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| CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF RIFTS® – ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE |
| | Horror Sale & News – Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – August 21, 2025 |
| Don’t miss the Big Scary Horror Sale featuring Dead Reign and other horror RPGs and sourcebooks. In my effort to understand the rare phenomenon of why Dead Reign is growing in popularity as word of mouth spreads, I’ve come to a couple of conclusions. In addition to the popularity of the horror genre in film and television, apparently Palladium’s life force-devouring zombies and explanation of how our zombies function is, as one fan put it, “mind blowing” and “I’ve never seen anything like them. They’re fascinating.” The other seems to be the depth and presentation of the post apocalyptic world and the people in it. For other gamers, the urban fantasy of Nightbane may be more to your taste, or the modern horror of Beyond the Supernatural. Check out Dead Reign and the others on sale and enjoy the substantial savings. All are available as physical books and as PDF books. The sale ends next week so time is running out. |
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| Palladium’s Big Scary Horror Sale – 30-50% savings while supplies lastLast weekend for big savings – sale ends Wednesday, August 27, 2025 |
| Dead Reign® (the Zombie Apocalypse) is hot and growing in popularity. Fast playing, intuitive, and fun. Many consider it one of the best Zombie RPGs ever. See why for yourself.
Also on sale – Beyond the Supernatural®, Nightbane® (Urban Fantasy) and select sourcebooks, prints, and products from across the Megaverse. Buy books now to surprise your players with zombies and other terrors in your autumn and winter campaigns, even if it’s only a one or two night terror-filled adventure. Available while supplies last. Sale ends Wednesday, August 27th.
Dead Reign® RPG Softcover – The classic slow rambling zombie and many strange and scary zombie variants hunt the living across the shattered ruins of civilization. How will you survive the zombie apocalypse? Are you a resourceful survivor or living on the edge? A hero or a victim? A predator or a madman? Death cultist who worships the walking dead or a hunter of the dead? – Cat. No. 230 – $18.89 – 30% discount Dead Reign® RPG Hardcover – A fascinating game of survival and heroism. A great introductory RPG. Fast. Fun. Intuitive. – Cat. No. 230HC – $31.49 – 30% discount Dead Reign® Civilization Gone sourcebook – Madmen, bandits, survivor camps, random encounters and resource tables, and more. – Cat. No. 231 – $11.89 – 30% discount Dead Reign® Dark Places sourcebook – 4 new zombies, life and travel in the shadows through sewers, along train tracks, and the dangers they represent, plus more encounter tables. – Cat. No. 232 – $11.89 – 30% discount Dead Reign® Endless Dead sourcebook – The title says it all. – Cat. No. 233 – $14.69 – 30% discount Dead Reign® Fear the Reaper sourcebook – An in-depth look at the fabled Road Reapers. – Cat. No. 234 – $7.00 – 50% discount Dead Reign® Graveyard Earth sourcebook – A global overview of the zombie apocalypse. – Cat. No. 235 – $8.50 – 50% discount Dead Reign® Hell Followed sourcebook – Stats and consequences of disasters, plus 7 new survivor O.C.C.s, crazy heroes, and more. – Cat. No. 236 – $17.49 – 30% discount Dead Reign® In the Face of Death sourcebook – Big city survival, living on rooftops, playing kids in the apocalypse, new bad guys, 100+ adventure hooks and more! – Cat. No. 237 – $12.50 – 50% discount Dead Reign® Mouse Pad (zombie rising from the grave) – Cat. No. 2568 – $4.98 – 50% discount Dead Reign® Coffee Mug – Cat. No. 2594 – $5.50 – 50% discount Beyond the Supernatural 1st Edition RPG Red Foil Collector’s Hardcover – Cat. No. 699HC – $38.50 – 30% discount Beyond the Supernatural 2nd Edition RPG Softcover (core rule book for modern horror) – Cat. No. 700 – $20.29 – 30% discount Creature Feature BTS sourcebook – Monsters, adventures, and tips on running horror games. – Cat. No. 704 – $18.89 – 30% discount Nightbane® RPG Hardcover (Urban Fantasy & body horror; modern setting) – Become a monster to battle monsters, vampires, demons, and evil in every form; plus deal with magic and conspiracy. – Cat. No. 730HC – $31.49 – 30% discount Nightbane® RPG Softcover (Urban Fantasy & body horror; modern setting) – Cat. No. 730 – $20.29 – 30% discount Nightbane® Nightlands Sourcebook – Cat. No. 732 – $17.49 – 30% discount Nightbane® Through the Glass Darkly Sourcebook (horrific magic) – Cat. No. 733 – $17.49 – 30% discount Nightbane® Survival Guide Sourcebook – Cat. No. 735 – $17.49 – 30% discount Palladium Fantasy RPG® 2nd Ed. Softcover – Cat. No. 450 – $22.39 – 30% discount Land of the Damned 1: Chaos Lands (Fantasy) – Cat. No. 468 – $13.50 – 50% discount Land of the Damned 2: Eternal Torment (Fantasy) – Cat. No. 469 – $13.50 – 50% discount The Rifter® #85 – Cat. No. 185 – $18.89 – 30% discount Rifts® Wormwood Dimension Book – Cat. No. 809 – $17.49 – 30% discount Rifts & The Megaverse: Art of John Zeleznik Softcover – Cat. No. 2510 – $11.48 – 50% discount Future Visions the Art of Chuck Walton – Cat. No. 2562 – $6.98 – 50% discount PRINT: Death and Ice (Bizantium cover) – Cat. No. PR812 – $5.00 – 50% discount PRINT: Chrome and Carnage (Glitter Boy vs Zombies, Chaos Earth Resurrection) – Cat. No. PR814 – $5.00 – 50% discount PRINT: Rifts® Mechanoids® (Rifts Sourcebook 2 cover) – Cat. No. PR837 – $5.00 – 50% discount PRINT: Rifts® Nuclear Glitter Boy with Rifts Flag – Cat. No. PR844 – $5.00 – 50% discount PRINT: Rifts® Coalition Strike Force (Dead Boys & Skelebots) – Cat. No. PR819 – $7.50 – 50% discount PRINT: Endless Dead Zombie Print (Palladium staff as zombies) – Cat. No. PR809-17 – $5.00 – 50% discount
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| | | All Horror PDF books on sale at the Palladium Website and DriveThruRPG.com |
| – Don’t miss out on the big savings from Palladium Books and DriveThruRPG.com. Both sales end next Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Enjoy. – All Beyond the Supernatural PDF titles – 25% discount – All Dead Reign® PDF titles – 25% discount – All Nightbane® PDF titles – 25% discount – Plus a few other select titles like Wormwood – 25% off NOTE: Horror PDFs that are part of a book and a PDF bundle are 50% off. |
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| NEW on the Palladium Books YouTube channel – Official History of Palladium Books |
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Coming: Interviews with Sean Owen Roberson (Palladium’s Creative Director), Matthew Balent (Weapons and Armor), Brandon Verhalen (Star Anvil and Phase World), and Matthew Clements (Northern Gun).
And much more from me, Kevin Siembieda, as we talk about the Coalition States as Bad Guys/Good Guys, the Federation of Magic, the Palladium Combat System, creating cool villains, Game Design, Writing, and other role-playing fun.
You can find a whole bunch of episodes and interviews on the Palladium Books YouTube channel. People are still discovering these fun and informative chats, so please spread the word. They reveal behind-the-scenes information and dispel rumors and false statements about Palladium’s history and creation process.
A new episode goes live every other week. Whether viewers are Palladium fans or enjoy RPG history straight from the source, enjoy these intimate chats. I hope you find hearing about the creation process behind the scenes and learning more about the people behind the games you love to be entertaining and inspiring. |
| | | Also see the fun online chats with Legion of Myth and great podcasts with the Glitterbois. Oh, and Through Gamer Goggles as well. Hey Podcasters and YouTubers, we are happy to consider appearances on your shows too. Please reach out via the Help Desk. If you don’t hear back from us in a month, reach out again, because maybe your first inquiry got missed. We are juggling so much. Thanks. |
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| COMING! Yin-Sloth Expeditions |
| The Palladium crew and I have been dealing with the finalization of logistics for completing and shipping the TMNT & Other Strangeness Redux books and Kickstarter rewards, as well as other matters since our return from Gen Con. Ah, but I’m back to work on the big adventure sourcebook that is Yin-Sloth Expeditions. This book reminds me of Old Ones, because each different location is showcased with a fun, fleshed-out adventure, and corresponding maps, plus additional adventure ideas, new memorable villains, lost species (like Sea Giants), and other cool elements. Fans starving for new fantasy material will love this book. And there’s more coming for Palladium Fantasy in the new year. Coming this fall. |
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| Books BACK IN STOCK and available now |
| Rifts® Black Market (new cover) – Cat. No. 886 – Secrets, weapons, robots, power armor, and more revealed. Rifts® Psi-Ops: Psychic War (formerly Rifts Coalition Manhunters, new cover & title) – Cat. No. 894 – Coalition State secrets revealed. Rifts® Primer & Adventures – Cat. No. 824 – How to Play Rifts® by Gleba and Siembieda, 4 full adventures, 101 Rifts® adventure ideas, and more. Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook – Cat. No. 850 – A compendium of bionics and cybernetics from around the world. Rifts® Psyscape – Cat. No. 822 – Info about mythical Psyscape. Beyond the Supernatural RPG – Cat. No. 700 – A complete game, fun player characters, psychics, ordinary people, creatures of darkness, and more. Villains Unlimited – Cat. No. 501 – 80+ original villains and more. Note: See Gramercy Island for 90+ additional villains (Cat. No. 517). Both titles are available now.
