Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – February 16, 2024
One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure
By Kevin Siembieda
Are things quiet in your neck of the woods?
Are you caught in the dead of winter with nothing much to do but wait for spring and new game releases to arrive?
When it comes to Palladium Books, what you are experiencing is the calm before the storm. A storm of new products. I assure you, behind the scenes, Palladium is abuzz with activity. We are coordinating with artists, writers, and new freelancers of all sorts as well as new employees coming on board! Yes, you heard that right, new employees. See Sean’s Closing Thoughts for more details.
There are 14 TMNT and Other Strangeness Kickstarter products alone! The two TMNT books, two variant cover editions, some new mutant animals, a new adventure by me and Sophie Campbell, and the Black, White & Red edition magnificently toned and colored by Jeremy Colwell, plus two sets of miniatures (21 minis total and my mind was blown when I saw the breathtaking final poses the other day), 6 sets of dice, the G.M. screen, a TMNT poker deck, print sets, as well as work on the final colors by the likes of Mike Majestic (amazing), Luis Antonio Delgado (the incredible Last Ronin colorist), and Jeremy Colwell (outstanding), final TMNT tribute art and colors, inviting additional creators to make tribute art and written remembrances, sending out contracts and payments, lining things up with the printer, and coordinating it all. Sean and I have been crazy busy. We all have.
We want to show you everything TMNT right now, but the final art, final approvals, and production aspects are taking a little longer, which is why the Backerkit pledge manager has not gone live just yet. But oh, my gosh, you will love these books, game screen, dice, and Kickstarter exclusives. We are pulling out all the stops.
There are a lot more books and products planned for 2024 than TMNT & Other Strangeness. We had a big meeting a couple days ago discussing new product releases and our crowdfunding projects for the next two years. We canceled a couple of unannounced plans that were unknown to you and moved up a few others. As you know, Yin-Sloth Expeditions, Rifts® Bestiary Volume Two, and Rifts® Antarctica are all in the pipeline, but if all goes well there are other books we hope to surprise you with. And that does not include new and fan requested reissues of mugs, T-shirts, and art prints.
Conventions & Events: We are also coordinating for the Ann Arbor Library Game Designers event (April), Gen Con (July/August), the Alliance Open House (trade show, September), and Granite State Convention (September).
More Podcasts & YouTube interviews and appearances by me and Sean and other Palladium creators are being planned. Don’t miss the regular Palladium Books discussions that take place nearly every week on Legion of Myth and The Glitterbois, among others (sorry, I can’t keep up with them all).
The Early Days of Palladium Books podcast with Kevin Siembieda on The Glitterbois. The first one is done and available now. I thought it went pretty well despite my having a cold. There were will be several in this series (unless nobody listens). I believe the next podcast will delve into Palladium Fantasy, followed by Heroes Unlimited, TMNT, Robotech (1980s RPG and sourcebooks), and all the rest. We are tackling subjects in a rough chronological order. I’m having fun skipping down Memory Lane with some fun facts coming out that usually don’t during more general interviews. If you’d like to know why I did certain things, what my thinking was, and how things came to be, this series of interviews should cover a lot of it. Heck, if you have some burning questions, let NPC and the guys at Glitterbois know and maybe they’ll ask.
What’s hot at Palladium? Hardcovers, across the spectrum; all things Rifts®, of course; and Palladium Fantasy. Everything is selling well, but Fantasy has been especially hot this week.
The Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, and After the Bomb® sale ended Wednesday morning. We appreciate your support and continuing excitement.
BACK IN STOCK! After the Bomb® RPG – available now
After the Bomb® (AtB) RPG – Erick Wujcik’s last RPG masterpiece (2001). Turn any animal into an intelligent humanoid character. Play as a stand-alone game setting or create heroes (and villains) for TMNT & Other Strangeness, Heroes Unlimited, mutant animals for Rifts Lone Star, aliens for Phase World, and D-Bees for Rifts. Heck, even use them as inspiration for your Nightbane Morphus. There are a lot of uses for this mutant and idea-filled RPG.
- Stats for 100+ mutant animals.
- 52 animal powers.
- 33 animal psionics, Chimeras, and more.
- Empire of Humanity, world information, great art, and more.
- 224 pages – Cat. No. 503 – available now.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Coalition War Campaign – available now
Rifts® WB 11: Coalition War Campaign – In-depth information about the Coalition States, CS society, police and CS war machine.
- 7 CS power armor suits including the Super-SAMAS.
