dealt with creating and running RPG adventures. All of which has prompted me to write this little discussion about creating game material for your personal RPG campaign or for publication.

Being creative and weaving coherent and compelling stories can be tricky business. It doesn’t make much difference whether you are writing a professional RPG book or an adventure for yourself and your friends, because the same basic principles apply to both. Sean and I often say things like: Think big, unleash your imagination, think outside the box, have fun with it, write for your audience, and trust your gut,  but what does any of that actually mean?

Think big: This doesn’t necessarily mean something massive in scale and scope that’s a zillion pages or super-powerful. It means don’t limit your thinking on any subject. Consider your many options and then explore them in depth. Try to consider all the possibilities, and then ask yourself, what if I took it to the next level? And then, what’s the level after that? Heck, shoot for the sky. No, the moon. No, Mars! No, the next galaxy! Get the idea?

Unleash your imagination: This may sound like it’s the same as Think Big, and they do go hand in hand, but they are different. It means don’t inflict yourself with self-imposed boundaries and limitations. Look at everything as a fun challenge. Explore all the possibilities from every angle and various degrees, and then consider the impossible! Erick and I – and now Sean and I – cut loose and go wild when spitballing ideas. We let the ideas fly unchecked. Nothing is too crazy or too outlandish at this stage. Everything is an exploration of ideas. What if … is a constant refrain along with or how about …? Nothing is off the table, because we can rein it all in, edit, and throw away ideas that don’t work, later. Now is the time to explore ideas in a big way and consider their infinite possibilities. Sometimes the ideas fly so fast and furious, and the adrenaline is so high, that we feel exhausted when we’re done. We keep the best idea(s), file away other cool ideas for possible future use, and get about developing and finetuning the ideas we keep. It’s nice to have a person with whom you can bounce off ideas and get strong feedback, but this process works on  your own too.

Think outside the box: Once you have your grand idea, this is where you challenge yourself to make it more interesting or to feel new, exciting, different, unexpected, and fun. That last word, fun, is where write for your audience comes into play, because you need to be asking yourself what will be fun and exciting for your audience. By the way, challenge yourself to make even the small ideas and little things interesting and fun.

Have fun with it! Challenge yourself as a writer to create dynamic settings, lore, villains, character classes,  and, well, everything! Even the most basic and mundane characters and concepts need some flourish and context to make them feel unique and important. Personally, I love taking the familiar and giving it a twist that will surprise and please the audience. For example, I once had someone say to me, “Kevin, zombies are just animated dead, how much can you write about them?” If you take a look at the Dead Reign RPG, you’ll see there is quite a bit you can write about them.

That was one of the fun challenges of Dead Reign, how to capture the most interesting and popular tropes for such creatures and make the zombies feel unique, fun, and terrifying. The terrifying is not just the description and art for each different type of zombie, but is also built into many of the game mechanics like the zombie moan and the convergence, amongst others. I don’t look at any of this as a problem or a chore, but as a fun creative opportunity.

Two other challenges with Dead Reign were the tone and presentation of the material in the book. I chose to present it from the viewpoint of Brad Ashley, a legendary zombie fighter who has written, printed, and distributed (as best he can) a survival guide for others trying to survive in this dangerous world.. This paints the RPG as a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide,  which makes it more fun, compelling, and hopeful. Hopeful, because Brad is a survivor offering tips to people (the players) on how they can also survive and fight zombies.

An Insider fun tactic. I sometimes drop little fun things or inside jokes into some of my books. In the case of Dead Reign, Brad Ashley’s name is a composite of the two main artists, Nick Bradshaw and Amy L. Ashbaugh. The Timrek giant frog monster in Monsters & Animals is Kermit spelled backwards. I also like to name secondary and background characters, locations, taverns, and shops after friends, family, and Palladium fans. There’s a ton of the latter in the two Rifts Northern Gun books, and island of Wuj, in Palladium Fantasy, is a nod to Erick Wujcik. Rifts Heroes of the Megaverse has 7-8 NPC  cosmic heroes inspired by real life loved ones including Erick, Julius, Kathy, Alex, etc., and a couple of fans. I write games and game sourcebooks, and games are supposed to be fun, joyful experiences for the end user, but they should also be fun for the creator.

