Palladium Books® Weekly Update – Feb. 27, 2014

By Kevin Siembieda

There two main things to talk about in this Weekly Update: The Rifter® Super-Subscription Deal ENDS this weekend, and Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two is nearing completion.

The Rifter® Super-Subscription Deal – Low Price – Free Gift – Offer ENDS Midnight on SUNDAY – March 2, 2014

Some of you have asked Palladium to not end the subscription offer on a Friday, but to give them the entire weekend to make their purchase. In honor of that request, I have extended the offer two extra days, till midnight March 2, 2014. This offer will not be extended further and will not happen again until 2015. Order yours today.

The Rifter® Super-Subscription Drive only happens once a year – for a limited time. And Palladium gamers are jumping at the opportunity. I’d like to think it is because The Rifter® has been so consistently good the last 8-10 issues, but I think it also has to do with the FREE gift selection we are offering this year. It’s pretty darn good, with a little bit for everyone. Cool. Get your subscription in before this offer is gone.

Here are four reasons why this is the perfect time to try The Rifter® or renew or start your subscription:

  1. Superior discount and each issue is delivered right to your door.
  2. FREE gift worth $22 or more when you order now!
  3. The price of The Rifter® is going up $2-3 an issue in the spring or summer. Order during the Super-Subscription Drive and you lock in your low, low subscription price for the next year.
  4. The Rifter® has been outstanding and is the place to find regular source material for Beyond the Supernatural™, Palladium Fantasy®, Splicers®, and Heroes Unlimited™. I’m happy to report that The Rifter® #65 continues that trend of great source material, with 60 new Necromancy spells for Rifts® and other magic settings, and HU2 source material, along with a ton of other great stuff. So the 2014 series of Rifters is off to a great start.

If you haven’t taken a look at The Rifter® lately (if ever), I suggest you try an issue. The Rifter® is an excellent source of ideas, characters, monsters, villains, powers, magic and adventures for your own game. Even articles designed for settings you don’t play are likely to offer ideas and material you can easily modify and incorporate into your campaign. In fact, drawing on concepts from outside the usual setting can spice up your game and keep players guessing. The Rifter® is a great tool for that. That’s the beauty of the Palladium Megaversal Game System; often you can take characters, gear and such from ANY world setting and drop them into any of the others without any work whatsoever. Other times, the amount of tweaking and modification is minimal to make it work in a new setting. That means a monster from Palladium Fantasy® can be easily used as a monster, mutant or alien in Heroes Unlimited™, After the Bomb®, Robotech®, Rifts®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, Chaos Earth® or Splicers®, and vice versa. What needs to be adjusted? Perhaps just changing Hit Points/S.D.C. and damage to Mega-Damage, or M.D.C. and M.D. to Hit Points/S.D.C., or some other minor tweak.

Characters from Heroes Unlimited™ and After the Bomb® can be from the future, or the past (depending on the setting), or they can be mutants, or aliens, or beings from another or parallel world. As I am so wont to say, you are limited only by your imagination. The same holds true of towns, cities and adventures – use that place and the adventure ideas tailored to a different setting. Sure, you may have to swap out monsters and treasure, or adjust motives, but you might be surprised how easy, fun and different that adventure plays out in a different world environment. And The Rifter® is the ultimate source for alternative, new and different ideas, adventures, characters, and story ideas. All of which can be tweaked to fit most settings, as can optional rules. The Rifter® is a factory for alternative ideas.

The Rifter® Super-Subscription Offer is your chance to try The Rifter® at a discount price and get a FREE gift. Offer ENDS March 2, 2014.

Click here to see the full description for your subscription options and choice of free gift in the Palladium Online Store.

Rifts Northern Gun Two

UPDATE: Rifts® Northern Gun Two

The vast majority of my focus and energy has been behind getting Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two finished and to the printer! NG-2 is a) fantastic, and b) getting close to finished. I doubt I’ll be able to finish it over the weekend, but I’m working like a demon to get it done as soon thereafter as possible. March release! The last couple of days I’ve been working on the 30 Northern Gun power armors, and I’m very pleased with the new additions. There is a little bit of everything for everyone’s taste. I’ve also managed to slip in some more background information about the people, culture and history of Northern Gun and the region.

