By Kevin Siembieda

One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

This has been a very productive week on the creative side of things. In fact, we have been so focused on several projects that we almost forgot to write and post this Weekly Update. Crazy, right? So I’m gonna dive right into things.

New! Splicers^®: I Am Legion^™ Adventure Sourcebook – as a PDF and a printed Sourcebook – June 18, 2018

This big, 256 page adventure sourcebook for Splicers® is jam-packed with new Host Armors, War Mounts, Bio-Enhancements and adventure galore. AND it is almost finished and should be available in a week as a PDF download AND, we think, as a print on demand title from DriveThruRPG.com – AND as a printed book available only from the Palladium online store in just a couple weeks (June 18). Splicers® I Am Legion is such an epic, fun and beautifully illustrated romp, we decided we had to make it available as a book too.

Highlights Include:

• 6 new Great Houses.
• 4 new Host Armors.
• 6 new Splicers War Mounts.
• 7 new Bio-Enhancements and augmentation.
• 19 new Bio-Weapons, including the Hive Sword, Bug Bombs and more.
• 15 new machines – robots and amalgams of the murderous Legion.
• Amalgam creation tables, new alien predators and more.
• Legion: A new and psychotic personality of N.E.X.U.S., statted and described.
• Includes 20 pages of additional, unpublished material.
• Written by Chuck Walton II, Christopher Kluge, Lance Colley and others.
• Available as a PDF sometime next week.
• 256 pages – Cat. No. 201 – $26.99 retail – ships as a printed book around June 18 – order yours now.

New! Surviving Chaos^™ – Raw Preview Limited Edition of Chaos Earth^® First Responders^™ and Chaos Earth^® Psychic Scream^™ – June 22, 2018

The “Raw Preview Edition” of Rifts® Chaos Earth® First Responders™ and Psychic Scream™ is an advance copy of the unedited, unillustrated, final working manuscripts for these two exciting, new sourcebooks. You get to see the unfinished books months before the final titles are released. A rare look at the raw manuscripts before publication. Limited to a total of 150 copies. Note: Psychic Scream™ is the new title for the long-awaited Psychic Storm™.

Contains background information on the early days immediately following the advent of the Great Cataclysm, new O.C.C.s, new weapons and gear, lifesaving medical robots and equipment, new D-Bees, new monsters, Apocalypse Plagues, and adventures. The Pyschic Scream section of this Raw Preview Edition includes Psychic Super-Soldiers, Cleansers, Lifegivers, Listeners, Old Souls, Psychonauts, Faith Healers, the Lazlo Society, monsters and much more!

Note: The finished titles are anticipated to ship in the fall or winter. But you can start playing right now with this special edition!

• Limited collector’s edition – only 150 total copies made!
• Sold on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.
• A rare glimpse at the virgin manuscripts and works in progress.
• By Jason Richards, Matthew Clements, Daniel Frederick and Taylor White.
• 160 pages – Limited Edition – $24.99 – Cat. No. 665-RAW – ships June 22 (tentative). Do not miss out.

New! Rifts^® Antarctica^™ – Raw Preview Limited Edition – June 22, 2018

The “Raw Preview Edition” of Rifts® World Book: Antarctica™ is an advance copy of the unedited, unillustrated, final working manuscript for this exciting new sourcebook. You get to see the unfinished book months before the final title is released. A rare look at the raw manuscript before publication. Limited to a total of 150 copies.

Contains information about Rifts® Antarctica and its many mysteries and secrets. Includes the Ice Witch, Icecraft, the War of the Elementals, possessed volcanoes, ghost camps, the Krellik threat, aliens, demons, monsters, cold weather rules and more.

Note: The finished title is anticipated to ship in fall or winter 2018. But you can start playing right now with this special edition!

• Limited collector’s edition – only 150 total copies made!
• Sold on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.
• A rare glimpse at the virgin manuscript and a work in progress.
• By Matthew Clements.
• 128 pages – Limited Edition – $20.99 – Cat. No. 898-RAW – ships June 22 (tentative). Do not miss out.

