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| CELEBRATING 45 YEARS OF RPG PUBLISHING – ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE |
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| | Event News – Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – February 27, 2026 |
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| Please join us for a Weekend Conversation with Kevin Siembieda – April 24 & 25, 2026 – Westland, Michigan – admissions available now. Limited to 60 or so visitors and we already have a dozen friends and fans who told us they’ll be there. This is in conjunction with seeing the Worlds of Palladium exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum. See complete details below or click on the link. |
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| | | What’s Hot at Palladium? Due to the Explore the Megaverse® Sale that just ended, Rifts has been absolutely on fire, especially Rifts® Psi-Ops: Psychic War, Rifts® Ultimate Edition, and the Cyberworks Collection. Palladium Fantasy, After the Bomb® and Dead Reign® titles saw a lot of action, too. Gotta love those mutant animal books (easy to use with TMNT & Other Strangeness) and survival in the Zombie Apocalypse.
Though they were not on sale, the TMNT & Other Strangeness products also remain hot sellers. Gamers are loving the books, the dice, and the GM Screen. That said, we suspect many gamers and TMNT fans do not realize that the TMNT & Other Strangeness products are now available to everyone. Or that each of the two hardcovers contains three books in one with the clean layout, rules updates, expanded mutant animals and tables, and all of it in gorgeous color. A great game and setting to introduce young and new gamers to role-playing.The books are now available in stores and from Palladium Books directly, so please spread the word.
We plan to make sure retailers at the GAMA Expo next week know about TMNT and all of Palladium’s game lines. If you’re attending GAMA next week, please stop by the Palladium Books Booth #1229 to chat, see books, make purchases, and take advantage of the expo specials. We are happy to sign books, so bring ‘em over. |
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| | COMING SOON! Star Anvil’s Rifts® Phase World® for Savage Worlds Kickstarter – Watch for it and sign up to their pre-launch page now so you don’t miss it. Like the Pinnacle books, this material, especially weapons, gear, spacecraft, and adventures, will be easy to adapt to your Palladium Phase World campaigns as well as offering a zillion ideas. They’ll be exploring new ground, offering new weapons, gear, villains, settings, adventures, and more across the Three Galaxies™. All of it official and sanctioned by Palladium Books. Follow this project now so you don’t miss out when it launches (soon). |
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| | COMING March 15th – Sean and I will be back for a new Legion of Myth livestream on March 15th, starting at noon. We invite you to ask questions about Palladium’s past, TMNT, Erick Wujcik, Rifts, BTS, or Blizzard Entertainment flying me in to talk about worldbuilding, or ask questions about game design, writing, comic books, and whatever else you might wanna know. |
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| | COMING SOON! We are continuing to work on books behind the scenes. In addition to sending titles in for reprinting, we are wrapping up Island at the Edge of the World, Second Edition (Fantasy), Rifts Bestiary 2, and more. |
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| | NEWS! The Palladium Books YouTube channel has grown by nearly 300% over the last year and continues to grow. Gamers are enjoying the many timeless videos on the Palladium Books YouTube Channel talking about our many books, game worlds, creators, and the history of the company. Please share links and spread the word to your friends and other Palladium fans. Thanks.
Coming in March: |
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| | Palladium Books turns 45 this year and we plan to host a special event or two, as well as attend a few conventions and offer sales and Flash Sales (lasting only a day or two). We also hope to surprise you with a number of new books. But you’ll need to skim these Weekly Updates so you don’t miss out on any of it. |
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| | Visit the Detroit Historical Museum and see the Worlds of Palladium exhibit – now thru September 13, 2026. The exhibit is freakin’ awesome and how many times does a role-playing game company get recognized like this? Not often. The exhibit itself is historic, so come and see it and all the impressive exhibits at the museum, like Heroes & Villains: Detroit’s Comic Book Story, Streets of Old Detroit (a fave), 100 Years of Red Wings Hockey, and America’s Motor City, among others. The Detroit Institute of Arts museum is across the street and is one of the best in the country. Detroit Historical Museum – 5401 Woodward Ave, Detroit, Michigan, 48202 – telephone: 313-833-1805 – Admission: $15 for adults, Children 6-12 $8. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, Open Wednesday thru Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM, Sunday 1-5 PM. |
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| SPECIAL APRIL EVENTWeekend Conversation with Kevin Siembieda – April 24 & 25, 2026 – Westland, Michigan – available now |
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| The idea is that gamers from out of town can come to see the Worlds of Palladium Exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum in the morning (I’ll try to be present at the museum for photo ops and chats there), and then come to the Palladium warehouse to visit with me and available staff, freelancers, and friends, the afternoon and evening of Friday, April 24 and/or Saturday, April 25.
Limited to 60 or so people. Each person attending needs to purchase an admission. Sold on a first-come first-served basis. A flat $20 admission whether you come for one or both days. Limited parking so we recommend car-pooling.
