People seem quite happy Palladium Books is now on Facebook. Wayne’s added a few photos, I’ve made a few comments and people are chatting away. Enjoy.
Sales were strong this week, though they could be better.
With Christmas only 5 weeks away, orders for the Christmas Surprise Packages have increased. Of course, we’re trying to make each one special and fun. Oh, when you order, please make sure you give us 8-12 available items to select from or you will be disappointed. If you haven’t placed your order, what are you waiting for?
Brainstorming for next year. A fair amount of time has been spent brainstorming for next year: New RPG products and sourcebooks, reprinting of out of stock books, scheduling, exploration and exploitation of new mediums, advertising and marketing strategies, various upgrades, conventions (if any – thinking about doing Gen Con in 2011), the Palladium Freelancer Conference next Spring, budgeting, and so on. There’s a lot of positivity despite our tight budget and concerns about the economy.
On a personal note. The week started out down for me. I had a nice time visiting with Megaversal Ambassador and pal James Brown last Friday and was in a very up mood. Then something happened. I think the passing of my father (October 11th) hit me for some reason. I was feeling melancholy over the weekend. I was at low ebb and writing and editing came slow but well. I got an early start on Monday, but after four hours, I packed it in and took the rest of the day off to rest, read and reflect.
I felt better on Tuesday and got a chunk o’ Armageddon Unlimited™ edited, among other things. I’m happy to report that by Wednesday I was feeling like my old self again. Ah, but nothing’s perfect, so while I’m feeling emotionally fit, I seem to have caught a stomach bug that’s slowed me down. Sheesh, if it ain’t one thing it’s another. :)
Of course, with the holiday season here, my time is divided between business, writing, Grab Bags, holiday plans, gift purchases and other holiday stuff, so it’s a bit of a whirlwind this time of year.
A visitor from the land Down Under. Long time Palladium uber-fan, friend and sometimes freelance writer Robyn Stott of Australia is visiting in the USA for a couple of weeks. She has an extra day in Chicago and has decided to rent a car and drive 260 miles to drop by the Palladium offices on Saturday. Robyn will rent a car, leave in the morning, arrive around noon, hang for 2-4 hours and drive back so she can rest and catch a train to her next destination. Whew, talk about whirlwind. I told her not to, mainly due to the 10-12 hours on the road and possible inclement weather, but she’s dying to see the new offices, visit and pick up her Christmas Surprise package. Drive safe, kiddo.
The Palladium hawk. I’ve always been into nature and enjoy reading about and watching animals. I have a bird feeder outside my office window and we get a range of birds – Sparrows, Wrens, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Finches, Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Redwing Blackbirds, Starlings, Grackles, Crows, Doves, Canadian Geese, Ducks, and others. It’s fun to birdwatch, but the collection of fowl also makes a delightful smorgasbord for the Cooper’s Hawk in the neighborhood.
Yep, Mr. Chicken Hawk has been hanging around the office. He scared the daylights out of me last week when I opened the front door one morning and he took wing a few feet away. I’ve seen him swoop down after a bird (graceful and lightning fast), and lately, he’s been sitting on the bush in front of my office window. Very cool. Hmmm, I seem to recall Erick Wujcik telling me Native Americans considered a hawk perching itself in front of a dwelling to be a portent of good fortune and coming prosperity. That would sure be nice, wouldn’t it? Personally, I think he’s coming around for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner. Yum-oh.
Surprise Package Comments. A couple of people have recently made mention to me of my presenting a selection of Christmas Surprise Package “comments” in every Weekly Update during the holiday season. I thought I’d take a moment to say why I do it. 1. To wink back and say thank you for the kind words. Most folks get a kick seeing their comments appear in the WU and I know many fans enjoy reading them. We don’t have a “letters column,” so in my mind, this is sort of that. 2. To share the comments with other fans because I think they represent the often silent majority. 3. It’s a nice snapshot of Palladium fans from around the world. 4. To show how much folks enjoy the “Grab Bags.” 5. Because I always get a kick out of the comment sections and want to share them. 6. It’s another nice thing to do for the holidays. I hope you enjoy them. Maybe yours will pop up some week. Happy Holidays.
UPDATE: Armageddon Unlimited™. Editing and rewrites are coming along well, if a bit slower than I’d like. The John Zeleznik cover is sweet. I hope to have the book ready to go to the printer in a week or so.
UPDATE: Thundercloud Galaxy™. I spoke with Mike Mumah, who had to take some time off to do some more zombie illustrations for the next Dead Reign™ sourcebook before he could tear himself away from dead things to draw more space things. :)
UPDATE: Dead Reign™ Sourcebook Three. Thanks to the Walking Dead TV show, there’s been more chatter and excitement about zombies and more interest in Dead Reign™. Fear not, there will be more sourcebooks coming your way.
