Hello, everyone. I hope it’s sunny and spring-like wherever you are. I hope you are feeling alive, positive and motivated. That’s how we’re feeling at Palladium Books.
I know I had to keep things short in the last Weekly Update because of the Creators Conference (which was awesome), so I’m making up for it with a lot of news this week.
UPDATE: The Rifter® #54 – shipped this week. Subscriber copies went out on April 12. Distributor copies went out on April 13. PR copies went out today. This is another great issue with a wealth of fun information. A Heroes Unlimited™ adventure, Palladium Fantasy RPG® monsters and races, the Rifts® city of New Chillicothe, a Nightbane® story and the final chapter of The Hammer of the Forge, plus news and other good stuff.
UPDATE: Rifts® Thundercloud Galaxy™ – Ships April 25. The book is at the printer. I approved the pre-press digital proof on Monday. Tuesday the printer contacted me to confirm the ship date of Monday, April 25.
Roughly 30 freelancers got to see Thundercloud Galaxy™ over the weekend (our proofreader copy is dog-eared) and EVERYBODY loved it. We heard comments like, “it’s great,” “it’s not what I expected, it is awesome,” and which characters people wanted to play. Carmen Bellaire is dying to play the Shing™, the Trensik Mercenaries™ was another favorite. One of my faves is the Kasaro™ cannibals. People loved the new info on the Dominators™ and Gene-Tech™ too, and I can’t even begin to tell you the fun everyone had with the Thunder Duck™.
The Thundercloud Galaxy™ is a playground. Your playground. An environment filled with the bizarre and amazing, and chock-full of adventure. But don’t take my word for it. Take a peek at the Thundercloud Galaxy™ Sneak Preview. Just a reminder, the Aliens Unlimited™ and Aliens Unlimited™ Galaxy Guide books also offer many alien races that can be dropped into any space campaign. They are S.D.C. races, which fits for the Three Galaxies, and some can be easily adjusted for M.D.C., such as beings made of silicon or plant matter. There are Rifts® conversion notes included in both books.
UPDATE: Rifts® Thundercloud Galaxy™ Sneak Preview. The preview is available as a free PDF download from DriveThruRPG.com. It is easy to create a free account and only takes a couple of minutes. The preview shows the Trensik Mercenaries R.C.C. as well as a brief overview piece, a map of the galaxy and the Contents pages. The free Armageddon™ Unlimited Sneak Preview is also available. Remember, DriveThruRPG.com is a good resource for getting The Rifter® numbers #1-48 and to fill in your RPG library with first edition copies of Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, and other game lines as well as books such as Nightbane® Book Four: Shadows of Light™ and both versions of the The Mechanoids® RPG (1985) and The Collected Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy (1981-1983).
UPDATE: Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms. I’ve already started prep work for this title. I’ve reviewed new artwork and fielded a couple of emails on the subject from contributors. I may work on it and the Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook simultaneously.
UPDATE: Robotech® New Generation™ Sourcebook. I plan to switch from vampires to Invid and power armor, so I can get this title into production and assign artwork.
UPDATE: Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames has also been put into pre-production mode. The cover was assigned last week and I’m looking to start assigning art for it in the next week or two.
UPDATE: Rifts® Movie Option. It looks like the film option is going to be renewed for one more year by Disney for development by JB Films. Fingers crossed that a Rifts® movie is in our future.
UPDATE: Alex. After much discussion and numerous quotes on parts of the work, Alex and family have decided to repair the house that caught fire rather than rent or buy a new home. It will be less expensive in the long run, and preserves memories of the home. This is only possible because some friends have stepped in to do the work on the cheap (and it’s still costing plenty!). Our thanks to those good souls. We have everything in place and the work should begin this weekend. With any luck, the place will be ready to inhabit within 5-8 weeks. There is a lot to be done, but everyone is excited.
BACK IN PRINT: Two popular Rifts® titles will be ready to ship the same time as Rifts® Dimension Book™ 14: Thundercloud Galaxy™. See full descriptions below.
- Rifts® World Book 8: Rifts® Japan™ – Ships April 25
- Rifts® World Book 13: Lone Star™ – Ships April 25
Available now: These items came back in print recently.
- Rifts® Dimension Book™ 6: Three Galaxies™
- Rifts® Black Vault™
- Rifts® Mercenaries™
- Aliens Unlimited™ – A Heroes Unlimited™ sourcebook
- Rifts® Baseball Caps
UPDATE: Palladium Creators Conference a success. Last weekend, Palladium Books hosted a Creators Conference. Freelance writers and artists from across the United States and Canada attended. The goal: To take Palladium Books to the next level. We are done treading water in the aftermath of the Crisis of Treachery. For a few months now, I have been putting things in motion to make Palladium Books strong again. The Creators Conference was one big step in that direction.
It was part seminars and workshops and part brainstorming session. We discussed current projects, new projects, future goals, and processes for getting new releases out on time. The excitement was electric. The event was everything I hoped it would be. It has helped to focus and center us as a team. We have our goals set, projects (new and old) lined up and priorities straight. With a little luck, hard work and determination, you’ll be seeing new releases coming from Palladium Books every single month. Titles you’ve been waiting for and new titles that will surprise and please you. All of them will be top quality and inflame your imaginations.
