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ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE
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Sales, News & More – Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – January 30, 2025
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Get in on the ground floor of RPG (and Palladium) history by purchasing Palladium’s first RPG audiobook. That’s right, you’ll have the bragging rights of saying you bought the very first Palladium RPG audiobook and that it was Nightbane®: Dark Designs. That you were there at the onset of the RPG audiobook revolution with Palladium Books and Audio RPG, because this is just the beginning. I am still amazed at how the professional narration makes Nightbane: Dark Designs feel brand new. It’s fun and exciting.
The Nightbane®: Dark Designs Audiobook crowdfunder is only a short 2 week campaign that ENDs next week, February 6, so please spread the word and make your pledge. If the Nightbane® audiobook series does well, we will do audiobooks for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy, Dead Reign®, BTS, Heroes Unlimited, and all of our games. Say yes to RPG audiobooks! One week left to get yours. Oh, and don’t miss the Nightbane SALE of physical books (including the hardcover RPG) in the Palladium Books online store and PDFs via DriveThruRPG.com. Spread the word about it all. Thank you for your support.
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Nightbane®: Dark Designs Audiobook
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An RPG audiobook may sound crazy, but it won’t after you listen to the sample presented in this Nightbane: Dark Designs Audiobook crowdfunder taking place on Backerkit by one of Palladium’s new licensing partners. It sounds amazing! We were all blown away by the quality.
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Fun to listen to.
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Relaxing game prep.
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Professional narration.
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Convenient for the busy G.M.
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Hearing the words spoken by a professional narrator makes the book come to life in a whole new way and feel brand new.
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Hearing it also makes you notice game and adventure details you may have missed reading it yourself.
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EVERYONE at Palladium endorses this product 100%. Go to the page and listen for yourself. You’ll be as pleased as we are.
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Dive into the thrilling Urban Fantasy world of Nightbane® with Nightbane: Dark Designs.
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Your Next RPG Adventure starts here when you experience the Nightbane: Dark Designs sourcebook in a whole new way with a professionally narrated audiobook. Packed with new Morphus tables, Talents, and tools for players and GMs.
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Perfect for enhancing your Nightbane campaign or exploring its lore on the go.
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Nightbane: Dark Designs audiobook takes you through new Morphus tables, Talents, and insights into Nightbane. Perfect for GMs and players, this audiobook transforms your rulebook into a listening experience you’ll love.
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The project is crowdfunding on Backerkit now!
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Nightbane® SALE – Save 20-30% on physical books – limited time offer
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- Nightbane® RPG Softcover – Cat. No. 730 – $20.29 (normally $28.99 retail) – 240 pages. Urban Fantasy! Nightbane creation rules, Talents, and powers, but to use their powers, the young Nightbane must turn into monsters themselves. Includes inhuman factions, magic, psychic abilities, sorcery, dozens of monsters, world info, and a gallery of enemies and monsters. Nightlords, Vampires, Lightbringers, Hunters, Hounds, and Hollow Men are just some of the bizarre beings your tragic heroes will encounter on their journey of self-discovery and heroism. Join the secret war against a demonic invasion most people do not even know has taken place. The shapeshifting Nightlords, their evil Dopplegangers and other demonic minions are quietly taking over the world, starting with the most powerful nations. You know it is happening because you are the Nightbane. And only you can stop it.
- Nightbane® RPG “Bonus” Edition Hardcover – Cat. No. 730HC – $ 31.99 (normally $44.99 retail) – 304 pages – 60 extra pages of bonus material. Urban Fantasy! Your teenage or young adult Nightbane characters face dark magic, vampires, demons, monsters and conspiracy, but that won’t stop them! Join the secret war against a demonic invasion most people do not even know has taken place. You see the truth and know what is happening because that is one of the many Nightbane gifts. You can see the true demonic forms of these invaders and you can destroy them. The only wrinkle is you must reveal your monstrous supernatural form – your Morphus – to call upon your superhuman and magical powers. Oh, and the government is controlled by the Nightlords and their shape-changing demonic minions who fear and hunt all Nightbane. Available while supplies last.
- Nightbane®: Between the Shadows™ – Cat. No. 731 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 144 pages. Psychic agents, more monsters, navigating the Dreamscape and the Astral Plane, the vampire conspiracy, and more.