Other things have been going on at the Palladium offices, but that’s it for this Weekly Update. Order your Christmas Surprise Package, play some games and keep those imaginations burning bright.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher
This is the best bargain of the holiday season for role-playing games and related Palladium products.
PLEASE make sure you provide a “wish list” of 8-12 currently available items (RPGs, sourcebooks, T-shirts, coffee mugs, prints, original artwork, and other stuff) or you may be disappointed.
A Palladium tradition! We’ve been doing the Christmas Surprise Package for 12 or 13 years now. It’s our way of saying thank you to our fans and making gamers around the world smile. Offer ends December 23, 2010. Spread the word. Let your gaming buddies know, and take advantage of this great deal. Word of mouth is the main source of advertising for this great holiday gift offer.
Click here for more information and to place an order.
J.H. in Louisville, Kentucky, writes: First off I want to say thank you for the blood, sweat and tears, and for the fun I have had for 20 years, the new friends I have made playing one of these RPGs and the enjoyment of teaching them to my sons, so I can show them the gift of imagination. The last one is the coolest thing I have ever got to do. Thank you.
A.S. in FPO, California, writes: Thank you for the 15 years that I’ve enjoyed Rifts® with my friends. I look forward to many more good times to come.
B.E. in Greenwood, Missouri, writes: A big thank you to the Palladium crew for 25+ years of gaming greatness! This is my fourth year for Grab Bags and I still get just as excited every year. No one takes care of their fans like Palladium does!
K.L. in Nashville, Tennessee, writes: I love all the Rifts® line. The settings and world development are phenomenal!
S.N. in Rome, New York, writes: Thanks for another year of the Grab Bags! It is something I always look forward to. Hope everyone there has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
M.W. in Nashua, New Hampshire, writes: This is the best present I could get my husband. I got this last year and again in July for our anniversary and he loves it . . . I hope to be able to send him to your Open House sometime. Thank you very much for making this available to people.
R.S. in Leeds, Alabama, writes: Thank you for this generous package every year. It just isn’t Christmas for me unless I pick one up. I am just thankful that I have found full time work again so I CAN get one this year! I hope you and your staff have a wonderful holiday season. One of the things I will be giving thanks for next week is Palladium Books and the hours of enjoyment your dedication brings to gaming nerds everywhere.
If you have a hankering to fight zombies but also enjoy stories of human survival and triumph in a post-apocalyptic world, then you want to play Dead Reign™.
Dead Reign™ captures the fun and horror of the zombie apocalypse exactly the way you love it. The dead have risen, civilization has crumbled, and brave human survivors refuse to lie down and die! They battle the walking dead on all fronts, watch each other’s backs, struggle to forge safe havens away from the zombie infested cities, rescue other survivors, and fight without respite.
This sourcebook explores what happens when civilization is literally gone overnight, and the sole survivors are you and a few billion zombies!
When there is no place to hide and the dead are everywhere, where do you go? Who can you turn to? What happens next? What lurks in dark places?
It’s Autumn and time for a warm hoodie on cool a day. A white imprint of the Rifts® Logo on a black zipper hoodie. The famous, full Rifts® Logo appears front and back; a small logo over the left breast on the front 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 Medium, Large and XL, $34.95 for 2XL, and $36.95 for 3XL; plus shipping (approximately $6 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2546. Available now.
A white imprint of a large Rifts® Logo on the front of a black pullover hoodie.
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. Available now.
White art on a black T-shirt featuring a classic Kevin Long SAMAS, blue Rifts® logo, and a snappy saying, “Accept No Imitations.” This is a dynamic and powerful shirt.
Type: 50/50 cotton polyester blend.
Sizes: Medium to 5XL.
Color: White art, blue Rifts® logo on a black T-shirt.
Art by: Kevin Long.
Cost: $18.95 for Medium, Large and XL, $20.95 for 2XL, $22.95 for 3XL, $24.95 for 4XL and $26.95 for 5XL. Plus shipping (approximately $5 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2552. Available now.
White on black T-shirt featuring a gathering of Rifts characters, from a Glitter Boy and Juicer to a Rogue Scholar.
Type: 50/50 cotton polyester blend.
Sizes: Small to 5XL.
Color: White art and text on a black T-shirt.
Art by: Mike Mumah.
Cost: $18.95 for Small, Medium, Large and XL, $20.95 for 2XL, $22.95 for 3XL, $24.95 for 4XL and $26.95 for 5XL. Plus shipping (approximately $5 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2550. Available now.
White on black T-shirt featuring a snarling vampire and the slogan: Death is for the weak™.
Type: 50/50 cotton polyester blend.
Sizes: Small to 5XL.