Coming! The Rifter^® #80

Wayne Smith and I have been working on selecting and editing material for The Rifter® #80 and #81, with an eye open for additional articles and adventures for the issues that will quickly follow as we get caught up. Some of the upcoming issues of The Rifter® will include articles and adventure source material by Greg Diaczyk, Julius Rosenstein, Mark Oberle and me, Kevin Siembieda.

So far it is looking like The Rifter® #80 should include source material for Rifts®, Splicers®, Heroes Unlimited™, and more. I’ve been editing and cleaning up the Splicers® article earlier this week and I think you Spliceheads will enjoy it.

Writers and Gamers Note: Palladium has several issues of The Rifter® to get caught up with so the next two months are an excellent time to submit gaming articles, adventures, monsters, new characters/O.C.C.s and other source material for possible publication in The Rifter®. Artwork too! Please send electronic files and the the Unsolicited Manuscript Form to: riftersub{at}palladiumbooks.com

Of course, all such submissions are created entirely on speculation and there is no promise we will publish your submission in The Rifter®, but this is a great time to be seen. And remember, many writers and artists who started out in The Rifter® went on to work on official sourcebooks. This is a great way to share your ideas and adventures with other gamers.

Coming! Rifts^® Bestiary Vol. One and Vol. Two

Chuck Walton continues to pound out artwork for these books that looks amazing, and he is already tightening the art for finished illustrations. The art depicted here is one new monster concept drawing. I hope to slip a few pieces of art into these books too.

Otherwise writing away as I juggle several projects. We have also received some creature stats and ideas from a few other freelance authors. As noted in the past, we are working on both volumes simultaneously. Very excited about these two books as they develop into something truly special. Below is just one of Charles Walton’s concept sketches that has been approved.

What are the Rifts^® Bestiary of North America^™, Volume One and Two?

We are collecting the hundreds of monsters and beasts of Rifts Earth into easy to use reference books, similar to what we did with D-Bees of North America. Only there are so many wondrous and fierce creatures that we cannot squeeze them into one book – plus we are adding a bunch of new creatures to add more fun and menace to your Rifts® games. Some will be a nuisance, others pets and companions, some are suitable M.D.C. riding animals, and some are slobbering beasts.

The first two Rifts® Bestiary™ sourcebooks are being created simultaneously, right now! Between them, these two volumes compile all the beasts of Rifts North America (unintelligent monsters, predators, notable animals and intelligent beings that are monstrous or animal-like in appearance or behavior) from all current World Books and Sourcebooks. In addition to a growing number of brand new critters and monsters by Kevin Siembieda, Chuck Walton, Carl Gleba, Greg Diaczyk and others! All adding new life to the savage wilderness of Rifts North America (US, Canada, Mexico). Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks. Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• Updated descriptions and information where applicable.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• A good number of brand new creatures are being added too.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Fully illustrated, much of the art by Charles Walton II, along with Siembieda and many others.
• 192-224 pages each volume – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 896 (Volume One) and Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two). In production. Release date: Summer – i.e., as fast as we can kick these bad boys out!

New on DriveThruRPG.com – Nightlands^™ for the Nightbane^® RPG series – available now

New and available now: Nightlands™ Sourcebook for the Nightbane® RPG, containing secrets of the Nightlords™, their minions and their home dimension: the Nightlands, a twisted mockery of our own Earth. Plus 41 wicked NPC villains, 12 monsters, 12 demons, notable Nightlands™ locations, and more!

Recently made available: Library of Bletherad™, an epic Palladium Fantasy sourcebook containing 21 Rune Weapons, 50+ new spells, Shadowcasting™ Magic, Fulmination Magic, forgotten history, secrets and more! The Rifter® #76 offers Rifts®/Phase World® Elemental Primorda™, the Rifts® Pecos Badlands town of Gohjjunk™, Doc Feral™ and some Mutants for Heroes Unlimited™, a Ninjas & Superspies™ adventure, a Savage Rifts® preview, and Splicers®: I Am Legion™: Part 5.