Write for your audience: Which means not only do you need to know and understand your audience, but what they want. And then give it to them. You need to know what gets role-players excited and gives them the thrill ride they’re looking for. I find that it helps if YOU are a member of your audience. Meaning if you’re writing an RPG or sourcebook that you are a gamer and fan of the genre/setting/characters you’re writing.  As a fan, you know what you love about it and that’s probably reflective of your audience. However, we all have our biases, so you need to think about your audience and not just your own likes and dislikes. I’m always thinking about what gamers would get excited about.

Of course, when you write role-playing games and sourcebooks, you are actually writing for two audiences, the Game Master and the players. G.M.s want meat: cool villains and monsters, exciting plot hooks and lore, and a strong setting from which they build adventures for the players. Players want weapons, gadgets, magic, powers, and challenges that make their characters better – faster, powerful, and more experienced – all wrapped in a fun and  memorable experience.

Trust your gut. It’s easy to overthink and analyze your creation. At some point  you need to trust yourself that you’re doing a good job at delivering all of the above. Yes, you want to be self-critical, learn and improve, but  you also need to know, or feel, when it is fun and works. I’m constantly role-playing inside my head as I’m creating. I imagine what my game group and notable past players would like or dislike; what they would love to encounter, fight, and defeat.  I know what they consider exciting and fun. Likewise, when I’m creating a new power, spell, weapon, etc.,  I imagine how my power-gaming and rules lawyer pals would abuse or try to break it, and I rewrite it to prevent such unintended outcomes.

Oh, and … research, research, research! 90% of everything is research. Research is easier than ever with Google and A.I. assistance these days. Research everything! It will give you ideas about all kinds of things: animal biology and behavior to inspire monsters and alien creatures, history that inspires adventures, myths and legends to inspire spells, powers, characters, skills, and more monsters, and on, and on. Let everything light up your imagination.

There are other details and considerations in making and running a good game, but I hope the above helps you to get started and move forward. To me, role-playing games are the ultimate experience in cooperative gaming and storytelling. There’s nothing else like it. So, unleash your imaginations, have fun, and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Game Designer, Writer and Friend

Palladium Books® – Flash Sale & Weekly Update – March 27, 2025

Weekly Update

ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE

BY KEVIN SIEMBIEDA

Palladium Books® – Flash Sale & Weekly Update – March 27, 2025

You still have time to get in on the Flash Sale offering unprecedented discounts. It is inspired by the National Reading Month of March which encourages and celebrates the joy of reading. Consider this sale part of the celebration! RPG sourcebooks 70% and 50% off, and part of our joy about all the good things happening behind the scenes and coming your way in the months ahead.

With this mind-blowing sale, there’s not much more to talk about except, please join the live chat with me (Kevin Siembieda) and Sean Owen Roberson on Legion of Myth at 2:00 PM Sunday, March 30. We are happy to answer your questions, but the main theme of this chat will be using Palladium rules as a framework and kit-bashing two games/settings. Always fun.

Oh, and take a look at Closing Thoughts for what I hope are words of encouragement.

FLASH SALE – Super-Savings 70% and 50% discounts – 6 days only – Sale ends Monday, March 31, 2025.

Palladium has NEVER offered a sale with savings like this (and may never do so again!), but we have a lot to celebrate and we want to share our excitement with you via this sale. These books make a wonderful birthday present or surprise Easter gift for kids and teens who like to read. Spread the word and enjoy.

Most After the Bomb Sourcebooks – because you know you want them! The perfect accessory for After the Bomb RPG, Heroes Unlimited, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness and TMNT Transdimensional Adventures (both coming soon).

