It has been a crazy, busy week. On top of shipping out a lot of Dimensional Outbreak™ (yahoo), I’ve been art directing several books, coordinating with artists and writers, dealing with the day to day business, and Wayne and I knocked out four new T-shirt designs (to debut at the Palladium Open House and then put up online). We also hope to offer the first ever Rifts® Hoodie at the POH. Wayne is a slogan writing god, by the way.
In fact, it has been so busy and intense, that I knocked off early Wednesday evening, laid down on my bed around 8:00 PM – just for a minute – and woke up at 4:30 AM the next morning. Yikes! (Side Note: For those of you who have expressed concern that I push myself too hard and don’t get enough sleep, thank you for your concern. FYI: I need to push hard to get out all the books you want and to get Palladium strong again, but I do pace myself. I generally get 6 hours sleep, sometimes 7, which is enough for me. I take a 20-30 minute power nap every afternoon [it’s like magic for me], sometimes two naps if it’s an especially long day [16-18 hours], I try to eat well, I take vitamins, and I zone out reading or watching TV for 2-3 hours a night. So I think I’m doing okay despite my insane, 7 day a week, 12+ hours a day work schedule.)
UPDATE: Sales. Online sales were strong and steady this week. We saw no up and down sales bounces. Nice. It’s good to see strong sales, especially this time of year, which is traditionally the RPG industry’s slow season. Online sales were up 26% from this time last year. On top of that, Distributor orders were up a whopping 30% compared to the last few books Palladium has shipped, and there seems to be a lot of anticipation for Rifts® Heroes of the Megaverse®, The Rifter® #50 and Triax™ Two. It’s all very encouraging. Still, I’m afraid to get my expectations and hopes up just yet.
Fingers are crossed for another strong weekend of sales as The Rifter® Subscription Offer winds down to the end (only 2 1/2 weeks left), the Open House gets close (only 7 weeks away) and word of mouth spreads about how jam-packed Rifts® Dimensional Outbreak™ is with surprising and fun source material and adventure ideas.
UPDATE: Rifts® Dimensional Outbreak™. The book shipped Tuesday (March 9). Only a handful of people have received and read the book so far, but the responses we are hearing are things like: “loved it,” “fantastic,” “more than I imagined.” Like I said last week, if you are not a fan of the Minion War™ yet, I think Outbreak will make you one.
UPDATE: Rifts® Heroes of the Megaverse®. A crazy, busy week meant minimal writing on this book over the last few days, but I’ll be laser focused on it all weekend and set to finish it next week. Besides, we got a lot of other good stuff done this week.
UPDATE: The Rifter® #50. Wayne will be working hard all weekend to make sure The Rifter® #50 goes to the printer next week. I hope you folks appreciate how dedicated Wayne, Alex, Kathy, Julius and Palladium’s entire crew of maniacs really are, including most freelancers. They work hard, long hours to get these products done without sacrificing quality.
UPDATE: Triax™ Two. The artwork coming remains fantastic. Mike Wilson is blowing our socks off and I can hardly wait to dive into the final edit and rewrite of it next.
UPDATE: Dad. I took my father out to our weekly Wednesday breakfast. He loves our visits and I had a nice time with him and Arlene. Both were in good humor and talkative.
UPDATE: Queen of Ghouls. Kathy Simmons sold another wizard this week. I’d say he is becoming her signature piece. Kathy has big plans for upcoming Halloween creations, including signs, brewing pots and a host of zombies, ghouls and monsters. Wait till you see her new zombies that should start appearing in her store in April or May. So far, they’ve been going to customers placing special orders and they are awesome.
UPDATE: Palladium Open House – is next month! Holy cow! It’s seven weeks away!! Time is flying by and the Open House is coming up super-fast. We have a Rifts® birthday party and some amazing events, games and fun planned.
With the economy what it is, pre-registration is down 45% from previous years. The hotel people said they weren’t surprised and they are seeing a low turn out for many events that usually had a high attendance in the past. We’re guessing we’ll top out at around 190 people (compared to 250-300 from previous POHs). Then again, I know of quite a few people planning to show up at the door for only one day, or who plan to come, but are waiting for their tax return before ordering admission tickets. Like I said before, 150 or 350, we’re going to make this Open House an amazing fun time. And please do not feel bad if you can’t afford to make it this year. As noted last week, I’ve gotten a great many apologies from fans and freelancers who want to attend, but can’t. It’s okay. Really. Hang tight, take care of yourselves and your families, and game on at home. There will be other occasions where you can hang and celebrate with the Palladium madmen in the future.