Maybe we’ll have a sneak preview of Rifts® Northern Gun Two in a week or two – on DriveThruRPG.com

There are FREE previews on DriveThruRPG.com for Rifts® Northern Gun™ One, Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook, Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms (Revised Edition), Rifts® Black Market, Rifts® Lemuria, The Rifter® #65, Dragons and Gods™, Dead Reign™ RPG, Endless Dead™ sourcebook and others. Plus we plan to add other sneak previews like the one for Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two, soon. Btw, the original Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms World Book is also available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG, for those of you who may be interested. More are coming.

More than 90 other Palladium titles can be found on DriveThruRPG.com as PDFs, including Splicers®, Rifts® RPG (the edition before RUE), The Rifter® #1-52 (and we’ll be adding more issues of The Rifter in the coming weeks), and first edition rule books and sourcebooks for Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, Beyond the Supernatural™ and lots of other good titles. DriveThruRPG.com also offers the Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® Game Master Kits ($5 each; both written by Carl Gleba and complete with maps, combat matrix, character sheets, spell list, and 20 pre-rolled characters created by Julius Rosenstein).

UPDATE: Heroes Unlimited 30th Anniversary Hardcover Edition

Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcover continues to sell well and is being enjoyed. Available now for $40 while supplies last. Destined to be a collector’s item. The old hardcover sells for $200-$350 on the secondary market.

Palladium Fantasy RPG® 30th Anniversary Hardcover – Ships April – pre-order now – at the printer

We sent the print order in yesterday, so the book is guaranteed to be released in April. Meanwhile, pre-orders for the Palladium Fantasy, 2nd Edition HC continue to come in faster than they did for Heroes Unlimited™. I’m glad I decided to print a few more copies (450, the same as its catalog number). I decided it wasn’t fair to leave out Palladium Fantasy®, so we are printing 450 copies of the 30th Anniversary Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition hardcovers as an April release. And boy am I glad I did. Enjoy. You can start placing your pre-orders now. See the full description elsewhere in this Weekly Update or in our online store. Note: This is the Palladium Fantasy RPG, Second Edition, all exactly the same as the current printing.

UPDATE: Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames

Artwork has been coming in for this book and looking great. Can hardly wait to dive into it for final editing. Carl Gleba did a great job writing this bad boy. I’m glad he’ll be at Gen Con to talk about it, sign autographs and run some games.

UPDATE: Dead Reign: Graveyard Earth Sourcebook

Is it just me or are you excited about this book? I am. Should get the finished manuscript in another couple of weeks.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics

I know, I know, everyone wants more information and wants it now. Us too. The thing is, we don’t always have too much that we think is exciting or cool to reveal, or it just isn’t finalized. We continue to fine-tune things. We’ve been told that Destroid prototypes are coming from the factory for our approval. Can hardly wait to see them. Jeff is finally done with all the art for the color guide and making a few last adjustments. Wayne will be laying them out for the rule book next. As I keep saying, everything is moving forward on all fronts. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines Sourcebook

It’s not forgotten. Still looking at a spring release. And it is epic.

UPDATE: 2015 Palladium Open House

Kathy Simmons continues to investigate hotels and available dates for the 2015 Palladium Open House this week and next. We appreciate the input we’ve been getting from you, so here’s what we are leaning toward.

Probably the dates will be April 30, May 1, 2 & 3, 2015. The hotel may be different but still just down the street. The Plymouth Clock Tower has undergone renovations and new management. The new rates for that weekend look like they would be $120 per night (plus tax), up from $89 a night last Open House. That seems a bit pricey (let us know if we are wrong), so we are looking for some alternatives. As I write this, Kathy is on the road meeting with three other hotel managers. There are a few other hotels in the immediate area that should do nicely. As always, PLEASE give us your input on these matters. Thank you.

