This was a very strange week.
For one thing, I found the limits to how hard I can push myself and it wasn’t fun. I had been warned by an online friend to take a break before it was too late, but I didn’t listen. I knew better too, but I didn’t listen to myself either. I wanted . . . needed Triax™ 2 done. I needed to push myself another 6-7 days.
Monday came the crash. I was emotionally frayed and mentally shot. Seriously, I think I got a glimpse of what alzheimers must be like. I couldn’t remember things, I kept misplacing things, I was working at a speed 25% of normal, I was looking in the wrong books for reference, I couldn’t spell, I couldn’t think of the words I wanted to use and I felt awful – disoriented and confused. I went home early and tried to get some sleep, but I was too wired to get a proper night’s sleep. I tossed and turned, woke up every hour until, finally, around 4:30 AM, I zonked out.
I’m better now and getting more sleep. Yeah, I know it was foolish to push that hard. It wasn’t just the lack of sleep, it was pushing the mind to work nonstop, 16 hours a day for something like 80 days in a row. I’m surprised it took that long for my brain to fritz out. Meanwhile, all kinds of other things have been going on behind the scenes that have kept us jumping as well. Sheesh.
As soon as Triax™ 2 is finished (Monday?), I’m taking a couple days off and reducing my hours for the week. Of course, I have Open House preparations waiting for me in the wings and several books that are behind deadline.
UPDATE: Triax™ 2. The book is in the final stage of layout. By the time you read this Wayne should be well past page 100 (he was at page 87 last night). I’m still editing and rewriting the last third of the book as Wayne lays the front half out. He, Alex and I will all be working through the weekend. Julius will come in on Sunday to do the final proofreading.
I think Triax™ 2 is wonderful. Everything the fans could want and more. There’s an update on the war, the Gargoyle Empire seems to be in tatters and Triax has an amazing array of new weapons, power armor, robots and vehicles. You also get a closer look at Triax Industries and German society and how they feel about D-Bees, magic and more. In addition to the butt kickin’ new ‘Bots, ‘Borgs and armor, there are new military vehicles, civilian vehicles, and notable German beers. The book is just plain fun. And the artwork . . . wow.
UPDATE: The Rifter® #50. This cool, special issue arrived early. Copies are already in the mail and on their way to Rifter® Subscribers and those of you who placed pre-orders. It shipped out to our distributors today, Friday. This is another fun book packed with useful information and ideas to shake up your campaigns. We’re just knocking out one solid, fun book after another.
UPDATE: Online Sales. Sales were lousy this week. A couple days hit rock bottom. It’s the first truly bad week of sales in a long while, so I can’t complain, as long as it’s not the beginning of a new downward trend. Which, I’m confident, it is not. With hot new releases like Triax™ 2, Heroes of the Megaverse®, the Rifts® Vampire books, the upcoming Robotech® books, cool new T-shirts and stuff, we should be doing okay all year long. At least that’s the plan.
UPDATE: Licensing, New Markets and Crossovers. There have been a lot of other things going on behind the scenes. All of them very exciting. It is too soon to talk about them right now and most of them are far from done deals, so keep your fingers crossed, but things are starting to boil. If all goes well, next year, ironically Palladium’s 30th Anniversary, should be a landmark year for the company. Note: Those of you coming to the Palladium Open House will be the first to hear about these secret goings on. Though I might have to swear you to secrecy.
Something fun. One of our no profit, but fun arrangements is an appearance of Rifts® characters in a comic strip appearing in Heavy Metal Magazine. Yep, Colt the Outlander is the name of the strip, a regular feature by the Aradio Brothers (great guys!). A Juicer bounty hunter joins forces with Colt to track down a Splugorth Slaver and Blind Warrior Women trying to escape justice by fleeing through a Rift. Adventure and fun ensues. I think the strip will appear in the July issue of Heavy Metal. Btw, Heavy Metal is owned and published by Palladium’s long time friend, Kevin Eastman. Yes, the Kevin Eastman who co-created the Ninja Turtles. Cool, eh?
UPDATE: Rifts® Hoodies. The order has been placed and the shirts should be ready to ship around April 19.