The Official History of Palladium Books on YouTube

Please continue to enjoy and spread the word about the Official History of Palladium Books on the Palladium YouTube channel. Every YouTube episode is fun, candid, and offers insight and behind the scenes information from the publisher/creator of your favorite Palladium role-playing games, Kevin Siembieda. Hear fun stories, details and thought processes you probably never heard before. We are now getting into some of our most famous and beloved games: Palladium Fantasy RPG and Secrets of the Defilers have been a big hit. Behind the scenes of Heroes Unlimited RPG is the most recent episode, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG releasing today. Did you know that TMNT & Other Strangeness was Mirage Studio’s very first license, or that Kevin introduced Eastman and Laird to licensing agent Mark Freedman who helped take the Turtles mainstream? Get the behind the scenes story straight from the guy who was there.

New Episodes coming on the Official History of Palladium Books with Kevin Siembieda & J-M DeFoggi. Behind the scenes insight into the making of one Palladium blockbuster RPG of the 1980s and 1990s after another.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG – today, March 27th.

  • Secrets of the Defilers, Part 4: Battle through Hades – April 10th.

  • Robotech – April 24th.

  • Ramon K. Perez interview – fan favorite comic book and game artist Ramon K. Perez – May 8th.

  • Watch for a new episode every other week and enjoy.

Live chat with Kevin Siembieda and Sean on Legion of Myth, Sunday, March 30th, 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

Sean is back and we are kicking everything into high gear. We’ll talk a bit about the latest at Palladium and answer some questions, but the subject of this Sunday’s chat is using Palladium rules as a framework for any setting and kit-bashing two (or more) games/settings like Nightbane and Palladium Fantasy into something truly unique. Which is so fun. Spread the word and join the conversation.

Glitterbois Chats are back starting April

More Glitterbois Chats with Kevin Siembieda are starting up again in April. Keep your

ears open for them.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Kickstarter Backers

You, and you alone, can still add to your selection of Kickstarter Exclusives and upgrade to higher pledge levels to get limited edition exclusives. But you must do so soon, before the Pledge Manager is closed! The Kickstarter Exclusives are freakin’ awesome and many are super-limited, especially the variant covers. For example, the two Mutagen Green Editions sport brand new artwork by Kevin Eastman AND Peter Laird created specially for these two collector’s editions. A rare and triumphant collaboration by the two legendary Ninja Turtle creators that TMNT super-fans will desire for years to come – if they can even find one on the secondary collector’s market – because they will be so limited and rare! But Backers can still order them for another few weeks. Backers, use your unique position and do NOT miss out on what are certain to become high-priced collector items. You’ll be glad you did whether they become a cherished part of your collection or you sell them later for a profit. Also remember, the exclusive print sets and poker deck are only available for the higher pledge tiers.

Game Masters Needed to Run Palladium Gen Con Game Events – we need YOU

Palladium is looking for experienced Game Masters to run Palladium RPG events at Gen Con. That can be any of our game worlds using our rules as well as Rifts® for Savage Worlds. If you were thinking about running games at Gen Con or want to help out Palladium, please coordinate with Palladium Books in order to get a dedicated room and other perks like a free Game Master badge, and discounts on your purchases at the Palladium Books booth.

To earn a free GM badge, all you need to do is run 4 games with 6 or more players in each game, 4 hours each. This will earn you enough credits with Gen Con to earn a GM badge - $155 value!

We hope to add to our usual crew of Gen Con Game Masters to run Palladium game events for any Palladium setting:

  • Rifts®

  • Rifts® for Savage Worlds

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® & Other Strangeness

  • After the Bomb®

  • Chaos Earth®

  • Palladium Fantasy RPG®

  • Heroes Unlimited

  • Ninjas & Superspies

  • Nightbane®

  • Dead Reign®

  • Beyond the Supernatural and any of our other settings.