What did we talk about at the Conference? Everything. The rocket science behind making role-playing games and sourcebooks, writing, storytelling, marketing, and finding ways to unleash our imaginations in new ways in new mediums. We talked about current projects and plotted new ones. We dared to consider all possibilities and challenged what we know to find new ways to create fun. There was a bit of role-playing, and we talked, shouted, laughed and goofed around. I took my basketball machine, foozeball table and Star Trek pinball machine out of mothballs so people could play in between and have some fun. There was a real synergy – a connection and sense of purpose. No subject was off the table. Everybody shared from the heart. Everybody showed passion for their craft and for Palladium. The ideas ran unchecked. The energy level was high. Throughout the Conference I could see the lightbulbs going on above people’s heads as ideas clicked over and over again. We talked for hours. I think everyone walked away with their heads filled with information and ideas, and their hearts pumping adrenaline. I know mine was.
Good things shall come from the Creators Conference. More than you may imagine possible.
Murmurs from the Megaverse®. I’ll be posting more information, thoughts and information about the Creators Conference in Murmurs from the Megaverse®. You may be seeing more Murmurs from other Palladium staff and creators as well.
More positive movement. The new Palladium website should go live by the end of April. The new look and function of Palladium’s website is just one of many things we are doing to promote Palladium Books and increase our presence. We’ll also be doing more with Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
UPDATE: Online sales. I’m happy to report online sales have picked up this week. They aren’t stellar, but better than the last few weeks. We’re getting lots of pre-orders for Rifts® Thundercloud Galaxy™ and the two Rifts® Vampire titles, which are good to see. The momentum is building.
UPDATE: Birthday celebrations. Man, oh man, we’ve been so busy, I only got my birthday list done this week. We’ll be celebrating Julius’ and my birthdays on April 22 (they were April 7 and April 2, respectively). Wayne’s is only a week later. Before the Creators Conference started, Carl Gleba gave me an awesome painted miniature of a Splugorth. Wow, it is gorgeous! Um . . . er . . . you know what I mean, as gorgeous as a Splugorth Intelligence can be. Anyway, I love it. Thank you, Carl.
Palladium to attend Gen Con Indy – August 4-7. We’ll be there. We hope you will be too. Stop by the Palladium booth to chat and get autographs, pick up new books and back stock titles, and have some fun. Palladium people you’ll get to meet include:
- Kevin Siembieda
- Wayne Smith
- Nick Bradshaw (artist; tentative)
- Michael Mumah (artist)
- Brandon Aten (writer)
- Matthew Clements (writer; tentative)
- And others to be announced.
Keep those imaginations burning bright. Ours are working overtime.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher
This is another landmark issue of The Rifter® filled with epic source material, exotic places, strange critters, adventure settings, good stories and ideas.
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.
The Rifter® #54 includes:
The book is done, at the printer and awesome. Great ideas, great art, unique new alien races available as player characters, weird creatures and monsters, secrets of the Gene-Tech, weapons of the Dominators, ancient ruins, colony creation rules, adventure galore and much, much more.
The Scramble is the mad dash to claim and colonize the thousands of worlds of the Thundercloud Galaxy. Colonists flock to the Thundercloud filled with dreams. Space Pirates and an array of cutthroats also flock to the galaxy, guns in hand, ready to rob and fleece the colonists. Lawmen and heroes are in great demand, and the opportunities for clever adventurers are said to be without limit. As the civilizations of the Anvil and Corkscrew Galaxies scramble to colonize the Thundercloud, they are beginning to realize the galaxy holds more riches, beauty, horrors and secrets than anyone has ever imagined, making it a place of discovery, adventure and treachery like no other.
Thundercloud Galaxy™ is a perfect companion to the rest of the Phase World®/Three Galaxies™ based Dimension Books as well as the Minion War™ series. Players can be pirates, raiders, brigands or hired guns, or they may be explorers, adventurers, Spacers, or any number of heroes trying to protect the colonists or the indigenous peoples of countless worlds and colonies. The possibilities are truly limited only by your imagination.
This fan-favorite sourcebook is filled with high-tech wonders, magic and monsters. There are 20 O.C.C.s (Occupational Character Classes) that range from the traditional ninja and samurai to power armor, giant robots and cyborgs.
The Coalition State of Lone Star is a wild and woolly place of contrast and conflict. The Coalition States claims the entire State of Texas as their own, but they only control a small corner of it. It is here, at the Lone Star Complex, that the CS engages in genetic engineering and creates the famous Dog Boys and a host of other mutants. The rest of the state is held by the Pecos Empire – an empire of bandits, outlaws and rebels. The perfect companion to Rifts® New West™, Rifts® Spirit West™ and Rifts® Machinations of Doom™.
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.
This Robotech® sourcebook 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.
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 as demons and Deevils fight for control of the Earth and bringing about the end of life as we know it.