Color: White art and text on a black T-shirt.
Art by: Mike Mumah.
Cost: $18.95 for Small, Medium, Large and XL, $20.95 for 2XL, $22.95 for 3XL, $24.95 for 4XL and $26.95 for 5XL. Plus shipping (approximately $5 to most places in the USA).
Cat. No. 2548. Available now.
Only you can save the world!
Armageddon Unlimited™ is the ultimate good vs evil setting and adventure. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and only you can stop its destruction.
The bad guys? Super-villain maniacs being manipulated by supernatural evil straight from Hell.
If evil triumphs, the world is destroyed and your heroes and billions of innocent people die.
The world-saving scenario in this book can be repeated in any setting and game environment from Nightbane® or Ninjas & Superspies™ to Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Rifts® and Phase World®. Only the details of the location, the heroes and their powers change. The villains remain the Deevils (or alternately, the demons) as they continue their bloodthirsty war to destroy each other. The worlds of mortals are their battlefields and mortals little more than pawns, henchmen and collateral damage.
Stop the madness before it is too late! If you can.
But that’s not all. Armageddon Unlimited™ is an epic sourcebook with tons of new powers, magic, weapons and Power Categories that can be incorporated into any Heroes Unlimited campaign.
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 few years ago. Best of all, it will be accompanied by the Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™.
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.
The Rifter® #53 will contain more fan-generated optional source material, adventure and fun.
The Rifter® is your doorway to unlimited imagination and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new heroes, powers, weapons, magic and adventure for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider.
We’re hoping to squeak this Robotech® sourcebook out in time for Christmas, otherwise it will be an early 2011 release.
At last, the underwater realm of Lemuria. The people and history of Lemuria, new magic, sea herbs and healing, sea monsters, and more.
The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. More details to follow, but for now, ‘nuff said.
Data about the chaos and madness of the early days of the Great Cataclysm, and the brave men and women who tried to stem the tide of destruction and save lives, the First Responders.
The Rifter® #52 is our annual horror issue. It is packed with dark, forgotten magic, Tattoo Magic, Rune Weapons and more!
The Rifter® is your doorway to unlimited imagination and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new heroes, powers, weapons, magic and adventure for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider.
Issue #52 Presents:
The Book of Heroes is an ancient magic tome that empowers those with the potential for greatness. (Your player character?) In times of fear and darkness the Book is said to appear to make sure the forces of evil don’t get the upper hand. The Minion War™ is such a dark time as the forces of Hell ripple across the Megaverse bringing death and destruction. Are the legends true? Is there a magic book that inspires and empowers new heroes to rise up and make a difference when they are needed most?
The New German Republic splinters the Gargoyle Empire and battles to crush them once and for all.
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.
We will be adding issues 41-47 of The Rifter® to the list of available titles from DriveThruRPG.com and maybe a few other books over the next couple of months.
This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include:
- Splicers® RPG
- Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, First Edition Rules.
- Boxed Nightmares™ for BTS, First Edition Rules.
- Nightbane® Book Four: Shadows of Light™.
- The Mechanoids® RPG and The Mechanoid Invasion® RPG Trilogy.
- Palladium Fantasy RPG®, First Edition Rules and select 1st edition sourcebooks.
- After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks.
- The Rifter® issues 1-40.
- The Best of The Rifter®
- Deluxe Revised RECON® RPG and Advanced RECON® Sourcebook.
- And more – go to DriveThruRPG.com and check ‘em out.
Halloween may be over, but you can still purchase life-sized (most are 6 feet or taller) Halloween props from the Queen of Ghouls – Palladium’s very own Kathy Simmons.
Christmas ghouls . . . er . . . props will also be popping up in the next few weeks. Santa and Mrs. Claus and much more to put you into the holiday spirit.
These are all-weather, life-sized figures that can handle rain and snow. Each is a one-of-a-kind work of art. Each looks frighteningly “real.” Can survive all types of weather. All come apart and fold down to slightly larger than a king-size pillow for easy storage. Come with easy instructions, a storage bag, and the lawn stake to stand them up in your front yard. Indoor stand sold separately.
Types of “Ghouls” include: Zombies (all kinds!), killer clowns, wizards, witches, devils, grave ghouls, scarecrows, executioners, mad doctors, deadly nurses, vampires, werewolves, and more. Kathy’s also now offering an array of hand-painted Halloween signs, signs with heads and bodies hanging from them, witch’s brewing pots, Halloween centerpieces and more. Best of all, her high quality creations are much more affordable and imaginative than most competitors or mass produced items in a store, making them 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 at her Queen of Ghouls™ Ebay store – queenofghouls.com.
© 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®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Beyond the Supernatural, Chaos Earth, Coalition States, Dead Reign, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, Warpath, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.