Ask me and the Palladium crew about the history of Palladium Books, the Detroit Gaming Center, Erick Wujcik, TMNT, Judges Guild and the early days of the RPG industry, your favorite game books, world settings, game design, writing, etc. You’ll also be able to get books signed, enjoy a tour of the offices, and get stuff you may be wanting.
Limited to 60 or so visitors: Sold on a first-come, first-served basis. If we sell out, walk-ins at the door will not be allowed due to the limited capacity of this event. We hope you understand. Admission: $20 per person attending; same price whether you come for one or both days. Available now under the online store category of Special Items. List the name of EACH Attendee: If you are purchasing admissions for more than one person, please list the full name (first and last) of each individual when you place the order. If you have questions or concerns contact us via Help Desk or telephone (734-721-2900). Please note that Palladium Books reserves the right to limit and decline admissions. Should that happen you’ll receive a full refund. Dates: April 24 (Friday) and April 25 (Saturday). Hours: Visit the historical museum in the morning and early afternoon – then visit the Palladium office and warehouse 2:00-10:00 PM Friday and Saturday. Location of Event: Palladium Books (warehouse and office) – 39074 Webb Court, Westland, Michigan, 48185. Hotels: YOU will be responsible for your own hotel, food, and travel arrangements. Palladium will offer suggestions on nearby hotels and we’re trying to get a special rate at the Red Roof Inn Detroit-Plymouth Canton – i0016@redroof.com – 734-459-3000 tel., but waiting to talk to the manager. Special rates should be available by March 15th. There are plenty of nearby restaurants and hotels including La Quinta, Fairfield by Marriott Inns Detroit Canton, Hampton Inns and Suites, and Comfort Suites Canton; all within 1.5 to 4 miles from Palladium Books and near I-275 highway. Guests: A number of Palladium freelance artists, writers, and industry people have expressed their interest to join the conversation. This includes writer Matthew Balent (tentative), writer & GM Steven Dawes (confirmed), writer Glen Evans (confirmed) and artists like Ben Rodriguez (confirmed), Ramon K. Perez (tentative), Nick Bradshaw, Mark Dudley, and others (all tentative at the moment). Any who may attend are happy to chat and sign books. Special Events (tentative): Go see the Worlds of Palladium exhibit and the Comic Book exhibit, and many of the other Detroit Historical Museum Exhibits. Located in downtown Detroit – 5401 Woodward Ave, Detroit, Michigan, 48202 – telephone: 313-833-1805 – Admission: $15 for adults, Children 6-12 $8. Open 10 AM to 5 PM, on Friday and Saturday. Note: I will try to be present at the exhibit Friday and Saturday mornings, 10am to noon (maybe longer). Photo Ops at Palladium Books: With me (Kevin Siembieda) and the Palladium crew, our life-size Leonardo Ninja Turtle statue, Storm Trooper statue, and a lot of other cool props and locations in the warehouse. Autographs: Bring books for me, the staff and freelance creators to sign. Squeeze in a tour of the Palladium office. In Memoriam: A special display remembering Kathy Simmons, Julius Rosenstein, Erick Wujick, and Henry Siembieda. There will be a book that you can sign-in and leave your address and a comment if you’d like. Merchandise: Snag currently available books, rare and out of print books, negatives, art prints, and more.
WARNING: This is NOT a Palladium Open House! No gaming. No concessions area. A very limited number of guests. |
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| Please help if you can – you’ll be saving lives (for real) |
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| We all talk about how slavery and child abuse is horrible. Here is your chance to do something about it. I know life is uncertain and money is tight for many of you, which is why we are asking for only a $10 donation to BRIC. Of course, more is appreciated if you can afford it, but even $10 – especially if we can get 100+ Palladium fans to help – can make a huge difference and truly save lives. Be the light. Be proud to make a real difference.
BRIC continues to rescue, rehabilitate, educate, and protect displaced, starving, and homeless children and teens who are taken from their families and forced to become child-soldiers and slaves of rebel warlords. But it needs our support to continue its lifesaving work. Please join me (Kevin Siembieda) and Sean Owen Roberson by helping in any way you can. Your donations, small or large, will save lives. $10 is all we ask. Let us show the world how caring and powerful the Palladium RPG gaming community can be. The link to the crowdfunder webpage is listed below. This current BRIC fundraising campaign ends March 16, 2026. Every penny collected goes to BRIC. Thank you for your consideration and support. Please spread the word. Your help is appreciated. – Kevin Siembieda & Sean Owen Roberson |
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| | The photo above shows Game Master Joshua Hill and a gaggle of gamers playing TMNT & Other Strangeness at Owlcon.
“Owlcon was a big part of how I discovered tabletop gaming as a teenager growing up in Houston,” said Palladium’s Sean Owen Roberson, “so it is surreal to see books I worked on being played there by smiling gamers.”
We’re always delighted to see Palladium Books’ games being played at conventions, and we’re looking for Game Masters to run TMNT, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, and all our games at Gen Con this summer. If you are interested in running 1-4 games please contact Jeremy Colantonio via email at jeremy@palladiumbooks.com. See details below. |
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| | Palladium needs YOU to run Gen Con Game Events |
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| 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 are thinking about running games at Gen Con or want to help out, please coordinate with Palladium Books in order to get a dedicated game 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 – $164 value! Plus, Game Masters get a 50% off coupon on any one item (some exclusions apply) at the Palladium booth for each game they run.