Read more: Palladium Books® Weekly Update – June 8, 2018

By Kevin Siembieda

One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice Memorial Day Weekend. We did and now we are pounding away on the books you want.

Anime North

Chuck Walton and I spent part of last week and the Memorial Day long weekend in Toronto, Canada, where we were guests at Anime North. There we met up with our friends Todd Spencley, Apollo Okamura (artist), Greg Diaczyk (writer) and his family (wife Jennifer, his boys, Caleb, Josh, and Noah, and Harry, his father), Braden Campbell (writer) and his family (Holly and Annachie), as well as a number of Palladium fans and show runners. As usual there were thousands upon thousands of amazing cosplay costumes, and waaaaay too many cool things to see and do. One highlight was Todd treating us to the movies where we saw and enjoyed Solo, A Star Wars Story. Another was Saturday night dinner with Todd, Apollo, Greg and Jennifer. It was nice to actually have time to spend with friends old and new. It was also a treat to finally meet Holly Campbell, in person, a very nice lady, and just getting to spend time with these nice people and the many wonderful fans from across Canada, as well as a few fellow Americans. Spoke with some potential new artists, too.

I had intended to run a couple of Beyond the Supernatural™ (BTS) games and a Palladium Fantasy game, but the ambient noise in the gaming hall was so loud (hey, Anime North gets something like 35,000+ people!), I did not think I could hear well enough to run a quality game. The next time we attend Anime North we may try to acquire a quiet space to run games as well as to do panel talks like How to Design Creatures, World Building and The Art of Role-Playing. Not sure if we’ll be back in 2019 or wait a year and return in 2020. Probably the latter, especially since we have so many games and sourcebooks on the drawing board.

StrategiCon^™ GAMEX 2018

The same Memorial Day weekend, Game Master Cameron Cleveland and his crew were running 8 Rifts® RPG events and 2 Robotech® RPG Tactics™ games at StrategiCon in Los Angeles, California. From what we understand, most of those games went great, though it sounds like there was some confusion about RRT events.

Please Note: Just because Palladium Books no longer has the Robotech®/RRT license does not mean gamers who enjoy these games (and others) cannot run them at conventions. It’s just like people who run early editions of D&D or Shadowrun, or Traveller, and so on. That’s the cool thing about games, they do not have an expiration date. They can be played by anyone who owns a copy of it from now till eternity. We always encourage people to play and enjoy our games, and to share their love of the games with others. There is nothing wrong with that, so keep on gaming and have fun. FYI: It has been a long-standing tradition at Palladium Books to plug and describe gaming events that utilize any of our game worlds in our Weekly Updates, provided you give us enough notice (4-8 weeks in advance). We are happy to encourage fun and imagination with the Palladium Megaverse whenever we can. Our thanks to Cameron and his crew of Game Masters for running games at StrategiCon. We understand they have a reputation for quality and fun.

Speaking of which, we know there are a number of Palladium games being run at Origins, coming up fast. And of course, Gen Con.

Ideas for book titles are flowing

The four and a half hour ride up to Anime North and back again, gave Chuck and me time to spitball plenty of ideas and plans for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™ and Beyond the Supernatural™. The ideas were flying fast and furious. Subjects included various monsters, magic, super beings, new world settings and environments, ley lines, Rifts and Ley Line Walkers, among other things. Chuck has been sketching away ever since we got back and I’ve been jotting down notes and ideas in between working on the Rifts® Bestiary™, Volume One and Volume Two. I have also been in communication with several freelance artists and writers about projects they are writing and/or contributing to.

