A LEGACY OF INNOVATION – ONE GAME SYSTEM – ENDLESS ADVENTURE
By Kevin Siembieda and Daniel Lansdown
News briefs …
Blood-chilling Halloween Sale is live! We are offering our Palladium Horror sale early. Filled with scary savings and gruesome fun, and plenty of time for the books you order to arrive in time for you to build the Halloween RPG event (or campaign!) you know you want to do. Dead Reign® is not your typical zombie game and Nightbane® is epic urban fantasy, plus we’ll include select titles from Beyond the Supernatural™, Rifts® and other game lines. See more details below.
Note: There’s a similar PDF Sale taking place on DriveThruRPG.com right now too.
The Worlds of Palladium Exhibit – Extended
Good News Everybody! The Worlds of Palladium Exhibit is still up for visitation at the Detroit Historical Museum for at least another few weeks, possibly longer, so there’s still time to see it. I have not gotten an exact date yet for how long it may remain available for viewing. So before you come to see it, you should probably call the museum first to make sure the exhibit is available for viewing. The comic book exhibit has been taken down.
And when you’re in town, swing by the Palladium office to say hello, get a brief tour of our idea factory, and get some books signed. We are only 30 minutes from the Detroit Historical Museum.
Detroit Historical Museum – 5401 Woodward Ave, Detroit, Michigan, 48202 – Telephone: 313-833-1805 – Admission: $15 for adults, $8 for Children 6-12
Open Wednesday thru Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM, Sunday 1-5 PM.
Closed Monday and Tuesday.
The Mechanoids® Redux Edition!
Before The Terminator. Before the Matrix. Before Rifts, Phase World, or Aliens Unlimited. There was The Mechanoids.
Did you hear the news?! The Mechanoids Redux Edition: The Complete RPG Collection is part of the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder (launches October 20, 2026), and commemorates Palladium’s 45th Anniversary. This big, 250+ page book will collect the original Mechanoid Trilogy: The Mechanoid Invasion (1981), The Journey (1982), and Homeworld (1983), parts of Rifts Mechanoids Sourcebook (1992), AND the long forgotten The Mechanoids® RPG (1985) that contained an extra hundred pages of source material, artwork, vehicles, weapons, and more.
Sean has called the 1985 Mechanoids RPG “a lost and forgotten gem” – and the Mechanoids “a dark science fiction setting and characters ahead of its time.” Which is why he wants to collect and completely remaster it all into one big, beautiful, Redux Edition with new layout, updates, and full color art. How could I say no?
The Mechanoids® Collection Redux Edition Highlights:
Written by Kevin Siembieda; an adventure by Erick Wujcik.
Redux design, layout, and updates, by Sean Owen Roberson.
80% of the artwork is by Kevin Siembieda. Remember, most of you have never seen the additional art, characters, gear, or cover from the 1985 RPG, plus I (Kevin) have dug out additional never before seen art that I had created back in the day.
Additional art by William Messner-Loebs, Newton Ewel, Kevin Long, Mike Gustovich, and James A. Osten.
Newly colored for the very first time by Luis Antonio Delgado, renowned colorist of the New York Times best-selling graphic novel, The Last Ronin, amongst many other books.
The Mechanoid Redux Edition – deluxe, full color hardcover.
250+ pages – another dream project for me (Kevin) and Sean.
Follow the Glitter Boy Codex Backerkit Page for more details!
Palladium’s Halloween Horror Sale – 30% Off! Now Through October 14th
Halloween is just around the corner and you’ll need time to build your Halloween gaming event or RPG campaign, which is why we’re running this spine-chilling sale with books across the Megaverse NOW. So don’t be afraid to save some money and create a frightfully fun RPG or horror campaign in time for Halloween or during the long winter months ahead.
Stock up, save 30%, and make your next adventure pulse-pounding!