This week has felt calmer than last week

Somehow, this week has seemed calmer and more productive than last week. That said, one of the not so good things going on has been the flu or some sort of yucky bug that has been working its way through the office. First, freelancer Ben Rodriguez caught it (Ben uses the Palladium facility to do a lot of his artwork), then Jeff Burke got sick and has been out for the week. I feel a bit run down and seem to have developed a cough. I sure hope I’m not the next one to get the flu bug!

There has been a lot of other things going on - plotting convention details, coordinating art assignments, prepping other books for final production, and of course, the day to day grind. Well, I need to dive back into NG-2. You guys and gals have a nice weekend.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Game Designer

Heroes Unlimited 30th Anniversary Hardcover

NEW! Heroes Unlimited 30th Anniversary Hardcover Edition – only $40 while supplies last – available now

The Heroes Unlimited™ RPG turns 30 years old this year. To celebrate, Palladium is releasing a special, commemorative, Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcover, for only $40. Available now. The original HU2 hardcover sold for $50 and has since become a collector’s item that sells for $200-$350 on the secondary market.

To preserve the value of the “original” Heroes Unlimited™ Gold Hardcover Edition, we have made the HU2 30th Anniversary Edition as visibly different (and cool) looking on the outside as possible. The material used for the cover is different (not leatherette), the color is a lighter shade of blue, and although the cover is imprinted in gold foil, it features artwork depicting a superhero and the words “Special 30th Anniversary Edition.” Even the spine is different looking, and the end sheets are red and without art. The red, white and blue combination represents the United States of America, the birthplace of superhero comic books, and the colors of costumed heroes.

All the elements described above should make the Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcover impossible to mistake for the original HU2 signed and numbered HC edition. We have kept the price an unprecedented, low $40 for a hardcover Gold Edition of this size. We want to give Heroes Unlimited™ fans a crack at purchasing one before the price skyrockets on the secondary collectors’ market. Enjoy and game on!

Palladium Fantasy RPG 30th Anniversary Hardcover

NEW! Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition, 30th Anniversary Hardcover Edition – only $40 while supplies last – April Release – Second Edition Rules.

It doesn’t seem fair to offer a Heroes Unlimited™ Hardcover Edition and not one for Palladium Fantasy®, so Rifter® subscribers were the first to get the news that Palladium is releasing a Palladium Fantasy® Special 30th Anniversary Hardcover in April. The Palladium Fantasy RPG® was released in June of 1983, so technically, the Fantasy Game is still 30 years old until June.

The original Crimson Edition hardcover sold for $50 and has since become a collector’s item that sells for $250-$400 on the secondary market. The special, commemorative, 30th Anniversary Hardcover in April will sell for only $40.

To preserve the value of the “original” Palladium Fantasy RPG® Crimson Edition Hardcover, we have made the 30th Anniversary Edition as visibly different looking on the outside as possible. The material used for the cover is a brown leatherette imprinted with “Elemental Green” foil, different art on the cover, and the words “Special 30th Anniversary Edition.” Even the spine is different looking and the end sheets are without artwork.

All the elements described above should make the Palladium Fantasy RPG® 30th Anniversary Hardcover impossible to mistake for the original signed and numbered HC edition. The price is $40 (while supplies last), low for a limited edition of its size. We want to give Fantasy fans a crack at purchasing one before the price skyrockets on the secondary collectors’ market.

Second Edition rules. There has been some confusion among fans as to whether this hardcover edition is First or Second Edition rules. It is SECOND Edition rules, exactly the same as the current material in the softcover book.

The Rifter #65

NEW! The Rifter® #65 – Available now

The Rifter® #65 is all about the secrets of power. In some cases, dark secrets: 60 new Necromancy spells and magic for Rifts® and other settings, the power of the Soul Merchant for BTS™, rising to power within the Black Market for Rifts®, a Chaos Earth® short story, and for Heroes Unlimited™, a band of superhumans, robotics and gadgets. Plus news, coming attractions, and more.

Every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factory for players and Game Masters to generate new ideas, and find new avenues of adventure. It provides useful, ready to go, source material you can just drop into your ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. And the many new characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, villains, monsters, adventures and ideas for one setting can be easily adapted to any Palladium setting. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least 2-3 other Palladium game lines.