- 6 CS robots including the Hellraiser and 5 types of Skelebots.
- 16 CS combat vehicles; ground and air.
- Plus CS body armor, weapons, Chi-Town ‘Burbs, D-Bees, and more.
- 224 pages – Cat. No. 821 – available now.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Book of Magic – available now
Rifts® Book of Magic™ – a compendium of magic from across Rifts Earth.
- Nearly 1,000 magic spells; Spell Invocations, Ley Line Magic, Necromancy, Cloud Magic, Elemental Magic, Ocean Magic, and more.
- 400 magic weapons and devices from across Rifts Earth. Automatons, Bio-Borgs, Iron Juggernauts, Rune Weapons, Bio-Wizard weapons, Techno-Wizard devices, talismans, staves, wands, and symbiotes.
- Plus magic tattoos, Nazca Line Magic, herbs, stones, and much more!
- 352 pages of pure magic – Cat. No. 848 – available now. Also available in hardcover.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook – available now
Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook – A compendium of bionics and cybernetics, and info about partial cyborgs, Cyber-Humanoids, combat cyborgs, the Black Market and more.
- 160+ cybernetic systems – weapons, sensors, optics, implants.
- 120+ bionics – weapons, tools, limbs and armor.
- 24 Black Market cybernetics, 47 commercial cybernetics, and some TW Cybernetics.
- 6 City Rat O.C.C.s, plus the Cyber-Snatcher and Cyber-Doc.
- Techno-Wizard Bionics, repair rules, and more.
- 112 pages – Cat. No. 850 – available now.
BACK IN STOCK: Rifts® Conversion Book™ 3: Dark Conversions™ – available now
Dark Conversions features Undead legions, were-beasts, demons, supernatural menaces, Nightbane® conversions, plus Elemental Beings, the Shifter and Witch revisited, adventure ideas and more.
- 120+ monsters, including legions of undead.
- Nightbane® Conversions for use in Rifts®, Phase World®, and Chaos Earth®.
- Conversions for Elemental Beings (Fantasy), Diabolism, Summoning.
- 192 pages – Cat. No. 852 – Available now.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Madhaven – available now
Rifts® Madhaven™ – There may be no place in North America more dangerous than the haunted ruins of New York City. A place of terror and legend, mutants, and ghosts that few have the courage to explore.
- 7 new monstrous and ghostly Entities.
- 8 mutant R.C.C.s.
- 11 monsters.
- The magical Knights of the White Rose, and the incredible healing power of the mystical White Rose found only in Madhaven.
- Plus Techno-Wizard devices, weapons, the ruins and tunnels of Manhattan, and adventure hooks.
- 128 pages – Cat. No. 869 – available now.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Conversion Book One – available now
We were down to the last 2 copies when the reprint arrived. Rifts® Conversion Book One offers conversions for more than 100 classic Palladium monsters and player races from the pages of Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, and more. A fan fave with more than 100,000 copies sold.
- 100+ monsters.
- 40+ player races.
- Plus conversion rules, culture shock and more.
- 192 pages – Cat. No. 803 – available now.
BACK IN STOCK! Rifts® Lone Star – available now
Rifts® World Book 13: Lone Star™ is another fan favorite jam-packed with setting material, cool mutants, villains, and adventure hooks galore.
- The secrets of the Coalition States Lone Star Genetics Complex where Dog Boys are created and trained.
- Variant Dog Boys like Kill Hounds and Sniffers.
- Dog Boy weapons and armor.
- Top Secret CS mutant experiments like Battle Cats, Kill Cats, Ursa-Warriors, Xiticix Killers, and more.
- Meet the mysterious Doctor Desmond Bradford and other CS notables.
- Visit the Pecos Empire, bandit organizations and notable bandit groups and overview of the CS State of Lone Star.
- Plus CS Death Wing, hovercycles, notable heroes, villains, and more.
- Epic 176 pages – Cat. No. 825 – available now.
Back in Stock! Cyberworks™ Collection Hardcover – Available now
Back in stock! It features must-have ARCHIE-Three™ source material gathered into one, big, attractive hardcover edition. This beautifully remastered, redux edition collects three Archie and Rifts® robot sourcebooks plus some extra, related source material for your easy reference. Remastered artwork and typesetting, fan-fave Kevin Long color cover, color end sheets, a five page index, and a great price has made this hardcover collection super-popular. Which is why we can’t keep it in stock for more than a few months at a time. Get yours now. Special offer: To celebrate this book’s return, we have put the Cyberworks Poker Deck on sale (a separate purchase) – Cat. No. 2609 – $10 – a savings of $5 – so get both.