Dead Reign RPG HARDCOVER, Zombie Apocalypse – Cat. No. 230HC
Endless Dead Sourcebook – Cat. No. 233
Fear the ReaperSourcebook – Cat. No. 234
Graveyard EarthSourcebook – Cat. No. 235
Hell FollowedSourcebook – Cat. No. 236
In the Face of Death – Cat. No. 237
Beyond the Supernatural RPG – Cat. No. 700
Nightbane RPG – Cat. No. 730
All Nightbane Sourcebooks – Cat. No. 731-736
Rifts Ultimate Edition RPG – Cat. No. 800HC
Rifts Vampire Kingdoms – Cat. No. 802E
Rifts South America – Cat. No. 814
Rifts Vampires Sourcebook – Cat. No. 884
Rifts Africa (the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse) – Cat. No. 808
That’s when the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder goes LIVE on BackerKit.
You won’t want to wait until then though, you can get $30 worth of extra goodies with a $5 reservation on the Pre-Launch Page before we go live!
And as we get closer to launch, the Pre-Launch Page is going to continue revealing more artwork, more lore, more Glitter Boy variants, and surprises.
The Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex is a newly written and illustrated sourcebook devoted to one of the most iconic characters in Rifts® – the Glitter Boy pilot and their legendary chromium power armor the USA-G10.
Expect Glitter Boy suit modifications, new and variant weapons, new gear, adventure ideas, never-before-revealed Glitter Boy history, famous Glitter Boy groups, notorious individuals, powerful new artwork, and plenty of ways for players and Game Masters to make these legendary war machines their own.
You’ll be able to choose between the Glitter Boy Codex Softcover, featuring classic black-and-white interior artwork by Steven Cummings, and the full-color Glitter Boy Codex Hardcover, making it the landmark first full-color Rifts® sourcebook. Artwork by Steven Cummings with colors by Michael Majestic.
And there is much more.
We’re working on the customizable Rifts® Game Master Screen, custom dice sets, Rifts playmats, a new metal collector coin, Glitter Boy prints, the return of the fan-favorite full-color Rifts® Poker Deck on upgraded linen card stock, and other surprises that we are not ready to reveal just yet.
Plus, The Mechanoids Redux Edition: The Complete RPG Collection is coming to this crowdfunder to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of Palladium Books.
If you haven’t joined the Pre-Launch Page yet, now is the time. A $5 Pre-Launch Reservation unlocks a special $30 Rifts Surprise Bundle when you back the campaign at launch. Each Surprise Bundle will be hand-curated by the Palladium team and be sure to delight any Rifts fan.
Previous Palladium crowdfunder backers will also receive a bonus art print when backing this campaign.
Between now and October 20, keep watching the Pre-Launch Page. We have plenty more to show you.
Don’t miss it! Kevin and Sean will be reveal a special crowdfunding reward during the Legion of Myth Live Stream this Sunday, September 27th. And it’s big.
Follow. Reserve & Mark October 20th to your calendars – it’s time to suit up!
will be here before you know it – January 14-17, 2027
This is another fun and rapidly growing convention. A must for gamers in the northeastern U.S., especially old school gamers!
Last year it had nearly 100 guests – many of them legends in the role-playing game industry. Including little ol’ me, Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Balent, Matt Forbeck, Frank Mentzer, Zeb Cook, Ed Stark, Jeff Dee, Darlene, Harold Johnson, Professor Dungeon Master, Kelsey Dionne (Shadowdark), Chris Arneson, and dozens more.
I will be back as a guest, and I’m scheduled for two panel talks with J-M DeFoggi. I believe Jim Zub, writer of Conan for Titan Comics, is one of the new guests this year. The Saturday Night auction is amazing too.
Live Streams & Social Media Fun
Kevin & Sean have been busy sharing the news!
Friday Night Live by the Philadelphia Area Game Expo – A fun online chat with Kevin Siembieda. Check out the Friday Night Live on the Philadelphia Area Game Expo website/YouTube Channel.