We need your commitment, game description and info by March 28. Send to Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Game Masters and Game Event Descriptions NEEDED by March 28, 2025.

(See Gen Con’s website for details about the info needed for each game listing; G.M.’s name, number of players, length of time, name of game, difficulty level, etc.) Submitting your games to us enables Palladium to coordinate and submit them as a batch to Gen Con and guarantees to have your event listed in the onsite Gen Con Program Book. Being listed onsite is very important to have full attendance for your event. This date gives us enough time to compile and send Gen Con everything they need. Thank you!

Prospective Game Masters, please contact Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Now Available!
Palladium Spring-Summer 2025 Catalog

NEW! Catalog of Palladium Books®, Spring/Summer 2025 – Folks are loving Palladium’s new, printed, color catalog. There’s just something about holding a physical catalog in your hand, especially one as fun and colorful as this one. Due to popular request, we’ve made it available for purchase. The price is what it cost Palladium to print them. Enjoy.

  • Full color, 8½ x 11 inch (magazine size), glossy paper stock, beautiful color.

  • The 48 page catalog describes and shows nearly the entire RPG library and features the TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux Edition on the cover and the first few pages.

  • $2.50 retail – 48 pages – Cat. No. C2025-1

BACK in Stock: Yin-Sloth Jungles, Updated and Expanded, 2nd Edition Rules – The epic jungle adventure book is back. 15 O.C.C.s (like the Beastmaster, Holy Crusader, Undead Hunter, and Witch Hunter), 18 jungle people and monsters, new and expanded Shamans and their magic, the Battle of the Gods, setting overview, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 459. Note: Yin-Sloth Expeditions with 30+ maps, notable locations and a lot of adventures and adventure hooks is coming soon.
Rifts Vampire Kingdoms

BACK in Stock: Rifts Vampire Kingdoms – Everything you need to know about Rifts vampires, variant types, vampire abilities, combat notes and henchmen, plus the Hero Vampire, Deluded Vampire, Vampire Hunters, vampire slaying weapons, monsters, town creation rules, the cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, and more. $26.99 retail – 224 pages – Cat. No. 802-E.
Nightbane Dark Designs

BACK in Stock: Nightbane® Dark Designs – This Nightbane focused book collects and expands upon Nightbane Morphus Tables (18 in all), plus offers 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, Talent creation and conversion rules, Ancient Nightbane, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 736.

300+ RPG products on DriveThru – a dozen unique world settings – one game system – endless possibilities. No other game company offers game worlds for so many different genres. Best of all, learn to play one Palladium RPG and you can play them all, because each uses the same basic core rules and combat. There are differences, but the fundamentals are the same. This also means you can bring characters, villains, monsters, powers, magic, weapons, gear, and adventure ideas from one setting into another or mash them together!

In addition to PDF titles for entire game lines like Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, After the Bomb®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Dead Reign® (zombies), Nightbane® (Urban Fantasy), Rifts Chaos Earth®, Systems Failure™, Splicers®, RECON®, The Rifter® #1-85, and others, there are Game Master and player aids, character generators, paper minis, map packs, and FREE Previews of books like Creature Feature™, Dead Reign, Coalition Manhunters, Titan Robotics™, Rifts Bestiary Volume One, World Books, Dimension Books, and more to give you a glimpse of what’s in the book. Enjoy endless adventures across the Megaverse®.

Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store

I am adding new collectibles of all kinds to my Ebay store every few weeks. Some are Palladium negatives, rare and out of print books, original Palladium artwork, prints, posters, as well as other collectible toys, action figures, Nightmare Before Christmas items, one-of-a-kind proofreader copies, books, and other good stuff – including Erick Wujcik’s rare and sought after Amberzine #12-15. Check in every week or so to see what’s new. All items come from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection.

One-of-a-kind Palladium Books negatives (special and rare collectibles). Negatives are always very popular items at the Palladium Open House, Gen Con, and conventions, and are catching on as rare collectibles, unique in and of themselves. Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed.