More reprints are coming! Additional low stock and out of print titles are being prepped to go to the printer. That includes Rifts Ultimate Edition “Softcover,” Rifts 30th Anniversary Edition, the Cyberworks Collection, Federation of Magic, Chaos Earth RPG, Powers Unlimited 3, and Nightbane Shadows of Light, among others. |
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| Dungeon Dwelling Creatures Crowdfunder
– Ends Soon |
| The cool twist of this Fantasy RPG is that you play the monsters that battle heroes and invaders of your dungeon home who attack you just because you’re a monster. It uses the DCC rules and is a project being produced by a friend. If it sounds fun to you, check it out and follow the crowdfunder campaign. Note: This project launched on August first, has already reached its goal, and is going strong, so take a look. |
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| COMING! Rifts® Phase World® Sourcebooks from Star Anvil |
| A new licensing partner, the creative team at Star Anvil will be designing official sourcebooks for Phase World and The Three Galaxies using the Savage Worlds rules. Their first Kickstarter probably launches in September, but you can join their pre-launch campaign now. And you want to do that, because it’s gonna be great, with new settings, villains, spaceships, weapons, gear and more, easy to adapt to Palladium’s game system and any existing adventure campaign. As for you Savage Worlds players, you’ll be able to dive right into it. Personally, as someone who has seen the product outlines and art, I can’t wait to see these all new Phase World and the Three Galaxies™ sourcebooks. You’ll definitely want to follow and check it out. |
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| All Horror PDF books on sale at the Palladium Website and DriveThruRPG.com |
| – All Beyond the Supernatural PDF titles – 25% discount – All Dead Reign® PDF titles – 25% discount – All Nightbane® PDF titles – 25% discount – Plus a few other select titles like Wormwood – 25% off. NOTE: Horror PDFs that are part of a book and a PDF bundle are 50% off. |
| | 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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| | | SALE! Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store |
| Palladium collectibles as well as action figures and other items from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection are on sale!
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! |
| | | | Dead Reign® & the joy of the scare
Dead Reign is a wonderful aberration. One of those rare RPG settings that grows in popularity over time. We’ve seen something similar with Beyond the Supernatural and Nightbane too, and BTS should surge when we unveil new sourcebooks next year. I also have ideas for a couple of new Dead Reign adventure sourcebooks.
I get a kick out of the fact that people love the uniquely Palladium Books zombies. Creatures that make sense and fit beautifully into the Palladium Megaversal mythology. The presentation feels like an entertaining study of zombies and their behavior in the wild. So fun. I can’t take all the credit for that as I built upon ideas from Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford, and in later books from text and ideas by Taylor White. I thought his idea to include short descriptions and stats for 22 disasters was pure genius. And Nick Bradshaw and Amy Ashbaugh’s art have inspired some of the characters and villains.
I enjoy seeing and hearing about how much gamers enjoy the many variant zombies, the world setting, the overall tone and mood of the setting, Brad Ashley’s voice and his survival and zombie fighting tips, the sense of camaraderie among survivors, non-zombie villains, anti-heroes (often plagued by madness), and the many possibilities for adventure. As much as I like the different O.C.C.s, my personal favorite – and I see many other Game Masters who feel the same way – is the Survivor O.C.C./Ordinary People. I love to run Dead Reign and Beyond the Supernatural games with so-called “ordinary people.” Of course, the fact they fight zombies and take a stand against evil makes them more than ordinary and quite heroic.
In short, though there is no magic or psychic abilities in Dead Reign, there is something magical about that RPG world and the characters. I love it.
The other thing I love, unrelated to Dead Reign or horror, is that people are continuing to discover and deeply enjoy the Official History of Palladium Books on the Palladium YouTube channel. We frequently get positive feedback about this conversational interview series. J-M DeFoggi and I make a great team, in part, because we both love RPGs and Palladium Books so much. I enjoy sharing Palladium’s history and the thought process behind our many different game lines. I love talking about the creative process, writing, GMing, the amazing people behind our games such as Erick Wujcik, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Julius Rosenstein, Matthew Balent, Kevin Long, Keith Parkinson, Ramon Perez, Sean Owen Roberson, Matthew Clements, and many others.
As the role-playing game industry continues to spread into the mainstream of pop culture, I’m seeing games become collector’s items and new generations of gamers clamoring to learn more about the beginnings of the RPG industry and the people who gave it birth. Sadly, many RPG designers have passed away and their hopes, dreams, and creative processes are lost to posterity. As a result, I’m happy to share my stories and adventures in RPG design while I still can. I find it frustrating and sad when I hear stories about past game companies and creators that I know are incorrect, negative, or complete baloney. I am honored to have the opportunity to talk about my contributions to gaming and the amazing human beings I’ve had the pleasure to work with. Moreover, I hope my recollections and stories inspire new generations to follow their dreams and create new RPG worlds of wonder and thrilling game experiences.
That’s about it for this Update. Make sure you snag some books or PDFs from our Big Scary Horror Sale before it’s over. Never be afraid to try new games and explore new ideas. Always be curious and seek to expand your imagination. Boldly go into realms of adventure in every medium and take your fellow gamers along for the ride. The true treasures in life are the people and experiences that bring you joy. And to paraphrase some words of wisdom from the final episode of Resident Alien, “We humans connect and bond through simple acts of kindness.” So true.
So be kind. Be kind to your friends, your family, yourself, and complete strangers. You’ll discover even the tiniest act of kindness makes a profound difference to them and to you.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Game Designer, Writer and Friend |
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