I did a fun livestream on the show with Ron Meischler, Phil Wert, Jennifer Cash the Blind Bard, and fellow guest Rob Aldermann at Pulp Hummock Press (his Overlords of Steel RPG crowdfunder, it looks very interesting). We had a blast talking about a lot of different subjects.
Also check out the most recent Legion of Myth chats. Sean and Kevin had a very fun time talking about the Glitter Boy crowdfunder and The Mechanoids RPG Redux edition reveal.
And that’s not all. Palladium Books YouTube channel now has new weekly posts! There’s a new chat with Sean Owen Roberson about the GB Codex last week, Kevin Siembieda talks about The Mechanoids this week, and coming this month Rifts Mercenaries, Kevin’s take on Palladium Alignments, a new bit about the history of Palladium Books, Northern Gun, and more. Each is fun and provides new insight about our many games and sourcebooks.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media to watch our reels too. Plus, Daniel is about to start a fun weekly art series on our social media pages showing off the amazing art of Palladium Books and highlighting the many incredible artist we have had the pleasure of working with.
Wow, the Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder Pre-Launch is off to an amazing start. As of this writing we already have more than 1,700 followers with 20 days to go before the Backerkit campaign goes live. Not only that, more that 700 of you wonderful maniacs have made a $5 reservation to get $30 of additional rewards when you back the campaign. Wow. Cool. Please continue to spread the word because this crowdfunder is awesome.
The Glitter Boy Codex presents all kinds of new source material, weapons, gear, and history about the classic USA10 Glitter Boy. Not to mention great artwork and rewards like a Game Master Screen, dice sets, playmats, etc. Plus, we’ll be doing the sourcebook as a black and white softcover AND as a full color hardcover, and a special chromatic foil cover edition.
The Mechanoid Collection Redux Edition is also a big part of the Glitter Boy Crowdfunder. This includes the long lost and largely forgotten 1985 Mechanoids RPG which contained 100 pages of new source material, plus seldom and never before seen art, characters, equipment, and more.
This is all super-exciting for us, especially me, Will Erwin (GB writer), Sean Roberson (writer and designer of both books), and Daniel Lansdown (marketing). I love the new material for Glitter Boys and I’m thrilled the lost Mechanoids material is finding new life and a new audience in the Complete Collection.
Plus we’re getting reprint books in stock for Christmas and work continues on Rifts Bestiary Volume 2, Rifts Antarctica, Yin-Sloth Expeditions, and other projects.
So enjoy the two Palladium Horror Sales (books from BTS, Dead Reign, Nightbane, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy) and PDFs of those same books and more from DriveThru. Also take a look at the TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG products because they are fun, beautiful, and completely usable with all our other RPGs, and enjoy your weekend.
– Kevin Siembieda, Founder, Game Designer, Writer, Friend
Dive Into The Megaverse® at DriveThruRPG.com
Explore 300+ Palladium RPG products across a dozen unique worlds, all built on the same core game system. Learn one Palladium RPG and you c
an jump into them all—or mix characters, monsters, magic, weapons, and ideas across settings!
Find RPG books, G.M. and player aids, character sheets, paper miniatures, The Rifter® #1-85, FREE previews, and more.
One game system. Endless possibilities. Explore the Megaverse®.
Discover Palladium collectibles, books, artwork, toys, action figures, and treasures from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection, with new items added regularly.
You’ll also find rare one-of-a-kind Palladium Books printing negatives used in the creation of classic books before digital production. Matted or framed against a white background, these unique pieces resemble striking woodcut prints and make incredible collectibles for Palladium fans.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc.; Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Garden of the Gods, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, Psychic Scream, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
A LEGACY OF INNOVATION – ONE GAME SYSTEM – ENDLESS ADVENTURE
By Kevin Siembieda
Hello, Fellow Gamers and Palladium Fans!
Gen Con was a fun blur of sights, sounds, color, and faces, with meetings and greetings, epic sales, good eats, and delightful fans woven throughout it all. Our thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth to say hello, purchase products, and hang out for a little while.