Rifts^® Bestiary Vol. One and Vol. Two

Chuck has been working on new monster concept drawings, like the one depicted here, all week. And they are looking great. Likewise, I’ve been penning notes and descriptions about some of his beasties as he reveals them to me, as well as working on writing and the coordination of several projects. We have also received some creature stats and ideas from a few other freelancer authors. As noted in the past, we are working on both volumes simultaneously. Very excited about these two books as they develop into something truly special. Below is just one of Charles Walton’s concept sketches that has been approved.

What are the Rifts^® Bestiary of North America^™, Volumes One and Two?

We are collecting the hundreds of monsters and beasts of Rifts Earth into easy to use reference books, similar to what we did with D-Bees of North America. Only there are so many wondrous and fierce creatures we cannot squeeze them into one book – plus we are adding a bunch of new creatures to add more fun and menace to your Rifts® games. Some will be a nuisance, others pets and companions, some are suitable M.D.C. riding animals, and some are slobbering beasts.

The first two Rifts® Bestiary™ sourcebooks are being created simultaneously, right now! Between them, these two volumes compile all the beasts of Rifts North America (unintelligent monsters, predators, notable animals and intelligent beings that are monstrous or animal-like in appearance or behavior) from all current World Books and Sourcebooks. In addition to a growing number of brand new critters and monsters by Kevin Siembieda, Chuck Walton, Carl Gleba, Greg Diaczyk and others! All adding new life to the savage wilderness of Rifts North America (US, Canada, Mexico). Presented in alphabetical order, with maps showing their range and location, in two big books.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized in two big, easy to use sourcebooks. Predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects and more.
• Updated descriptions and information where applicable.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• A good number of brand new creatures are being added too.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Fully illustrated, much of the art by Charles Walton II, along with Siembieda and many others.
• 192-224 pages each volume – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 896 (Volume One) and Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two). In production. Release date: Summer – i.e., as fast as we can kick these bad boys out!

The Rifter^®

Wayne Smith is working on selecting material for The Rifter® #80 and #81, with an eye open for additional articles and adventures for the issues that will quickly follow as we get caught up. Some of the upcoming issues of The Rifter® will include articles and adventure source material by Greg Diaczyk, Julius Rosenstein, Mark Oberle and me, Kevin Siembieda.

Writers and Gamers Note: Palladium has several issues of The Rifter® to get caught up with so the next two months are an excellent time to submit gaming articles, adventures, monsters, new characters/O.C.C.s and other source material for possible publication in The Rifter®. Artwork too! Please send electronic files and the Unsolicited Manuscript Form to: riftersub{at}palladiumbooks.com

Of course, all such submissions are created entirely on speculation and there is no promise we will publish your submission in The Rifter®, but this is a great time to be seen. And remember, many writers and artists who started out in The Rifter® went on to work on official sourcebooks. This is a great way to share your ideas and adventures with other gamers.

Splicers^®: I am Legion, Adventure Sourcebook

Wayne is also working on putting together the Splicers® I am Legion, Adventure Sourcebook, to be available as a PDF book on DriveThruRPG.com and maybe even as a print on demand title.

New on DriveThruRPG.com – Library of Bletherad^™ for the Palladium Fantasy RPG^® and The Rifter^® #76 – available now

New and available now: Library of Bletherad™, an epic Palladium Fantasy sourcebook containing 21 Rune Weapons, 50+ new spells, Shadowcasting™ Magic, Fulmination Magic, ancient ruins, forgotten history, hidden secrets, the Monks of Bletherad™, The Zealotry and more! The Rifter® #76 offers Elemental Primorda™, suitable for use in Rifts®, Phase World® and the Fantasy RPG, the Rifts® Pecos Badlands town of Gohjjunk™, Doc Feral™ and some Mutants for Heroes Unlimited™, a Ninjas & Superspies™ adventure, a Savage Rifts® preview, and Splicers®: I am Legion™: Part 5.

Read more: Palladium Books® Weekly Update – June 1, 2018