We hope to add to our usual crew of Gen Con Game Masters to run Palladium game events for any Palladium setting:
We need your commitment, game description and info by March 8. Send to Jeremy Colantonio via email at jeremy@palladiumbooks.com — Submissions after this date are not guaranteed to be in the Gen Con Program Book and attendance may suffer.
(Note: 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 your event gets 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 Jeremy Colantonio via email at: Jeremy@palladiumbooks.com |
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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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| Palladium collectibles, books, artwork, and negatives, as well as action figures, toys, and other items from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection are available from this Ebay store!
One-of-a-kind Palladium Books 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. Last year at Granite State Comic Con, Kevin Eastman had TMNT negatives from the first comic book on display.
Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed. These are the photographic negatives being sold as individual works of art and collectibles. When matted or framed on a white background they look like dynamic wood cut prints. And they are on sale right now! |
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| Weekend Conversation with Kevin Siembieda
Between the many YouTube interviews I’ve done and the new Worlds of Palladium Books exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, it all feels awesome and a little weird to me, personally. It’s wonderful to be recognized and celebrated.
There’s no doubt that Palladium Books helped to shape the gaming industry and the way role-playing game books are designed and published. I mean, Palladium Books pioneered the use of dynamic art, compelling lore, strong storytelling with both art and writing, and epic worldbuilding. Why else would Blizzard Entertainment invite me to speak about worldbuilding on their sprawling campus?
Palladium’s RPGs and sourcebooks have inspired generations of countless gamers, artists, writers, and game designers as well as book authors, comic book creators, filmmakers, and video game designers. It’s amazing and beautiful to have brought so much joy and inspired so many other people. I am truly humbled by it.
As role-playing games enter a new age of popularity and growth, multiple generations have come into the hobby, and they are looking back at the history of RPGs. Old school games are becoming coveted collector items. People want to know about the early days, early games, and the people responsible for them. I think that’s fantastic. I encourage people to talk to the early innovators, artists, writers, game designers, and publishers while they can.
I myself am endlessly fascinated by the origin stories of our industry. I love learning about the hows and whys things were done, the deliberate successes, the happy accidents, and yes, even the failures and why they failed. We’ve already lost many of the early innovators. If we want to understand and know the true history of role-playing games and the people behind them, we need to do it while those individuals, and those who remember the people we’ve lost, can still accurately recount those stories with reasonable accuracy.
This is why I have been appearing on more podcasts and YouTube channels. It’s why Sean Roberson encouraged me to do the Palladium Books YouTube chats with J-M DeFoggi. It’s why we talk about Palladium’s many games and the ideas and people involved in their creation. With the passing of industry founders as well as close personal friends like Kathy Simmons, Erick Wujcik, Keith Parkinson, Julius Rosenstein, amongst others, I feel a pressing need to share my experiences, thought processes, and memories of the people, attitudes, and events from those time periods.
We are all part of history, the present, and the future. The things we do in the now become the past and often shape aspects of the future. Our words and actions touch and influence – for good or ill – the lives of people we know as well as complete strangers, and often in ways we can never imagine. That’s why I love the line from the movie Gladiator, What we do in life echoes in eternity. What we do has meaning and significance even if we don’t realize it in the moment. And, yes, that includes you.
For a number of unfortunate reasons, my beautiful, dear father had low self esteem. He saw himself as nobody of great importance. So not true. My Dad’s words and deeds, love and wisdom, helped shape me and the way I see the world and treat other people. He, my mother, brother, Erick, Kathy, and everyone who has touched my life have helped shape me. They helped form the things I love and hate, and the way I live and write. Their influence is reflected in my own imagination, the worlds and characters I create, and the words I put down in the books you love. In that way they all continue to live. Their words and deeds still echo through eternity and will continue to do so in each of you long after I’m gone; encouraging and inspiring a legion of gamers and artists and creators into the future. It’s the so-called Butterfly Effect, and it’s miraculous.
That’s why it’s important we always try to be our best selves and a positive force. It’s why we must fight the darkness and strive to be the light. Yep, we’ll all screw up sometimes, but we need to get back up on our feet and strive to do the right thing. To be the light. As my Mom would say, “If you learn from your mistake, was it really a mistake or a valuable lesson?” As Erick Wujcik would say about life, “It’s all good.”
So come to the Weekend Conversation with me, Kevin Siembieda, and friends. We can talk philosophy and life, we can talk about the people we lost, the history of Palladium, game design, GMing games, and anything else your heart desires. But let us do so with love and camaraderie. Let’s spend time together, laugh, and make some cherished memories. Meanwhile, keep your imaginations burning bright, enjoy life, and be the best version of yourself that you can muster today.
– Kevin Siembieda, Game Designer, Writer, Friend |
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