You can read my Gen Con Report and see more photos at the end of this Weekly Update under Closing Thoughts.
NEW! Mutants & Heroes SALE – One Week Only
Featuring TMNT & Other Strangeness & More
Palladium’s Gen Con Special had most of the TMNT & Other Strangeness products on sale at a 15% discount and After the Bomb sourcebooks at a 50% discount. We don’t want you to miss out because you couldn’t make it to Gen Con, so we’re giving you a similar sale with a slightly expanded range of titles and products. One week only, so order today and spread the word.
The TMNT & Other Strangeness Redux Edition RPG – on sale – Cat. No. 502HC
The TMNT & Other Strangeness Black, White, and Red Edition RPG – on sale – Cat. No. 504BWR
TMNT Transdimensional Adventures Redux Edition sourcebook – on sale – Cat. No. 508HC
TMNT Transdimensional Adventures Black, White, and Red Edition sourcebook– on sale – Cat. No. 509BWR
TMNT & Other Strangeness GAME MASTER SCREEN – on sale – Cat. No. 512
TMNT & Other Strangeness Mutagen Green DICE SET (7 dice) – on sale – Cat. No. 510
Ninjas & Superspies RPG – 40+ martial arts and special powers – on sale – Cat. No. 525
Mystic China – N&S sourcebook – magic, more powers, demons – on sale – Cat. No. 526
Heroes Unlimited RPG – make any type of hero – on sale – Cat. No. 500
Heroes Unlimited Game Master Guide – on sale – Cat. No. 516
Mutants in Orbit ATB & Rifts sourcebook – stats and mutants for both games – on sale – Cat. No. 514
Gramercy Island HU sourcebook – 100+ villains and more – on sale – Cat. No. 518
Armageddon Unlimited – save the world from demon invaders – on sale – Cat. No. 527
After the Bomb RPG – more mutant animals & the apocalypse – Cat. No. 503
Rifts Sports Bag – They hold a lot of books and gear – Cat. No. 2622
Palladium Books Sports Bag – Fans loved ‘em at Gen Con – Cat. No. 2623
The countdown to the Rifts Glitter Boy Codex has begun. Rifts fans went bonkers over this announcement at Gen Con. These books and the special crowdfunding rewards are all must-own items for Rifts fans. Sign up to the Pre-Launch page now for a preview and so you are notified when the BackerKit crowdfunder launches! You don’t want to miss a thing. And please spread the word.
As of this writing, all of our recent website issues appear to be resolved. Checkout is functioning normally, and PDF purchases are once again linking and downloading properly.
We sincerely apologize for the string of recent website kerfuffles. Who knew that upgrading our server to solve one problem—slow loading times—would create such a mess behind the scenes?
A huge thank-you goes to our web developer, Rex, who has devoted countless hours to researching these issues, optimizing our website and server, and teaching us how to better maintain everything moving forward.
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
Thank you all for your patience, understanding, and continued support.
Legion of Myth – Gamer Talk – August 16, 2026
Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson (tentative) will be back to cause more trouble on Legion of Myth August 16th, around noon Eastern time. Join the fun. And while you’re waiting, watch some earlier chats, they’re all good. Just look at the hard questions asked in our previous Gamer Talk.
Dive Into The Megaverse® at DriveThruRPG.com
DriveThruRPG.com always has 300+ Palladium RPG products– 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! There are also G.M. and player aids, character generators, paper miniatures, character sheets, and FREE Previews of select books, The Rifter® #1-85, and more. Explore the Megaverse®.
Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store
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! New items added regularly.
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.
Record attendance, big sales, fun panel talks, great fans, lots of autograph signing! Gen Con and most conventions are a blend of fun, work, laughs, and exhaustion.
This Gen Con was even crazier than most.