The Cyberworks Collection contains:
- Rifts® Sourcebook One, Revised & Expanded.
- Rifts® Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids®.
- Rifts® Shemarrian Nation™ Sourcebook.
- Rifts® Aftermath Archie-Three™ source material.
- 5 page index in the back of the book.
- Color cover.
- Color end sheets.
- 384 pages – $49.99 retail – color cover hardcover – Cat. No. 900 – available now.
Cyberworks™ Poker Deck – On Sale for $10 for a limited time
The cover art from the original Rifts® Sourcebook One is featured on the back of each card. Color throughout. Attractive and durable.
- Face cards feature iconic Rifts® Cyberworks/Archie 3 artwork (Spades: Cyberworks, Hearts: Shemarrians, Clubs: Mechanoids, Diamonds: Titan Robotics).
- Number cards feature a color energy swirl in the suit and a circuit board pattern.
- Linen textured cards for a nice touch and durability.
- Professional quality playing cards.
- 52 cards plus two Jokers – on SALE for $10.00 (normally $14.99 retail) – Cat. No. 2609 – available now!
T-Shirts Coming Soon
Due to popular demand, Palladium is bringing back two fan-favorite T-Shirts plus a brand new Heroes Unlimited shirt. All available in most sizes. All shirts should become available in February.
- Rifts® Logo T-shirt – The ever-popular Kevin Long Rifts Logo; white printing on a black T-shirt.
- Living the Fantasy T-shirt – Kevin Siembieda’s iconic dragon battling a knight from the original RPG book cover; red printing on a black T-shirt.
- NEW! Heroes Unlimited: Unleash Your Power T-shirt – Heroes Unlimited logo, superhero artwork and the slogan “Unleash Your Power;” white printing on a black T-shirt.
Coffee Mugs Coming Soon
Due to popular demand, Palladium is bringing back two fan-favorite coffee mugs plus a new Heroes Unlimited coffee mug. All items should be become available in February or March.
- Rifts® Logo – The ever-popular Rifts Logo; white printing on a black coffee mug.
- Living the Fantasy – Kevin Siembieda’s iconic dragon battling a knight from the original RPG book cover; red printing on a black mug.
- NEW! Heroes Unlimited: Unleash Your Power – Heroes Unlimited logo and artwork; white printing on a black coffee mug.
Palladium Game Masters Wanted
We need G.M.s to run games at Gen Con. If you were planning or thinking about running games at Gen Con, please coordinate with Palladium Books in order to get a dedicated room and other perks like a discount on your purchase at the Palladium Books Booth!
We are hoping to get our usual crew of Gen Con Game Masters to run Palladium game events again. This can be any Palladium setting:
- Rifts (Palladium or Savage Worlds)
- Chaos Earth
- Palladium Fantasy RPG
- Heroes Unlimited
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- After the Bomb
- Ninjas & Superspies
- Nightbane
- Dead Reign
- Beyond the Supernatural and any of our other settings.
We need your commitment, game description and info by February 28. Send to Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at nmi {at} thedeificnmi.com
Palladium is always looking for NEW Game Masters who would like to run events. As long as you are confident running 6 players at conventions and have experience running good convention games, Palladium Wants YOU!
Run 4 or more games (with 6 or more players in each game) and your Gen Con Admission is free. Plus, Palladium gives its G.M.s a discount on books at our booth!
Game Masters and Game Event Descriptions NEEDED by February 28, 2024. (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.) This enables us 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.
Prospective Game Masters, please contact Jeff Ruiz, aka NMI, via email at nmi {at} thedeificnmi.com
Now on DriveThruRPG.com – 15+ world settings, 300+ RPG titles, and more from Palladium Books
No other game company offers more 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!
- Rifts® RPG Megaverse®. Rifts® is the ultimate setting in which you can combine any number of genres and style of game play you may desire: science fiction and technology, fantasy and magic, horror and the supernatural, noir, cowboy adventures, space opera, and more. Play humans, aliens, dimensional beings, modern knights, cyborgs, giant robots, mages, psychics, mutant animals, dinosaur tamers, dragon hatchlings, vampires, werebeasts, dimensional travelers, cowboys, and more to become heroes of legend. Combine any and all of these genres and characters into a wild and fun, yet plausible setting. There has never been a game quite like Rifts®.