UPDATE: New T-Shirts. We have THREE new T-shirts we think you will love. They’ll debut at the Open House and be made available to the public in the beginning of May.
UPDATE: Palladium Open House is only THREE weeks away. We hope to get the gaming schedule up by next Friday and get the place 100% ready for a weekend of fun over the next couple of weeks. Like I’ve said before, I’m sick and tired of working my tail off and worrying about the economy and how it affects our sales, and other depressing stuff. We’re going to spend the four day weekend (including VIP Thursday) playing games, talking with friends and fans, laughing and having FUN. I hope a lot of you can find a way to join us, even if it is only for one day, and forget your worries at least for a day or three. Walk-ins at the door are welcomed. POH is April 30-May 2, 2010.
UPDATE: Four Open House VIP Thursday Tickets available. The economy continues to take its toll, forcing folks to cancel their trips at the last minute. That has made FOUR slots open up for VIP Thursday. Get ‘em if you want ‘em. VIP Night is a catered dinner, an opening ceremony talk with me, Kevin Siembieda, followed by a night of gaming, chatting and getting autographs.
You MUST reserve your hotel rooms by Monday, April 12 to get the special $69 price! You MUST tell them you want a room in the Block Reserved for Palladium Books. Call 734-455-8100 today!
Comfort Inn Plymouth Clock Tower
40455 Ann Arbor Road (right off of I-275)
Plymouth, MI 48170
Call 734-455-8100 to make hotel reservations.
Dates: April 29 (V.I.P. Night), April 30, May 1 & 2, 2010
UPDATE: Rifts® 20th Anniversary Poster. Mike Mumah worked and worked until he got it right, so there will be a color, Rifts® 20th Anniversary Poster. It debuts at the Palladium Open House. Signed by Mike and me.
UPDATE: Dad. My Dad and I enjoyed another nice breakfast and get together on Wednesday. We both look forward to these get togethers and enjoyed a pleasant visit. He is doing well, but already starting to worry about his next cancer check-up in the middle of May. It must be rough living under the specter of cancer, but all in all his spirits are high.
UPDATE: Old Man Kevin & Julius. We thought we’d be done with Triax™ 2 by now, so we scheduled this evening as a little get together to celebrate Julius Rosenstein (turned 61 on Wednesday) and my birthdays this evening at Kathy Simmons’ house. Thom Bartold should be joining us and we hope to have a relaxing and fun evening before a weekend of work to finish Triax™ 2.
I hope folks aren’t too disappointed by the delays. We continue to work hard to put fun books in your hands. Have a wonderful weekend and game on.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer & Gamer
- The Rifter® #49 – Now available
- Rifts® Dimension Book™ 12: Dimensional Outbreak™ – Now available
- The Rifter® #50 (expanded, anniversary issue) – Now available
- Rifts® Hoodie (2 styles, zipper and pullover) – April 19
- Rifts® World Book 31: Triax™ Two – April 27
- Palladium Open House – April 29-May 2.
- Rifts®/Phase World® Sourcebook: Heroes of the Megaverse® – May
- Rifts® Dimension Book™: Thundercloud Galaxy™ – May
- Rifts® 20 Year Anniversary T-Shirt – May
- Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms – “Death is for the Weak” T-Shirt – May
- Palladium Books® – Game Master T-Shirt – May
- Armageddon Unlimited™ – June
- Rifts® World Book One: Vampire Kingdoms™, Expanded & Updated – June
- Rifts® World Book™: Lemuria – Summer
- Robotech® UEEF Marines Sourcebook – Summer
- Rifts® Vampire Sourcebook™ – Summer
- Robotech® New Generation Sourcebook – Summer
- Rifts® Chaos Earth™ – First Responders Sourcebook – Summer
- Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames – August
- Plus more Robotech® sourcebooks, more Mysteries of Magic™ sourcebooks (hoping to slot one in before June), more Nightbane® sourcebooks, more Dead Reign™ sourcebooks, Warpath™ and other good stuff.