Thursday the exhibitor’s hall was packed with gamers. Sean and I stopped to sign one person’s Ninja Turtles RPG that morning and it turned into a cavalcade of fans that was non-stop autographs for four hours straight! It was amazing and so much fun. Of course, we continued to sign books the rest of the day and every day, but those first four hours were constant. It was wonderful to meet and chat with so many gamers from across the US from Alaska to Maine, and from around the world – the UK and France to New Zealand and Asia! For those of you who couldn’t make it to Gen Con, Sean and Palladium’s social media guy, Daniel Lansdown, posted photos all weekend to much excitement.
This year we were able to spend some time with Shane Hensley, founder of Pinnacle Entertainment Group (PEG) and the mastermind behind the Savage Worlds game system and RPGs like Deadlands. Shane hadn’t been to Gen Con in something like 10 years, so it was a treat to be able to hang out with him. We also got see old pals like Frank Uchmanowicz (Worlds Largest Dungeon, Audio RPG), Clint Black (Savage Worlds), Mike Stackpole (Star War & Battletech), Phil Reed (SJG), Steve Jackson (Munchkin), Mike and Lisa Pondsmith (Cyberpunk), Tim Brown (Dark Sun), Jim Zub (Conan), Jolly & Barb Blackburn (KODT), Jordan Wiseman (Battletech), Matthew Clements (Palladium), Glen Evans (Palladium), Mark Oberle (Palladium), Mike Leonard (Palladium), J-M DeFoggi (Jackals), Matthew Lempki (Through Gamers Goggles), the Brown Family, the Atens Family, Molly, John, Simon, Orson, Sarah, Peter, and Doug (all amazing human beings), and far too many others to list by name.
The best part of conventions – besides evangelizing role-playing games and making sales – is meeting and chatting with friends, fans, and industry pals. Talking to our fans about gaming, future plans, artwork, etc., and getting fan feedback and suggestions always inspire and reenergize us all. It’s heartwarming and joyful to see people’s faces light up when they meet me, Sean, or any of the people listed above. We signed more autographs and took more photos with people than ever before and loved every minute of it. That Dragon Head sketch I do sure is a crowd pleaser.
Both panel talks were well attended and fun. Sean and I had several people tell me they really enjoyed them. Fans went absolutely bonkers over the Glitter Boy Codex and can’t wait for the crowdfunder to start. They loved the cover and Sean’s description of what the book will contain. They also went wild over the fact that the G.B. Codex will be available as the traditional black and white softcover, AND as a full color hardcover (there will be a foil edition and some surprise exclusives and add-ons too!). The Glitter Boy Codex will be the very first FULL color Rifts book. Cool, right? They were also pleased to learn Yin-Sloth Expeditions would get a crowdfunder in October – and that Rifts Bestiary Vol. Two would see release this fall. Rifts Chaos Earth First Responders and Rifts Antarctica, among other projects, are all moving forward too.
The big sellers were all things Rifts and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, followed by Palladium Fantasy, After the Bomb, Dead Reign, and Heroes Unlimited. Folks were happy with the new Island at the Edge of the World fantasy sourcebook, and we nearly sold out of Rifts Ultimate Edition (and we brought a lot of them) amongst others.
Palladium’s 30 game events were also crowd pleasers. To the Game Masters who ran Palladium gaming events, thank you! Your time, experience, and enthusiasm helped bring over 125 new players to the Megaverse. We had games running from Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, Heroes Unlimited, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness throughout the weekend.
Sean and I had a number of exciting meetings with game manufacturers, printers, artists, and heads of crowdfunding platforms that all went very well. That’s excellent because you’ll be seeing more crowdfunders and a lot more books and RPG accessories coming from Palladium Books in the future. We also met a half-dozen artists we hope to do artwork for us in the future.
We worked our behinds off, but had a wonderful and prosperous Gen Con. We loved the positive energy from our fans, friends, and the overall event. As usual it has left us emotionally and creatively energized. We spent the drive home discussing all kinds of ideas for new products.