- Nightbane®: Nightlands™ – Cat. No. 732 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 144 pages. 12+ monsters, 12+ demonic and mystical villains, the twisted mirror-dimension of Earth that is the Nightlands described, and more.
- Nightbane®: Through the Glass Darkly™ – Cat. No. 733 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 152 pages. New types of magic including Fleshsculptor, Cybermage, Mirrormage, Nemesis, Living Pathways, and 50 magic spells, plus talismans, magic artifacts, three new full adventures, dozens of adventure hooks, and other source material to make you cringe with delight.
- Nightbane® Shadows of Light – Cat. No. 734 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 160 pages. new insights to the world of the Nightbane, new dangers and strange beings, Fallen Guardians, a vampire conspiracy, the city of Pittsburgh outlined, and more.
- Nightbane® Survival Guide – Cat. No. 735 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 160 pages. Everything you want to know about Nightbane but were afraid to ask. How to unleash your potential as a Nightbane®, many new Morphus tables, many new powers, new magic and new dangers. A complete adventure plus adventure ideas, Nightbane creation guidelines, Nightbane history, psychology and more.
- Nightbane®: Dark Designs™ – Cat. No. 736 – $17.49 (normally $24.99 retail) – 160 pages. The ultimate guide to creating the Nightbane and a sourcebook for players and Game Masters alike. 18 new and comprehensive Morphus Tables. 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, Transformation Transition Table, Talent creation and conversion rules, Appendix of 23 Morphus Tables, Appendix of 53 Talents gathered from the Nightbane® RPG and Sourcebooks, Ancient Nightbane R.C.C. and more. Available while supplies last.
- The Rifter® #82 – Cat. No. 182 – $10.49 (normally $14.99 retail) – 96 pages. Chaos Earth® Nebraska Conclusion, the Pyromancer O.C.C., 50+ new Pyromancy spells; Nightbane® age tables, and more.
- The Rifter® #84 – Cat. No. 184 – $10.49 (normally $14.99 retail) – 96 pages. BTS: Monster and adventure, NIghtbane® Spellbound O.C.C., Golems, an Elven Kingdom, HU2: City of Cascade, and more.
- The Rifter® #85 – Cat. No. 185 – $18.89 (normally $24.99 retail) – 224 pages. The largest printed issue of The Rifter® ever. Filled with fun across the Megaverse®. Glitter Boy upgrades, weapons, and variants; a Rifts® Story with Skelebots, dinosaurs, and innocent people in the way; the Rifts State of Rapid City; Fantasy Elven Empire, Fantasy Colony of Gonarn and adventure; 3 Heroes Unlimited Hardware O.C.C.s, an HU tribute by Freddie E. Williams; Phase World®; 25 Dead Reign® vehicle encounter tables and adventure; BTS story and adventure plot hooks; the Nightbane® Redeemer, and more.
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Nightbane® PDF SALE on DriveThruRPG.com – limited time offer
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The PDFs of the Nightbane® titles listed above are on sale at DriveThruRPG.com for a limited time. Both sales end with the two week crowdfunding campaign for the Nightbane® audiobook.
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Palladium Books® YouTube Channel
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I am currently doing a comprehensive ongoing series hosted by the affable J-M DeFoggi on the Official History of Palladium Books. A new episode posts every other week, plus the occasional bonus episode. It is being presented in rough chronological order and includes Secret Stories of the Defilers. The Defilers are my legendary, first campaign at the Detroit Gaming Center (DGC) where I ran 26 regular players for 12 hours every Saturday night for three and a half years. The DGC is also where I met folks like Erick Wujcik, Matthew Balent, Julius Rosenstein, and my first wife Maryann, and developed concepts and play-tested many Palladium rules and RPGs. We will also be sliding into topics about running games, writing, game design, character and monster creation, and lots of other themes as well as interviewing other people such as Matthew Balent, Ramon K. Perez, Freddie E. Williams II, etc., and a host of Palladium staff and creators. Please don’t hesitate to offer topic suggestions to any of the social media outlets listed here.