At the printer. Rifts® Logo “Zipper” Hoodie: A white imprint of the Rifts® Logo on a black zipper hoodie. The famous Rifts® Logo appears front and back; a small logo over the left breast and a large logo printed on the back.
Type: 50/50 cotton polyester blend; full zipper.
Sizes: Medium to 3XL.
Color: White logo on a black zipper hoodie.
Cost: $32.95 for Small, Medium, Large and XL. $34.95 for 2XL. $36.95 for 3XL; plus shipping (approximately $6 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2546. Taking orders now. Ships April 19.
At the printer. A white imprint of a large Rifts® Logo on the front of a pullover hoodie. Nothing on the back.
Type: 50/50 cotton polyester blend; pullover.
Sizes: Medium to 3XL.
Color: White logo on a black pullover hoodie.
Cost: $28.95 for Medium, Large and XL. $30.95 for 2XL, and $32.95 for 3XL; plus shipping (approximately $6 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2547. Taking orders now. Ships April 19.
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.
In final production. 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 make this a toy box Rifts fans will not be able to resist.
Heroes of the Megaverse® presents numerous NPC heroes, new details about the Cosmo-Knights and all kinds of fun with a magic artifact known as the Book of Heroes. This magic artifact is said to bestow incredible power upon those who use it. It can also guide and empower current day heroes and unleash forces that could have a profound impact on the Minion War. Only one copy is known to exist, and everyone wants to get their hands on it – good guys and bad (demons, Deevils, the Splugorth, the Dominators, the Kreeghor, etc.). According to legend, he who controls the Book of Heroes and wields the “Power of the 2000,” can rule the universe. Once protected by the Cosmo-Knights, the book has gone missing for millennia. 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.
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. 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 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.
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.
Trouble is stirring in the Vampire Kingdoms as ambitious vampire lords, ladies and misanthropes seek to expand their power to dominate more mortal life forms.
Written by Kevin Siembieda and a handpicked selection of other writers, this sourcebook explores the vampires of Mexico and their kingdoms in ways you never imagined. Tons of new data, adventure ideas and revelations.
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™: 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.
All-weather, life-sized Halloween props by Palladium’s very own Kathy Simmons. “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. Kathy’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.
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.
Like Kevin has said before, we’re going to push our troubles aside and game, party and have a blast at the 2010 Open House.
YOU are invited.
YOU can pay at the door.
YOU can come for just one day – and those of you living nearby in Michigan, Ohio, and Windsor should do so.
YOU are our guests. Kevin and the gang will be waiting for you.
YOU should join the fun.
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’s 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.
Thursday is VIP Night with our doors opening at 4:00 PM till midnight.
Friday is gaming and panel talks all day long, from 9:00 AM to midnight (with more gaming going on at the hotel).
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.
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: $60 per person. Currently 4 tickets are available.
Online: Click the links above.
By Telephone: Call (734) 721-2903 – have your credit card information ready.
Hotel: You must call by April 12, 2010, to get the special discounted rate of $69.95 and you MUST tell them you “want a room in the Block Reserved for Palladium Books.” Call 734-455-8100 to make hotel reservations at the Comfort Inn Plymouth Clock Tower, 40455 Ann Arbor Road, Plymouth, MI 48170 (right off of I-275 and five minutes from Palladium Books).
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 soon. Thanks.
Palladium Creators who will be at the 2010 POH:
Kevin Siembieda
Wayne Smith
Kathy Simmons
Julius Rosenstein
Alex Marciniszyn
Amy Ashbaugh
Brandon Aten
Carmen Bellaire
Nick Bradshaw
Kent Burles
Braden Campbell (tentative)
Randi Cartier
Roger Cartier
Stephen Dawes
Matthew Daye
Greg Diaczyk
Mark Dudley
Carl Gleba
Jeffry Scott Hansen
Mike Leonard
Allen Manning
Brian Manning
Mike Majestic (tentative)
Mike Mumah
Apollo Okamura
Mark Oberle
Charles Walton
and other artists, writers and creators. See you there in a couple weeks.
You still have time. Competition is light. We’ve still only gotten a few entries so far. Don’t be afraid to send in your art. Do it.
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.