Until then, enjoy the Mutants & Heroes Sale, snag yourself some TMNT, superhero, After the Bomb, and martial arts RPG books and game on.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc.; Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Garden of the Gods, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, Psychic Scream, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE
By Kevin Siembieda
Two big sales to keep your summer sizzling.
Save $250 on the Mutants & Ninjas Bundle of Holding
One Week Left – Don’t Miss Out on this Great Deal!
Pay less than $30 to get 21 PDF books worth $279 retail – that’s a mindbending savings of $250.
Discover the world of mystic martial arts and superspies with the Ninjas & Superspies RPG and the mutant apocalypse with the After the Bomb RPG. Both tabletop RPGs and their sourcebooks are fun by themselves, but they can also be combined with Rifts, Heroes Unlimited and other Palladium Books role-playing games. And you can do it all on the cheap. Build your PDF reference library and tell other gamers about the huge savings.
Mutant & Monstrous Worlds – NEW SALE – 5 Days Only
Fan Favorite physical RPGs and sourcebooks at a 25% to 50% discount.
Continuing the summer savings, a new selection of books from the many worlds of Palladium are on sale for your enjoyment. They include titles from the following settings:
Rifts
Palladium Fantasy
Ninjas & Superspies
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness
Heroes Unlimited
After the Bomb
Dead Reign
Sale ENDS Tuesday evening, July 14th, so get ‘em before it’s too late.
We are continuing to upgrade our website and discovering new issues we are resolving immediately. If you find yourself unable to place orders for books or PDFs, please let us know so we can investigate, identify, and fix the problem. If you have experienced difficulties placing your order over the last few weeks, please don’t give up on us. Give it another try. This current sale is a good incentive to do just that. We thank you for your understanding and patience.
The Making of the Dead Reign RPG
New on Palladium Books’ YouTube Channel
I didn’t know I was a zombie guy until I had to work on this RPG. It was a fun, if unexpected, journey and I’ve enjoyed every terror-filled moment. Listen to the Dead Reign video for the complete story. And if you get a hankering to try the Dead Reign RPG, it and a few sourcebooks are on sale at PalladiumBooks.com this weekend. The Sale on the Palladium website ends on Tuesday, so you need to move faster than a zombie to get your copy.
We’ll be there with hundreds of our RPG titles from Rifts and Phase World to Nightbane, Palladium Fantasy, and all the rest, plus some original art, negatives, dice, and more. And we’ll sign books and chat with you for a while. See a sneak peek of Rifts Bestiary Vol. 2 and the Glitter Boy Codex.
Use the Gen Con Coupon Book to get special discounts on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG, Transdimensional Adventures sourcebook, Game Master Reference Screen, and Mutagen Green dice set as well as all After the Bomb titles, while supplies last. Sold on a first come, first served basis.
Meet and chat with Palladium creators:
Kevin Siembieda, game designer and founder of Palladium Books
Sean Owen Roberson, game designer, business partner, and Creative Director
Daniel Lansdown, Office and Marketing Manager
Wayne Smith, Editor and so much more
Caleb Nelson, order processing and Lord of the Warehouse
JUST ADDED – Matthew Clements, writer (Northern Gun, Dead Reign)
Mark Oberle, writer (Nightbane, Dead Reign, Rifts)
Glen Evans, writer (Palladium Fantasy, The Rifter)
Mike Leonard (The Rifter, paper minis)
All are happy to sign your books and chat with you for a little while.
Dive Into The Megaverse® at DriveThruRPG.com
DriveThruRPG.com always has 300+ Palladium RPG products– 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! There are also G.M. and player aids, character generators, paper miniatures, character sheets, and FREE Previews of select books, The Rifter® #1-85, and more. Explore the Megaverse®.
Palladium Collectibles – at Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store
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! New items added regularly.
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.
Over the past few months – but especially these past few weeks – I have spoken to several friends and family members who are feeling down. They can’t point to anything specific and say things like: “Everything just seems bad – uncertain – ugly – hopeless.”