Here are some of the episodes currently available:
Coming YouTube Videos: Stories behind the creation of Heroes Unlimited, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, Robotech®, Robotech® VHS tapes, Ninjas & Superspies, Beyond the Supernatural, Rifts® (a few episodes), Dead Reign®, and more, including Games that Almost Happened (but didn’t), and Close Encounters (with Hollywood and videogames).
A new episode goes up every other week with the occasional bonus episode in between. Many more chats are coming. Each one a friendly and candid conversation that gamers are enjoying. J-M Defoggi and I, Kevin Siembieda, reveal the origin stories behind your favorite Palladium role-playing games and sourcebooks. We will eventually switch to topics about running RPGs, designing adventures, Game Master and player tips, alignments, magic, writing RPGs, and others.
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Legion of Myth chats with Kevin and Sean
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Last week’s live chat on Legion of Myth was fun. It is now available for your listening enjoyment anytime. More will follow as we try to do a new RPG discussion at least once a month. The next one (tentatively) is February 16, 2025, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Sean will still be out of the country on business, so you’ll have to put up with just me, again. Please spread the word and join the fun.
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Glitterbois and RealPlayGames Podcasts
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I will be returning to do more interviews with the ever popular Glitterbois in February. Meanwhile, there are numerous discussions about role-playing and Palladium's many game settings and book titles by the hosts, as well as an ongoing series of chats about the history of Palladium Books with me (Kevin Siembieda, the guy who started the company and has written or co-written 200+ RPG books). These are a blast and sometimes digress to include our views on various aspects of role-playing and Game Mastering. Lots of fun and stories.
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- RealPlayGames Podcast – These talented fans have been creating radio-play style podcasts based on various Palladium RPG worlds for years. Their audience is growing. They are currently at the tail end of their Season One Palladium Fantasy series: Surviving Love. It sees a bunch of sexy dating show singles from the real world flung into the Palladium Fantasy world. The reception to it has been reported as nothing short of fantastic; their biggest and, by a large margin, best-performing podcast release to date! Check it out. They also plan to release their second season of Cozy Caverns Mysteries, based on Beyond the Supernatural 2E, in February, and have plans for other projects in development. Meanwhile, previous podcasts based on After the Bomb, Heroes Unlimited, and BTS remain available for your listening enjoyment.
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Valley of the Pharaohs RPG Expanded 40th Anniversary Edition – available for a limited time
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Waaaay back when, Palladium Books published the Valley of Pharaohs RPG as a box game. Well, 40 years later, I gave the author, my pal, Matthew Balent (best known for Weapons & Armour, Weapons & Castles, Weapons & Castles of the Orient, etc.), permission to reuse my artwork in a new, vastly expanded redux edition of the original game. It is a big 200+ page RPG. (The original was only 64 or 96 pages plus a dozen maps and diagrams.) The game rules are Matthew’s own creation with some unique ideas and mechanics you may find interesting, Meanwhile, the spells, characters, and ideas can be adapted to the Palladium game system with a little work. The lore, history, and writing is outstanding, so if you love Egyptian mythology, this is a must have item. Likewise, Palladium collectors may want one because the original 1985 box game is super-rare and expensive, but this authorized expanded 40th Anniversary edition is affordable and a good read. Available from Palladium Books for a limited time. Thank you for supporting the hard work of my friend, Matthew Balent, who played an important role in the early days of Palladium Books.
254 page softcover – $40 retail – Cat. No. 2621
274 page hardcover with bonus material – $60 retail – Cat. No. 2621HC
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NEW! Nightbane® Automated Character Sheet
Now available on DriveThruRPG.com – The Nightbane Automated Character Sheet follows a similar format as the popular Rifts® Automated Character Sheet designed by Greg Diaczyk.
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Microsoft Excel-based system for creating, updating, and tracking your Nightbane RPG characters quickly and easily. Once you know the system, you can have characters up and ready in 10-15 minutes!
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Create your human Facade and Nightbane Morphus in minutes.
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Offers a vast range of Morphus choices.
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Select from scores of Common and Elite Nightbane Talents.
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Spells, psionics, and more.
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$5.00 – Available now on DriveThruRPG.com and coming soon on PalladiumBooks.com – Created by Greg Diaczyk.
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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®.
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Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store
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I am adding new collectibles of all kinds to my Ebay store in time for the holiday season. 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.
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Each negative is truly unique, attractive, and fun to have.