  • Each negative is truly unique, attractive, and fun to have.

  • Own a piece of Palladium Books and RPG history you will treasure.

  • Each was used to print the very book you may have in your collection (1981-2004).

  • Each is signed in silver ink by Kevin Siembieda and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

  • Each negative is a one-of-a-kind work of art (on rare occasions, two-of-a-kind if a page or section of pages were replaced or a second edition was made).

  • Looks great matted or framed! Fits an 8x10 inch matt opening. Each neg is roughly 8 ½ x 11 inches.

  • Prices vary depending on the title, the art, and quality of the negative. Note: Many have scratches, or blemishes, and/or an opaque medium on the negative. Still, they look great and are a piece of RPG history. We recommend you carefully examine the photographs of each item to avoid disappointment. The negatives of many books are sold out or were never available.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

You are not alone

I talk with many people of all ages and every walk of life. It disturbs me that so many feel lost and afraid, especially those who despair and fear for the future of our world. Please don’t despair. I promise you the human spirit is more resilient and stronger than you imagine. The majority of people I see are good and caring. Please don’t let political rhetoric, greed, and fear-mongering isolate you or make you fret. Though the media might suggest otherwise, the good outweighs the bad and the ugly, especially if you, yourself, seek out beauty and joy.

Here’s a secret: You, yes you, hold the power to change the world. I mean it. Do so by example. By being the change you want to see.

Be the light. Be the kinder, better, more caring person you wish for the world. Wear a smile, be empathetic, be patient and just. Win one person over at a time by your good example. You can make a difference by striving to be the best you can be. You don’t have to get up on a soapbox, preach, protest, or say a word. All you need to do is be your best you and try to be appreciative, respectful and empathetic toward others. Kindness and compassion are contagious and breed reciprocal positivity.

Does that sound too simple or naive? It’s not. We and the world around us are what we make them. I knew a woman who transformed her Michigan backyard into a tropical paradise every spring and brought boundless joy to thousands of children and adults throughout the month of October. She did it by being true to herself and letting her light shine via quiet acts of kindness and generous creativity. This one, unassuming person touched and inspired friends, family, and complete strangers with simple words and actions that made the people around her feel seen and appreciated. She gifted them with joyful moments they’ll carry always.

She wasn’t a politician, educator, doctor, or inventor. In fact, she would have told you that she was nobody. At least not anybody important. And yet, there’s an army of people to whom she was very important.

I speak of Kathy Simmons, who passed away one year ago. No matter how grim or dire her situation – and she had plenty of them throughout her life – she found a way to laugh and survive without harming a soul. Mom, Dad, Erick Wujcik, and Julius Rosenstein were the same way. They never let hardship crush their spirit. Somehow, they always managed to find and embrace joy in life’s simplest pleasures no matter how dark or threatening the storm clouds.

Kathy and these other amazing “nobodies” – who were everything to me – taught me how to live, love, hold joy and laughter in my heart, and keep going no matter what. I use my memories of them and lessons learned through their example to fuel the courage to try to be my best self.

If we can do it, you can do it too. I know you can. Please don’t let the stress of life and the pettiness, cruelty, and unfairness that can sometimes accompany it, dampen your spirit and take away your joy. Hold close to you the people and things that bring you happiness. Never let anyone convince you that they aren’t important. Never believe the things that light up your imagination and bring you joy and camaraderie are stupid and worthless. Lose yourself in those stupid games that make you laugh and your heart sing. Hold on to the precious friends and the memories of wondrous adventures they have brought into your life.