Armageddon Unlimited™ is more than an epic world-saving adventure, it is also a sourcebook jam-packed with new powers, magic, weapons and Power Categories that can be incorporated into any Heroes Unlimited™ campaign. This book can be used as a standalone adventure sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™ or as a pivotal plot in an expansive Minion War™ campaign. Get a free sneak preview of the book from DriveThruRPG.com.
Aliens Unlimited™ brings alien beings to your Earth-based Heroes Unlimited™ setting and enables you to take your Earth heroes to alien worlds. This sourcebook has everything you need to launch an alien based campaign or galactic adventures, or introduce alien invaders, villains, heroes and campaign ideas.
Aliens Unlimited™ makes the perfect resource and companion to the Thundercloud Galaxy™ or any of the Rifts® Dimension Books and Minion War™ series. Looking for some new space aliens, villains and monsters to add to your Thundercloud Galaxy™ or Minion War™ campaign? Need some unique Splugorth slaves? Demon henchmen? Take a look at Aliens Unlimited™ (and the Aliens Unlimited™ Galaxy Guide™ companion sourcebook); easy to adapt.
A guide to the Three Galaxies, this book takes a look at dozens of solar systems, notable planets, select alien races, people, civilizations and monsters, as well as space anomalies, spaceships and more. This is another sourcebook that is ideal for campaigns involving the Minion War™, the Thundercloud Galaxy™, Phase World® and adventures in the Three Galaxies.
For generations it has been rumored the Coalition States maintains a Top Secret facility where it locks away and stores all the magic weapons and items it confiscates from adventurers and mages. The CS, of course, denies these rumors, but they are true. And the truth is revealed for the first time in this epic sourcebook packed with secrets and magic items. Do your characters dare to rob the Black Vault?
This fan-favorite sourcebook presents everything you need to create and run a mercenary company on Rifts Earth. It includes creation rules, new Occupational Character Classes such as the Professional Smuggler, Thief, Safecracker, Spy, Bounty Hunter, Master Assassin, and others, plus a treasure trove of mercenary weapons, vehicles, gear and arms dealers.
Back by popular demand. A black Rifts® Logo on a khaki baseball cap with black trim. Looks great and fans love it! Makes a great gift.
Gold print on a rich black, faux velvet material. Looks gorgeous, a sturdy and well made drawstring bag. A big 7x9 inches, can hold a lot of dice.
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 1-48.
- The Best of The Rifter®
- Deluxe Revised RECON® RPG and Advanced RECON® Sourcebook.
- And more – go to DriveThruRPG.com and check ‘em out.
- Armageddon Unlimited™ – New – Available now!
- The Rifter® #53 – New – Available now!
- Rifts® World Book 20: Canada – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® Dark Conversions – Back in print – Available now
- Palladium Fantasy RPG® – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® Game Master Guide – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® World Book 5: Triax & The NGR – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® Bionics Sourcebook – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® China One – Back in print – Available now
- Rifts® Megaverse® Builder – Back in print – Available now
– Rifts® Baseball Cap – BACK IN STOCK
– Rifts® Dimension Book™ 6: Three Galaxies™ – BACK IN PRINT
- Rifts® Black Vault™ – BACK IN PRINT
– Rifts® Mercenaries™ – BACK IN PRINT
- Aliens Unlimited™ – A Heroes Unlimited™ sourcebook – BACK IN PRINT
- The Rifter® #54 – New – Available now.
- Rifts® Dimension Book™ 14: Thundercloud Galaxy™ – New – April 25.
- Rifts® World Book 8: Rifts® Japan™ – BACK IN PRINT – Ships April 25
- Rifts® World Book 13: Lone Star™ – BACK IN PRINT – Ships April 25
- Robotech® New Generation™ Sourcebook (tentative)
- Rifts® WB One: Vampire Kingdoms™, Expanded & Updated
- Rifts® Book of Magic (back in print)
- Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™ – New
- Rifts® World Book™: Lemuria – New
- The Rifter® #55 – New
- Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames (Minion War™ crossover) – New
- Rifts® Chaos Earth™: First Responders Sourcebook (as soon as we can slot it in)
- Dead Reign™ Sourcebook Three
- Robotech® UEEF Marines and other Robotech® sourcebooks.
- Rifts® sourcebooks
- Rifts® Chaos Earth™ sourcebooks
- Palladium Fantasy®: Mysteries of Magic™ Two & Three
- Palladium Fantasy® other sourcebooks
- Warpath™ Urban Jungle RPG
- And other good stuff. Lots of other good stuff!
Check out the new creations by Palladium’s very own Kathy Simmons. See her new zombie, Jack Skellington and Sally, with more new creations on the drawing board. Each Halloween prop is truly life-sized (most are 6 feet or taller – Jack is almost 8 feet) and seem almost alive.
Each is an all-weather, life-sized Halloween prop that can handle rain and snow, and is a one-of-a-kind work of art (no two are exactly the same). Each looks frighteningly “real.” All come apart and fold down to slightly larger than a king-size pillow for easy storage. Comes with easy instructions, a plastic storage bag, and the lawn stake to stand it 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 $129-$259. You can see some of her work at her Queen of Ghouls™ Ebay store – queenofghouls.com.
© Copyright 2011 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.