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Own a piece of Palladium Books and RPG history you will treasure.
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Each was used to print the very book you may have in your collection (1981-2004).
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Each is signed in silver ink by Kevin Siembieda and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
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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).
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Looks great matted or framed! Fits an 8x10 inch matt opening. Each neg is roughly 8 ½ x 11 inches.
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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.
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News Briefs
- Enjoy the last batch of Surprise Package comments from fans like you at the end of this Weekly Update. Our thanks to all our fans for your support and kind words. Keep your imaginations burning bright and game on.
- TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux is magnificent. Even though Sean has been working remotely in a faraway land and battling a bug, he has made tremendous progress on the TMNT Redux books as they near completion. I’ve seen the finished layout for the Redux RPG and Transdimensional Adventures hardcovers and … wow, they look amazing. Gorgeous. Inspired. Sean outdid himself with layout and design. Gamers and TMNT fans of every stripe will love these attractive tomes filled with beautiful, full color artwork and bonus material galore. There will be a Kickstarter update coming soon, but I can tell you that the RPG Redux has topped out at 272 pages – that’s 16 bonus pages. Plus there are extra mutants, tables, bonus rules, written remembrances, and tribute art (30+ full page illustrations between the two books) that are sure to delight. In fact, we just added Eric Talbot to the list of notable comic book and gaming artists doing these splash page tributes. More details to come soon.
- TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux editions are one of the featured games in the February Game Trade Magazine, issue #300. There is an article in it by Sean, and a special TMNT giveaway in the back. Awesome.
- GAMA Trade Show – February 23-27, 2025 – Retailers and store personnel, please visit the Palladium Books Booth #1176 near Monte Cook Games and Wet Ink Games toward the back of the exhibitor’s hall. We will have some TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG Redux samples to show you, can provide more information about it, Rifts, and other Palladium game lines, provide autographs, and help you to discover the growing Megaverse® of Palladium products. We might even have some fun giveaways (while supplies last).
- Palladium YouTube channel. J-M DeFoggi and Molly’s visit to the Palladium Studio was a blast, and we even had Rick Meints from Chaosium join us for dinner. J-M and I outlined the next year’s worth of videos (in addition to the 30 already recorded), so you can expect plenty more fun and insightful videos as we continue the Palladium history followed by RPG tips for Game Masters and players, discussions on campaign design, writing games, and more.
- Join the RPG audiobook revolution! I really believe this is the beginning of something fun and big. We’re glad to be part of it and you can too! Snag Palladium’s first audio RPG title, Nightbane®: Dark Designs Audiobook, being crowdfunded right now on Backerkit by the Audio RPG company, under license. The quality is excellent and the new medium brings games to life like I never imagined. You are going to love these audiobooks, especially if you already listen to novels as audiobooks. This is just the first of many. Please check it out!
- Nightbane® Book SALE. Save 30% on most Nightbane® titles. The Nightbane® RPG, its sourcebooks and a few select issues of The Rifter® are on sale till February 6 at the Palladium online store, and Nightbane PDF titles are on sale on DriveThruRPG.com – enjoy.
- Valley of the Pharaohs 40th Anniversary Edition is a unique collectible being made available for a very limited time. Get yours while you still can. Available as both a softcover and bonus hardcover edition. A fun collectable with fun new characters, spells and magic items.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Game Designer, Writer and Friend
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Surprise Package Comments from fans like you
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Yes, Christmas has come and gone, the 2024 Surprise Package deal has come to an end, and the New Year is upon us. Yet, I still like to share with you some of the fun and interesting fan comments we receive in the Christmas Surprise Packages till the end of January. Our thanks for all the kind words, great suggestions, and love that you all send our way. Enjoy and let us try to keep the spirit and joy of Christmas in our hearts every day throughout the year. A tall order, but let’s try.
– Kevin Siembieda (and the Palladium Crew)
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J.O. in Niagara Falls, New York, writes (in part): I played Rifts® back in the 1990s, want to get back into it. I also pre-ordered the new TMNT books ... D&D is cool, but I enjoyed the world of Rifts and would love to share that with new players.