And never forget that you are not nobody. Know that you are, indeed, special and important in the universe. Which is how one person can make a profound difference, whether that difference affects a single soul or millions.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Game Designer, Writer and Friend

Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – March 21, 2025

Weekly Update

ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE

BY KEVIN SIEMBIEDA

Palladium Books® – Weekly Update

March 21, 2025

I hope you were able to take advantage of one or more of those big sales that ended Wednesday night. Our thanks to those of you who support our licensing partner AudioRPG’s efforts to bring RPG worlds to a new medium. I think next month’s offer from them will be the Nightbane® RPG itself. If AudioRPG sees enough interest, they’ll finish the Nightbane RPG series and begin to bring other Palladium Role-Playing Game lines to life: Dead Reign®, Palladium Fantasy, and even Rifts® will be considered. We think audiobooks are a dynamic, new media to reach gamers and potential new fans.

REMINDER: Gamers and Retailers can still place pre-orders for the two mainstream Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strange RPG books as well as the Black White and Red editions, the Game Master Screen, and Mutagen Green Dice Set in the TMNT & Other Strangeness Pre-Order Store. And all at the lower Kickstarter prices, but not for very much longer. Order before the Pledge Manager is closed in a few weeks.

Backers, you hold great power! You, and you alone, can still add to your selection of Kickstarter Exclusives and upgrade to higher pledge levels to get limited edition exclusives. But you must do so soon, before the Pledge Manager is closed! The Kickstarter Exclusives are freakin’ awesome and many are super-limited, especially the variant covers. For example, the two Mutagen Green Editions sport brand new artwork by Kevin Eastman AND Peter Laird created specially for these two collector’s editions. A rare and triumphant collaboration by the two legendary Ninja Turtle creators that TMNT super-fans will desire for years to come – if they can even find one on the secondary collector’s market – because they will be so limited and rare! But Backers can still order them for another few weeks. Backers, use your unique position and do NOT miss out on what are certain to become high-priced collector items. You’ll be glad you did whether they become a cherished part of your collection or you sell them later for a profit. Also remember, the exclusive print sets and poker deck are only available for the higher pledge tiers.

OTHER FUN. Please enjoy and spread the word about the Official History of Palladium Books on the Palladium YouTube channel. Each YouTube episode is fun, candid, and offers insight and behind the scenes information from the publisher/creator of your favorite Palladium role-playing games, Kevin Siembieda. Hear fun stories, details and thought processes you probably never heard before. We are now getting into some of our most famous and beloved games: Palladium Fantasy RPG and Secrets of the Defilers have been a big hit. Behind the scenes of Heroes Unlimited RPG is the most recent episode.

COMING on the Official History of Palladium Books with Kevin Siembieda & J-M DeFoggi: Palladium’s era of one blockbuster RPG after another. Each known and loved by fans worldwide.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG – March 27th.

  • Robotech – April 10th.

  • Watch for a new episode every other week and enjoy.

NEWS! Live chat with Kevin Siembieda and Sean on Legion of Myth, Sunday, March 30th, 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Sean is back as we kick everything into high gear. We’ll talk a bit about the latest at Palladium before diving into Palladium rules as a framework and kit-bashing two games/settings like Nightbane and Palladium Fantasy. Which is so fun. Spread the word and join the conversation.

Game Masters Needed to Run Palladium Gen Con Game Events – we need YOU

Palladium is looking for experienced Game Masters to run Palladium RPG events at Gen Con. That can be any of our game worlds using our rules as well as Rifts® for Savage Worlds. If you were thinking about running games at Gen Con or want to help out Palladium, please coordinate with Palladium Books in order to get a dedicated room and other perks like a free Game Master badge, and discounts on your purchases at the Palladium Books booth.

To earn a free GM badge, all you need to do is run 4 games with 6 or more players in each game, 4 hours each. This will earn you enough credits with Gen Con to earn a GM badge - $155 value!

We hope to add to our usual crew of Gen Con Game Masters to run Palladium game events for any Palladium setting:

  • Rifts®

  • Rifts® for Savage Worlds

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® & Other Strangeness

  • After the Bomb®

  • Chaos Earth®

  • Palladium Fantasy RPG®

  • Heroes Unlimited

  • Ninjas & Superspies

  • Nightbane®

  • Dead Reign®

  • Beyond the Supernatural and any of our other settings.