- Rifts® Chaos Earth® titles. Live through the Great Cataclysm and the Coming of the Rifts that created Rifts Earth. Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG, Creatures of Chaos™, Rise of Magic™, and Chaos Earth® Resurrection™ are all available.
- The Rifter® #1-85. Each issue is a wealth of source material for Rifts® and 3-5 other Palladium game settings. More than 8,600 pages of source material and counting. Most issues are only available in digital form.
- Palladium Fantasy RPG® titles. A rich, original setting in which you can play humans or any number of nonhuman species of people in a world of magic, heroes and wonder. All of it epic.
- Dead Reign® RPG and sourcebooks. The Zombie Apocalypse unleashed. A great introductory RPG that is surprisingly uplifting, fun, fast, and easy to learn.
- Heroes Unlimited™ RPG Second Edition titles. Create any type of superhuman you can imagine to build your own super-hero universe.
- Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG and the Mystic China™ sourcebook. 41 types of martial arts, ninjas, super-spies, gizmos, mystic powers, and magic in the main book, plus even more in Mystic China.
- Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG and sourcebooks. Modern horror; 14 character classes, 42 occupations for “ordinary people,” 100+ psychic abilities, 16 monsters, and more.
- Nightbane® RPG and sourcebooks – Urban Fantasy. Only you know the truth. Only you can see the Nightlords and their demonic minions. Only you have the power to stop the spreading evil and save lives. But you are just a teen or young adult. There’s no manual on how to use your special powers and magic, and you must transform into your monstrous Morphus to use them. Trust no one.
- After the Bomb® RPG series and world setting. A post-apocalypse Earth where human civilization has crumbled and legions of mutant animals are the heirs apparent. The RPG presents stats for 100+ mutant animals, 52 animal powers, 33 animal psionics, Chimeras, and rules for creating any mutant animal you can imagine – plus the Empire of Humanity and the ruins of North America. Each sourcebook offers new mutants, world information, and adventure ideas. Or create mutant animals for use in TMNT, Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, and others.
- Rifts® Phase World® and the Three Galaxies – sprawling space opera! Dozens of alien worlds and their people, Cosmo-Knights, Atlanteans, Prometheans, dimensional gateways, evil empires, villains, heroes, strange beings, alien tech, alien magic, rules for creating spacecraft, planets and dimensions (see Megaverse Builder), and much, much more.
- The Mechanoid Invasion® RPG Trilogy (The Mechanoid Invasion, The Journey and Home World). Dystopian science fiction at its best. This is the very first RPG (1981) published by Palladium Books, about planet devouring, robotic invaders from outer space. They target all humanoids, but loathe humans most of all. Three generations of galactic heroes battle the Mechanoid® invaders. Also see Rifts® Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids® featuring a Mechanoid threat to Rifts® Earth unless you and Archie Three can stop them.
- Splicers® RPG. More dystopian science fiction as humans must turn to living weapons, living power armor, and genetically engineered war mounts to battle the self-appointed caretaker of humanity. The insane artificial intelligence known as Nexus and her many multiple personalities. Think Guyver meets the Terminator with elements of horror, epic and different.
- Systems Failure™ RPG. You play rough and tumble survivors of an alien invasion that has ravaged Earth and “turned off” technology. It is time to fight back, kill “the Bugs,” and reclaim our world for humanity. A standalone RPG designed to poke fun at the fears about the end of the world. A cult favorite and lots of fun. Kill the bugs!
- Wormwood, a Rifts® Dimension Book setting. A strange and alien fantasy world inspired by the twisted and fun concepts and art of comic book legends Timothy Truman and Flint Henry. Be a Holy Terror, Wormspeaker, or Apok to battle the demonic beings threatening to overtake the world.
- RECON®, Deluxe Revised RPG. Fast military combat and action set in a fictional era of the Vietnam War. Different game rules by Joe Martin and Erick Wujcik.
- The Palladium Weapons & Castles Series – for use with any game system. Nearly 1,000 weapons, scores of castles and floor plans. All historically accurate, real world weapons and castles throughout the ages.
UPDATED Rifts® Automated Character Sheet now available. Three updates, in fact. This EXCEL template provides automation to your Rifts® character creation process. Done in Microsoft Excel, this character template will allow you to build your character with substantial ease and speed. Ideal for the new gamer who doesn’t know all of the Palladium Books® rules just yet, it’s also a highly effective tool for Game Masters and advanced players alike who make multiple characters, NPCs, or just like to min/max or theory craft characters between games. Note: If you already purchased this item, you can download the updated version for free. Enjoy.