[Welcome back, J.O.! Sounds like a plan. You’re going to love the TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG books, they are beautiful and fun. You’re smart to pre-order at the lower Kickstarter prices. Game on. – Kevin]
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D.S. in Webster, New York, writes (in part): Continuing collecting just about anything I can from Palladium ...
[Glad to hear it, D.S., we appreciate your years of fierce support. I hope you enjoyed the Surprise Package. Didn’t know what else to send. – Kevin]
E.A. in Olympia, Washington, writes (in part): Hello Kevin, Sean, and Everyone at Palladium Books. Thank you for doing the YouTube videos. The Palladium ones have been educational and emotional. I have not been able to meet either of you in person yet, so the videos, for me, are a means to hear your stories, and learn your insights. I have learned so much from you, Kevin. The interview that dealt with the Palladium Weapon Series blew my mind ... Blessings to each of you and yours ...
[Hi E.A., I’m sure we’ll meet some day, but until then, please continue to enjoy the videos. A new Palladium one is posted every other week on our YouTube channel, and I think they only get better and better. I hope folks enjoy the Secret Stories of the Defilers too. That’s my original game group at the Detroit Gaming Center; talk about crazy adventures. We’ll also start to talk about creating and running game campaigns, GMing, and more. Also check out the Glitterbois podcasts and Legion of Myth for more historical insight and game chats. – Kevin]
Q.J. in Evansville, Indiana, writes (in part): I would like to thank everyone at Palladium for not giving up and sacrificing so much, working hard and diligently to provide me and millions of others with such rich and delicious worlds to play in.
Kevin, thank you for ... showing some of us that no matter what you are going through, even if the world is falling apart around you, that as long as you keep at it, your dreams are invincible ...
[Wow, Q.J., you are an inspirational writer. Thank you for your heartfelt comments, they mean the world to me. We appreciate you recognizing our dedication to our audience and our dreams. It would be wonderful if the handling of our own trials and tribulations manages to help others get through theirs as well. Life is hard and challenging. Sometimes it’s full of pain and grief. Sometimes you feel like you can’t go on and should just give up, but that’s never the answer. Life is also filled with kindness, beauty, with sweet surprises like your touching comments. Thank you. We should never give up, no matter what, because the bad and the sorrowful will be replaced with beauty and joy, friends and love. Tears and sorrow get replaced with laughter and fun. I always try to see the good and the beautiful. And over the years, I’ve learned to never underestimate the human spirit. We need to count our blessings and be thankful for what we have while we can. I’m thankful for you and all our fans. Take care and stay awesome, all of you. – Kevin]
G.W. in Salem, Oregon, writes (in part): ... the last couple of years when I have done a Surprise Package it has been wonderful. Thank you for all that the Palladium team does and has done. Everyone there is awesome!
[G.W., I don’t know about everyone here being awesome – just kidding! I work with some of the most wonderful and generous people in the world. I am very blessed, G.W., to have such great individuals and such wonderful fans at my side. Thank you. – Kevin]
D.T. in San Antonio, Texas, writes (in part): Looking forward to the TMNT & Other Strangeness Redux books coming soon and hope for Island at the Edge of the World Second Edition ... you’re very much in people’s prayers ... Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all.
[Thank you for your personal message, D.T., it was very appreciated. I hope your Christmas was a joyful one and we appreciate every prayer and well wish sent our way. You know the TMNT books are coming this year and with a little luck, that other title too. Ho, ho, ho and happy New Year. – Kevin]
D.R. in Germantown, Maryland, writes (in part): ... I’m doing a Mercenary Campaign set back East around Washington D.C. and the Shemarrians ...
[Any game involving Archie-3 should be a blast, D.R. Keep your imagination burning bright. – Kevin]
S.S. in Atascocita, Texas, writes (in part): ... I have used the Surprise Package over the last 5 years to rebuild my collection and I’m thrilled to say I’m starting up a Rifts® group for several people that have never played ...
[I’m glad we could help, S.S., and I hope your Rifts® campaign with the newbies goes well. It sounds fun. – Kevin]
J.T. in Harlingen, Texas, writes (in part): ... See you all again next holiday season. Nothing but love for all of you.
[Ditto J.T., the Surprise Package deal will return next holiday season. All those books in the five Grab Bags you ordered should keep you busy till then. Ho, ho, ho and happy New Year to all. – Kevin]
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