We need your commitment, game description and info by March 28. Send to Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Game Masters and Game Event Descriptions NEEDED by March 28, 2025.

(See Gen Con’s website for details about the info needed for each game listing; G.M.’s name, number of players, length of time, name of game, difficulty level, etc.) Submitting your games to us enables Palladium to coordinate and submit them as a batch to Gen Con and guarantees to have your event listed in the onsite Gen Con Program Book. Being listed onsite is very important to have full attendance for your event. This date gives us enough time to compile and send Gen Con everything they need. Thank you!

Prospective Game Masters, please contact Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Now Available!
Palladium Spring-Summer 2025 Catalog

NEW! Catalog of Palladium Books®, Spring/Summer 2025 – Folks are loving Palladium’s new, printed, color catalog. There’s just something about holding a physical catalog in your hand, especially one as fun and colorful as this one. Due to popular request, we’ve made it available for purchase. The price is what it cost Palladium to print them. Enjoy.

  • Full color, 8½ x 11 inch (magazine size), glossy paper stock, beautiful color.

  • The 48 page catalog describes and shows nearly the entire RPG library and features the TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux Edition on the cover and the first few pages.

  • $2.50 retail – 48 pages – Cat. No. C2025-1

BACK in Stock: Yin-Sloth Jungles, Updated and Expanded, 2nd Edition Rules – The epic jungle adventure book is back. 15 O.C.C.s (like the Beastmaster, Holy Crusader, Undead Hunter, and Witch Hunter), 18 jungle people and monsters, new and expanded Shamans and their magic, the Battle of the Gods, setting overview, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 459. Note: Yin-Sloth Expeditions with 30+ maps, notable locations and a lot of adventures and adventure hooks is coming soon.
Rifts Vampire Kingdoms

BACK in Stock: Rifts Vampire Kingdoms – Everything you need to know about Rifts vampires, variant types, vampire abilities, combat notes and henchmen, plus the Hero Vampire, Deluded Vampire, Vampire Hunters, vampire slaying weapons, monsters, town creation rules, the cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, and more. $26.99 retail – 224 pages – Cat. No. 802-E.
Nightbane Dark Designs

BACK in Stock: Nightbane® Dark Designs – This Nightbane focused book collects and expands upon Nightbane Morphus Tables (18 in all), plus offers 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, Talent creation and conversion rules, Ancient Nightbane, and more. $24.99 retail – 160 pages – Cat. No. 736.

300+ RPG products on DriveThru – a dozen unique world settings – one game system – endless possibilities. No other game company offers game worlds for so many different genres. Best of all, learn to play one Palladium RPG and you can play them all, because each uses the same basic core rules and combat. There are differences, but the fundamentals are the same. This also means you can bring characters, villains, monsters, powers, magic, weapons, gear, and adventure ideas from one setting into another or mash them together!

In addition to PDF titles for entire game lines like Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, After the Bomb®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Dead Reign® (zombies), Nightbane® (Urban Fantasy), Rifts Chaos Earth®, Systems Failure™, Splicers®, RECON®, The Rifter® #1-85, and others, there are Game Master and player aids, character generators, paper minis, map packs, and FREE Previews of books like Creature Feature™, Dead Reign, Coalition Manhunters, Titan Robotics™, Rifts Bestiary Volume One, World Books, Dimension Books, and more to give you a glimpse of what’s in the book. Enjoy endless adventures across the Megaverse®.

Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store

I am adding new collectibles of all kinds to my Ebay store every few weeks. Some are Palladium negatives, rare and out of print books, original Palladium artwork, prints, posters, as well as other collectible toys, action figures, Nightmare Before Christmas items, one-of-a-kind proofreader copies, books, and other good stuff – including Erick Wujcik’s rare and sought after Amberzine #12-15. Check in every week or so to see what’s new. All items come from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection.