The Rifter® Number 65 includes:

The Rifter #64

RECENT RELEASE: The Rifter® #64 – Available now

The Rifter® #64 is our annual horror issue and includes:

Fear the Reaper

RECENT RELEASE: Dead Reign Sourcebook 4: Fear the Reaper – Available now!

Like knights mounted on motorcycles, the Road Reapers travel the wasteland that Earth has become, searching for survivors, fighting zombies and waging war against the Death Cults that threaten all mankind.

This epic sourcebook explores the nature of heroes and heroism in the Zombie Apocalypse. It contains the secrets of the fabled Road Reapers, their structure, leadership, missions and purpose, as well as gear and combat notes. Plus a horrifying new zombie known as the Terror Zombie, plus Floaters (zombies in water) and which zombies can swim. Survival is one thing. Can you keep your humanity and be a hero?

Rifts Northern Gun One

HOT! Rifts® World Book 33: Northern Gun One – Available Now!

Rifts® Northern Gun™ One is the most tech-filled World Book Palladium has ever produced and gamers are loving every page of new weapons, robots, power armor, vehicles and NG background.

Rifts Northern Gun Two

NEW! Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun Two – February 2014

In production! Expanded to 192-224 pages and filled with all kinds of adventuring gear: New environmental body armor, power armor, hovercycles, robot drones, robot haulers, combat vehicles, other vehicles, robot gladiators and much more. More information about the weapons, vehicles and practices of Northern Gun, including the new rage of robot gladiatorial combat. Expanded page count. Epic adventure.

Rifts Megaverse in Flames

NEW! Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames – March, 2014

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. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

Robotech UEEF Marines Sourcebook One

NEW! Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines Sourcebook One

– Formerly titled ‘UEEF Marines’

Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines is a sourcebook that we know will wow and please Robotech® fans.

Robotech RPG Tactics

Robotech® RPG Tactics – Game Description – Coming Spring 2014

This is the game Robotech® fans have wanted for decades.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ is a fast-paced, tabletop combat game that captures the action and adventure of the Robotech® anime. Two or more players can engage in small squad skirmishes or scale up to massive battles. Relive the clashes of the First Robotech War, engage in stand-alone tactical games, or use the dynamic game pieces to enhance your Robotech® RPG experience. Or simply collect your favorite mecha from an expanding range of top-notch game pieces.

Mecha vs Mecha. Take command of the fighting forces of the United Earth Defense Force (UEDF) valiantly defending Earth from alien annihilation. Or lead the massive clone armies of the Zentraedi Armada to recover an alien artifact of immense power and enslave humankind.

Robotech RPG Tactics

Robotech® RPG Tactics Box Set – Cat. No. 55100

The First Six Robotech® RPG Tactics Expansion Packs

The first six expansion packs will be available to retail at the same time as the main box game. Here are the “official” SKUs and retail prices.

UEDF Valkyrie Wing

UEDF Valkyrie Wing

Build your fleet of Earth defenders with the Valkyrie Veritech Fighter; six figures total.

UEDF Tomahawk/Defender Destroids

UEDF Destroid Pack

Expand your Destroid squad with these formidable walking tanks; four figures total.

UEDF Spartan/Phalanx Destroids

UEDF Spartan Pack

Add some long range power and up-close punch to your army with these valuable Destroids; four figures total.

Zentraedi Regult Battlepods

Zentraedi Regult Battlepod Squadron

Expand your Zentraedi forces with their main infantry battle mecha; six figures total.

Zentraedi Artillery Battlepods

Zentraedi Support Battlepods

Give your Zentraedi legion greater firepower with these artillery and support Battlepods; four figures total.

Zentraedi Glaug Command Pack

Zentraedi Command Pack

This diverse pack provides your Zentraedi forces with greater tactical capabilities; three figures total.