POH Game Masters, we NEED you to get us your game descriptions, days and times you are available to run, as soon as possible (next week is ideal) as we want to post the POH event schedule by the end of March. And we’ll have a snazzy, new G.M. T-shirt for those of you running three or more events.
My thanks and appreciation to all of you who care so much about the Palladium crew and the fate of the company. Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on. I look forward to seeing some of you next month at the Palladium Open House.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Gamer
If you’ve been meaning to start or renew your subscription to The Rifter®, the time is now. Palladium’s best subscription offer ever ends March 31, and we only offer the special price once a year. Cash savings, free shipping (in the USA), delivery right to your door and a special gift. What are you waiting for?!
Each issue of The Rifter® presents unofficial and/or official adventures, characters, powers, weapons, equipment and fiction for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Chaos Earth™, Splicers®, Nightbane®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Dead Reign™, and/or any variety of other Palladium games and world settings. It’s also a place to get the latest news, product release info, and see new games, like Warpath: Urban Jungle™, showcased. The Rifter® is more than a magazine or sourcebook, it is a forum for new talent.
In short, if you’re into one or more of Palladium’s role-playing games and like to explore new realms of possibility, then The Rifter® is for you. Check it out and order yours today. And tell a friend! Tell lots and lots of friends!!
Dimensional Outbreak™ is space opera at its best. A blend of sci-fi, horror, magic, technology and the alien that is sure to get your adrenaline flowing. Dimensional Outbreak™ describes Center and key locations within, and offers new weapons, new spacecraft, new demons and aliens, new magic, and a wealth of information about Phase World, the Prometheans, the Three Galaxies, the Minion War, deception and betrayal. There are enough adventure ideas, turmoil and information to run a campaign in the Three Galaxies for years!
Dimensional Outbreak™ is an exciting and surprise filled book in the Minion War™ series as war spills into Phase World®, the city of Center and the Three Galaxies™. The epic scale of the Minion War just got bigger and even the United Worlds of Warlock, the Splugorth and Naruni Enterprises are reeling from it. The story hooks are endless.
The Book of Heroes is said to be one of the greatest magic artifacts in the Megaverse. Only one copy is known to exist, and everyone wants to get their hands on it – Demons, Deevils, the Splugorth, the Dominators, the Kreeghor, the United Worlds of Warlock and everyone in between. For it is said that he who wields the “Power of the 2000” can rule the universe.
Once protected by the Cosmo-Knights, the book has gone missing. No one knows its fate or the true power contained within its List of Heroes. No one except YOU – the new keepers of this legendary Rune book.
Note: Increased cover price of $14.95 and increased page count to 128 pages for this special issue only.
The Rifter® Number 50 celebrates twelve and a half years of publication as well as the Rifts® RPG’s Twentieth Anniversary, by presenting an issue filled with official and unofficial source material and adventures from a list of Palladium guest writers that fans know and love.
On schedule and looking fantastic!
Triax™ Two is the long awaited and hotly anticipated sequel to the hugely popular Rifts® World Book 5: Triax™ & The NGR (more than 100,000 copies sold). Fans want this book badly, and it is going to be a hot selling item. A ton of new weapons, vehicles, power armor, giant robots and much more makes this a toy box Rifts fans will not be able to resist.
The Thundercloud Galaxy™ is the perfect companion to Rifts® Dimensional Outbreak™ to expand one’s gaming Megaverse in the Three Galaxies. History, aliens, weapons, spacecraft, and adventure in a galaxy far, far away.
An in-depth look at the Expeditionary Force Marines, their history, strategies and tactics, M.O.S. skill packages, operations and missions.
Why wait? A special printing of the original Rifts® World Book One: Vampire Kingdoms™ is available exclusively from Palladium Books.
Kevin Siembieda is reorganizing, tweaking, expanding and updating one of the most popular Rifts® World Books ever published: Vampire Kingdoms™. This will include some new artwork and an expanded page count. The book will be updated and expanded in much the same way as Kevin did with Rifts® Sourcebook One a couple years ago. Best of all, it’s just the prelude to a Rifts® Vampire Sourcebook that will follow a month or two later.