One-of-a-kind Palladium Books negatives (special and rare collectibles). Negatives are always very popular items at the Palladium Open House, Gen Con, and conventions, and are catching on as rare collectibles, unique in and of themselves. Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed.

  • Each negative is truly unique, attractive, and fun to have.

  • Own a piece of Palladium Books and RPG history you will treasure.

  • Each was used to print the very book you may have in your collection (1981-2004).

  • Each is signed in silver ink by Kevin Siembieda and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

  • Each negative is a one-of-a-kind work of art (on rare occasions, two-of-a-kind if a page or section of pages were replaced or a second edition was made).

  • Looks great matted or framed! Fits an 8x10 inch matt opening. Each neg is roughly 8 ½ x 11 inches.

  • Prices vary depending on the title, the art, and quality of the negative. Note: Many have scratches, or blemishes, and/or an opaque medium on the negative. Still, they look great and are a piece of RPG history. We recommend you carefully examine the photographs of each item to avoid disappointment. The negatives of many books are sold out or were never available.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Palladium is a buzzing hive of activity

The frenetic energy is off the charts here at Palladium Books as we are all busy putting the finishing touches on all things Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and moving forward with numerous other projects. Yes, that includes Yin-Sloth Expeditions and Bestiary Volume 2 (I have all your Palladium Insider pre-orders on my desk), amongst others.

As I noted earlier, Gamers and Retailers can still place pre-orders for the mainstream books, Game Shield, and Mutagen Green Dice Set in the TMNT & Other Strangeness Pre-Order Store at the lower Kickstarter prices, but not for very much longer.

Backers, you are in the cat-bird seat! You can still add and change your Kickstarter selections to add exclusives or upgrade to higher tiers, before the Pledge Manager is closed. That will be happening soon, so you need to act now. The Kickstarter Exclusives are freakin’ amazing and many are super-limited in quantities, especially the variant covers. At the risk of repeating myself, all the variant covers are beautiful. Kevin Eastman did the variant color cover for the RPG and Sophie Campbell did the variant color cover for Transdimensional Adventures; I love them both and so will you. The two Mutagen Green Editions are impressive because they are a rare collaboration featuring brand new artwork by Kevin Eastman AND Peter Laird created special just for these two collector’s Redux Editions. We were blown away by this beautiful gesture and their artistry. Kevin and Peter still create magic together. This is something you will cherish. Moreover, these editions with variant covers are so limited in quantity, they are likely to become coveted collector’s items. But Backers can still order them for another few weeks. Take advantage of that while you still can. And I personally recommend the metallic Shredder dice set. I just love them and the Mutagen Green Dice. Add to and upgrade your pledge while you still can.

Things are brewing here at Palladium. There are days that we are so excited we can barely contain ourselves. I wish I could tell you all about our plans for long awaited book releases, new business partners, new writers, new freelance artists, new covers, new licensing opportunities, new channels of distribution, and one secret project that even blows my mind! You’ll hear more about it when we see if we can get it off the ground via crowdfunding later this year, after the TMNT & Other Strangeness Kickstarter is fulfilled. I suspect you’ll be seeing 2-3 crowdfunders coming from Palladium this year. You’ll start getting glimpses of these things soon.

Until then, please don’t let politics and the affairs of the world get you down. Find refuge and escape in your favorite Palladium role-playing games. Pull out some of your old books to re-read or purchase a title you don’t have yet to set your imagination on fire. Then, join a game or strike up an RPG campaign for any of Palladium’s world settings. Rifts is epic, but Dead Reign is a great introductory setting for new players and so much fun. I use Dead Reign all the time to introduce new players to the Palladium game system. My personal go to game worlds are Palladium Fantasy, Beyond the Supernatural, and Dead Reign, because they are so fun, familiar (yet unique) and easy to run anytime, anywhere.

I have a lot to get back to, so I need to run. See ya next week for more news and goings on here in Palladiumville. As always, keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Game Designer, Writer and Friend

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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.

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