FREE Nightbane® RPG digital Sneak Preview on DriveThruRPG.com – Have you been wondering what the buzz is all about for Nightbane® and Urban Fantasy? Well, now you can see for yourself with this fun Preview of the core rule book. There are also free Sneak Previews of Creature Feature™, Dead Reign®, BTS, and numerous Rifts® books and other titles, including Rifts® Manhunters™, Titan Robotics™, Northern Gun™ One and Two, Lemuria, and more.
Closing Thoughts – Upgrading the Machine – By Sean Owen Roberson
Howdy fans,
I hope you are all weathering the cold winter weather. Kevin already mentioned a lot of things in the works, and I wanted to supplement that with a few words on the strides being made to make Palladium a stronger organization so that Kevin and I can focus more and more of our limited time on doing what only very few can do at the level of quality that Palladium is legendary for – writing awesome role-playing game books that you will treasure for decades!
Kevin has mentioned it previously, but we are bringing in some new blood for the warehouse – Caleb Nelson. Caleb is my younger brother, and an all-around good guy. After he recently expressed interest in the warehouse position after Crystal’s departure, I realized he is potentially a great fit, but he is family so I decided to let Kevin take the lead in interviewing him and making the hiring decision. Caleb has years of experience working for FedEx, so our humble warehouse is simple and straightforward to him. In addition to being a good fit for the shipping and storage side of things, Caleb is a huge gamer. Besides literally growing up playing Palladium’s Rifts plus other RPGs, board games, and video games with me, he helped me playtest a lot of the updates that appeared in the second edition of Rifts for Savage Worlds and even had critically important feedback. He is a solid judge of what makes good rules as well as the overall quality of various gaming materials. So don’t be surprised come March when he answers the office phone, or you see his name listed in the proofreading and concepts sections of future Palladium books. Kevin and I are happy to add Caleb to our team.
I’m also proud to announce that Palladium has hired Christopher Landauer as our marketing, crowdfunding, and social media manager. He is a Stanford graduate with a degree in Business Science or some such – Kev and I don’t care a lot about certifications but we weren’t surprised to learn of his education after working with him; he’s sharp! You’ve probably noticed his name in the comments and updates sections of the TMNT Redux Edition Kickstarter. In addition to that, Landauer has been working in a similar role with our friends at Pinnacle Entertainment Group, the makers of Savage Worlds, where he earned a reputation as a steady hand running Kickstarters and social outreach. This means I’ve had the pleasure of working with Landauer as a colleague for years while spearheading the Savage Rifts line of books. In that time, and during the TMNT Kickstarter, he has earned my trust (and Kevin’s) and been an amazing force multiplier coordinating the campaign and liaising with our advertising partners. Chris is already hard at work with Wayne finishing up the BackerKit Pledge Manager, and over the coming weeks you will hear more from him as he gets settled into his responsibilities with us here at Palladium Books – including future Weekly Updates.
Oh, and speaking of Savage Rifts and our comrades at Pinnacle, Terror on the Dark Frontier – the first-ever boxed adventure set for Rifts – is now available! Set in the Comanche Preserve region on the border between the New West and the Coalition’s frontier territories, the adventures are split between two hefty booklets: one for regional background and location-based stories, the other for an epic adventure campaign. I was one of the primary writers on it as well as the main architect and editor, so I think it’s pretty good stuff, but you don’t have to trust me because Kevin loved it and a ton of fans are raving about it online. It seems like the Savage Rifts team struck the mark, and I’m very proud of the result. If you’ve ever wanted more New West, Spirit West, and Lone Star, including in-depth information on the Comanche Preserve, their culture, and the regional conflict with bandits, horrific monsters, the Coalition Frontier, Erin Tarn, Sir Winslow Thorpe, and more then this boxed set is for you!
Last thing, I want you to know that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Redux Edition material is really incredible. I almost can’t believe the quality of the artwork, new and old, and the written material is just classic and a joy to edit. More on that in future updates, but rest assured production is gliding along on schedule and I can’t wait for you to hold these products in your hands later this year.
– Sean Owen Roberson, Writer, Designer, Adventurer
© 2024 Palladium Books Inc. All Rights Reserved. Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Dead Reign®, Chaos Earth®, The Mechanoids®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, Powers Unlimited®, Splicers®, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, After the Bomb®, and all related titles, names and slogans are trademarks of Palladium Books.
TMNT © 2024 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
This Update may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.