Rifts® World Book: Lemuria™: The underwater realm of Lemuria. The people and history of Lemuria, new magic, sea herbs and healing, monsters, the New Navy, and much, much more. Written by Greg Diaczyk. 160 pages – $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 885.
Armageddon Unlimited™ – for Heroes Unlimited™: Demons and Deevils are trying to turn Earth into one of their playgrounds, only it’s worse than you think. The plan is to bring about Armageddon. A stand-alone adventure setting for Heroes Unlimited™, new super abilities, hero categories, demonic weapons, adventure and more. Cover by Mark Evans. Written by Carl Gleba. 160 pages – $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 527.
Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™: Battlefield Earth. The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, plus Soulmancer and Blood Magic, and Demon Plagues across the globe. Rifts Calgary and much, much more. Written by Carl Gleba. 192 pages – $24.95 retail – Cat. No. 876.
Robotech® New Generation™ Sourcebook: The Robotech® core sourcebook you’ve been waiting for . . . only it’s going to be more than you imagine. Written by Kevin Siembieda and Irvin Jackson. 224+ pages – manga size – $16.95 retail – Cat. No. 554.
Rifts® Chaos Earth™ Sourcebook: First Responders™: Data about the chaos and madness of the early days of the Great Apocalypse, and the brave men and women who tried to stem the tide of destruction and save lives, the First Responders. Written by Jason Richards & Kevin Siembieda. 96 to 128 pages – $16.95 retail – Cat. No. 665.
- Robotech® New Generation™ Freedom Fighters Sourcebook (and others)
- More Rifts® Chaos Earth™ sourcebooks
- More Rifts® sourcebooks
- More Phase World®/Three Galaxies™ sourcebooks
- Nightbane® Sourcebook Six
- Mysteries of Magic™ Two & Three
- Dead Reign™ Sourcebook Three
- The Rifter® Number 51 & 52
- Warpath™ Urban Jungle™ and more . . .
Palladium has made several out of print titles and the first 40 issues of The Rifter® available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. We are regularly asked if out of print titles such as Nightbane® Book Four: Shadows of Light™, the original Mechanoids® RPGs, Boxed Nightmares™, BTS First Edition, etc. are available, and they are, at DriveThruRPG.com. Check ‘em out.
Halloween people are looking for new display ideas, monsters and props all year long. We know this because the Queen of Ghouls™ – Palladium’s very own, artistic wiz-kid, Kathy Simmons – is building and selling her creations as the snow melts and Spring is about to bloom. Her “ghouls” include killer clowns, wizards, witches, devils, grave ghouls, executioners, mad doctors, vampires, werebeasts, monsters and soon, new stylings for zombies that look even more life-like. She’s also starting to offer accessories such as signs, witch’s brewing pots and more. Best of all, her high quality creations are much more affordable and imaginative than most competitors. Affordable Halloween fun.
Kathy Simmons makes and sells one of a kind, life-sized Halloween props. You know, vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards, zombies and monsters for display on your front lawn. If you think the photos online look good, you should see them in person. A typical “ghoul,” as she calls her creations, costs $89-$150. You can see some of her work (available off-season at lower prices) at her Queen of Ghouls™ Ebay store – queenofghouls.com.
The 2010 Open House is a celebration of gaming and friendship. We’ll have a Rifts 20th Birthday Party, celebrate The Rifter reaching issue Number Fifty (that 12 1/2 years of publication), and forget about our economic woes.
Kevin, Julius, Wayne, Alex, Kathy and a host of artists and writers will be available the entire weekend to game, chat, sign autographs and have fun. There will be many panel talks, a live auction (Saturday) with some amazing and rare books, art and items, a costume contest (Saturday) and non-stop gaming all weekend long.
Come for one day or the whole weekend, but do it. Do it because you, and all of us, need to forget our troubles and remember what life is all about: friends, laughter and gaming.
POH Friday is gaming and panel talks all day long, from 9:00 AM to midnight (with more gaming going on at the hotel).
POH Saturday is more gaming and panel talks, plus the live auction and the Costume Contest (it was awesome last year). 9:00 AM to midnight.