I understand, because I had been feeling that way myself lately, and I couldn’t point to anything specific either. I was just blah. Is it something in the zeitgeist? The political atmosphere? The summer heat? I didn’t know. I just wanted to stop feeling that way. I wanted to feel uplifted and happy.
What pulled me out of my doldrums was a sequence of events. I had a series of uplifting calls from people telling me how much they loved me and my work. A couple of people were fans but complete strangers. Several were friends I hadn’t heard from in quite a while so it was a pleasant surprise. But I still felt blah, and now I was angry with myself because such sincere and kind words didn’t seem to do much to lift me out of my doldrums. What’s wrong with me, I pondered. Had I become jaded? Was I suffering from depression? Or what? In reality, those calls meant the world to me, but those positive emotions were still being held down by the blahs.
I hesitantly bought an expensive art book featuring the work of Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man comic books from the 1960s. I made this impulsive decision based entirely on the cover, the promise of what awaited inside, and the desire to do something nice for myself. Ditko is a comic book legend on the level of Jack Kirby and his work was a big influence on my own art and development as an artist and storyteller. Lost in my despondent and angry mood, however, I spent the entire drive home beating myself up for spending so much money on a stupid book that’s probably not even worth it. I even thought about turning around and taking it back for a refund before I took it out of the box and cellophane wrapper. The damn book weighs a ton and made a loud thud when I plopped it down on the kitchen table, where I continued to further debate with myself about returning it.
Finally, I took the book out of the box and carried the massive tome to the couch, laid it down in the middle of the sofa, and carefully cut and peeled away the cellophane. The book is so large (the original comic book page size which was quite large in those days) and heavy (quality paper), that it filled an entire spot where a person would sit. I knelt down in front of the couch and opened the book to a random page. That’s when the sun shined through the window blinds and the angels began to sing.
The book was beautiful. The artwork was magnificent. The visual flow and artistry and storytelling combined to create one incredible masterwork after another. I know this will sound silly, but I could feel my heart swelling just like the Grinch’s on Christmas morning in Whoville. My blahs evaporated with every turn of the page. I spent two hours on my knees studying every panel and brush stroke. I let myself be swept away to a wondrous happy place that, somehow, I had almost forgotten. All of a sudden, as my heart soared and my mind cleared, ideas for RPG books and adventures began to form in my head. The blahs were gone and I was back.
Don’t you forget that our hobbies and the people and things that we love, inspire us, and bring us joy, are always there for us. They hold the power to make the blahs and hopelessness disappear and restore joyful and a happier perspective.
We role-playing gamers are doubly fortunate because the very design of RPGs is to inspire and create an escape into joyous, heroic adventure. They inspire our imaginations even when we just read the book or flip through the illustrations, let alone when we create a character and dive into a game. That was the gist of the calls from my friends and fans earlier that week: “Thank you, Kevin, for publishing RPGs that have inspired us as writers, artists, and gamers, and have brought us so much joy. We love them and we love you.” How beautiful is that? I am humbled and delighted.
So draw upon your RPG resources right there on your bookshelves and on your computers. Reread your favorite books as well as the ones you don’t fully remember because there are probably things that will spark your imagination and lift your spirits. Try new RPG settings especially when there are big sales. Take advantage of sales from Palladium Books like the Mutant and Monstrous Worlds Sale taking place this weekend and certainly the Mutants and Ninjas Bundle of Holding. For less than $30 you can get 21 PDF books worth nearly $300, and even if you aren’t into the setting or mutants, ninjas, mystical martial artists, or spies, you know the artwork and reading about the characters, villains, gear, powers, and world will give you ideas for whatever game setting you are into. Mine these sales and books for ideas and escape to a joyful place of adventure. A place that can chase away the blahs whenever you need them to do so. Stay frosty and game on.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc.; Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Garden of the Gods, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, Psychic Scream, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