Robotech Macross Saga Sourcebook

Robotech® Macross® Saga Sourcebook – New Size

Available now – 8½ x 11 size

All the famous mecha and action of Robotech® starts here with the Macross® Saga when an alien armada enters Earth orbit. They have come to reclaim a lost spacecraft that crash-landed on Earth 10 years earlier. A space fortress that Earth’s protectors have rebuilt into their own flagship against alien invasion. The resulting conflict gives birth to heroes and becomes the stuff of legend, but the Earth will never be the same. Robotech® The Macross® Saga Sourcebook is now available as an 8½ x 11 inch sourcebook.

Note: This is the setting for Robotech® RPG Tactics™, so if you’re looking for more information about the mecha, Earth’s defenders, the Zentraedi invaders, and Macross Saga setting, this is the book for you. Epic adventure awaits.

A Robotech® Role-Playing Game Sourcebook:

Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition

BACK IN PRINT! Heroes Unlimited RPG, 2nd Edition

If you love playing smart games with heroic super beings in possession of strange and wondrous powers or technology, then Heroes Unlimited™ is the role-playing game for you. This RPG has unleashed the superheroes inside gamers for three decades and counting.

Heroes Unlimited™ RPG is probably most famous for rules and abilities that enable you to play ALL types of heroes while capturing the feel of comic books, and for being a thinking-gamer’s setting. All of this adds up to super-fun and epic comic book-style adventure.

Just a few notable Heroes Unlimited Sourcebooks:

Instantly expand your playing experience with these and other HU2 sourcebooks.

Dragons and Gods

BACK IN PRINT – Dragons & Gods – for Rifts® & Palladium Fantasy® – Available now

We sold out during the Christmas season, but this fun book, suitable for use in Rifts® (complete with M.D.C. stat notes) as well as the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, is so popular that we did a full reprint of it.

This is the 3rd printing of a dynamic sourcebook filled with big ideas and insightful rules for creating gods and their followers as well as presenting an array of deities and dragons. The dragon section provides insight to how Palladium Dragons think and function. Great artwork, too. Co-written with Erick Wujcik. With the Minion War™ soon to erupt on Rifts® Earth via Megaverse® in Flames™, you may find a book about dragons and gods to be a very useful sourcebook.

This expansive sourcebook presents detailed information about the mythical dragons and gods common to the Palladium Fantasy® world, but contains notes for use in Rifts® and is easily adapted to the Rifts® setting. It includes sections about Dragonwright, the Gods of Taut, Elementals, Demon Lords, dragons, and the forces of light and dark. Suitable for use with the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, and Beyond the Supernatural™, or any fantasy game.

Rifts Mystic Russia

BACK IN PRINT – Rifts® World Book 18: Mystic Russia – Available now

This book is rich in monsters and magic based on Russian mythology and superstition. Rifts Russia is a land unlike anywhere else. The wilderness abounds with mischievous spirits, shape-changers and demons unique to Russia (including a comprehensive look at Necromancy).

The Rifter #50

BACK IN PRINT – The Rifter® #50 – Special Anniversary Issue – Available now

The Rifter® #50 remains in high demand because it contains all kinds of official source material from many of Palladium’s most popular writers. Back in print because you demand it.

Gen Con Indy – August 14-17, 2014

Gen Con Indy is going to be the premier convention event for Palladium Books this year. A large booth, special display, a ton of product including Robotech® RPG Tactics™, and all our role-playing games and sourcebooks, art prints, original art, and all kinds of good stuff. There will also be many Palladium creators available at the booth throughout the convention to chat and sign autographs, including writers Brandon Aten, Matthew Clements, Carl Gleba, me (Kevin Siembieda), Palladium staffers like Wayne Smith and Jeff Burke, and artists including Nick Bradshaw, Mike Leonard and Chuck Walton, among others. And it looks like there will be 70+ Palladium Books RPG events in the official Gen Con program. My heartfelt thanks to the Megaversal Ambassadors spearheading this project, as well as the Game Masters volunteering to run so many events for our many game lines. Awesome.

Palladium Books Gen Con Highlights:

DriveThruRPG

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

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:

© Copyright 2014 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. RPG Tactics™, Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Dead Reign, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, 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.

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.