POH Sunday is more gaming, but it is a short day; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM or so.
ALL EVENTS are covered under the cost of admission.
3 Day Weekend: $40 per person (Friday thru Sunday).
Friday Only: $16 per person.
Saturday Only: $16 per person.
Sunday Only: $12 per person.
VIP Night: Sold out.
Online: Click the links above.
By Telephone: Call (734) 721-2903 – have your credit card information ready.
Remember, the Palladium Open House is not an annual event. We host it when we can. There are no current plans to host one next year – even though it’s Palladium’s 30th Anniversary (just as there wasn’t one in 2008). It helps us plan if you pre-register as soon as possible to secure your place at the gaming celebration of the POH.
For more information and to pre-register, click here.
POH Game Masters and games needed. Please let us know if you are running, how many games you are running, etc. – the sooner the better, so we can put together and post online a schedule of events by the end of March. Thanks.
Palladium Creators who will be at the 2010 POH: The Palladium Staff: Kevin Siembieda, Wayne Smith, Kathy Simmons, Julius Rosenstein, Alex Marciniszyn. Plus Amy Ashbaugh, Brandon Aten, Carmen Bellaire, Nick Bradshaw, Kent Burles, Braden Campbell (tentative), Randi Cartier, Roger Cartier, Stephen Dawes, Matthew Daye, Greg Diazyck, Mark Dudley, Carl Gleba, Jeffry Scott Hansen, Mike Leonard, Allen Manning, Brian Manning, Mike Mumah, Apollo Okamura, Mark Oberle, Charles Walton, and other artists, writers and creators.
See you there NEXT MONTH.
There will be two categories: Color cover art and black and white interior art.
The winner in the color art category will see his/her art used as the cover of the next issue of The Rifter® or a future Rifts® supplement. The winner of the black and white (gray tones okay) category will see his/her art appear inside the next issue of The Rifter® or a future Rifts® supplement.
Furthermore, the art from ALL contestants will be considered for possible use in future issues of The Rifter® and Rifts® sourcebooks. This contest will be open to professional artists, semi-professional artists and non-professional (previously unpublished) artists. So if you are a Rifts fan and an artist with a dream, you WILL want to submit your work. Start thinking up ideas. Multiple entries or entries in both categories “is” allowed.
- Two Categories: 1. Color Cover Art. 2. Full Page Black and White Illustration.
- Subject Matter: RIFTS®. We want artwork that screams Rifts® to celebrate the Rifts® RPG turning 20 years old.
- Deadline: All entries must be submitted to Palladium Books NO LATER than April 16, 2010; sooner is better. We extended the deadline.
- What to Send: Submit a digital file and quality proof of the “finished” art -or- the original artwork (please insure originals) to: Palladium Books, Contest A, 39074 Webb Court, Westland, MI 48185.
- Determining the Winners: The art of all contestants will be displayed at the 2010 Palladium Open House, where a winner and two runners up will be selected. Those in attendance will vote for their favorites. Fan votes will count for 50% in picking a winner, 30% will come from Palladium artists and staff, and 20% of the vote will come from me, Kevin Siembieda, Publisher.
- Art submissions are copyrighted and owned by Palladium Books: All submissions are “derivative” of Palladium’s copyrighted intellectual properties. Any art we publish will get the artist paid.
- Agreement: The artists entering will need to sign and return an agreement that will be sent to them. We need this agreement for each applicant to be considered, so make sure you send us your street address.
- What the Winners Get: The winning artwork will get published in either the next issue of The Rifter® -or- an upcoming Rifts supplement! And get paid for. There are going to be at least two categories: Rifts® Color Cover (leave space at the top for a title/logo) and Black and White Full Page Illustration, but we might add more once we see the artwork submitted. Furthermore, we may consider using OTHER contestants’ artwork in future issues of The Rifter® and/or Rifts® sourcebooks. For any art we publish from this contest, the artist will get paid, and get full credit inside the book, plus several free copies of the book his or her art appears in. (All winners of this contest will get paid the low end of Palladium’s payment scale.)
It’s not American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, but this could be your shot at breaking into the RPG business at Palladium Books. Start drawing this weekend.
© Copyright 2010 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Beyond the Supernatural™, Dead Reign, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, The Three Galaxies, Warpath, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.