Palladium Books® Press Release November 4, 2005

Just a quick update on what’s going on at Palladium.

U-Con is this Weekend

U-Con, located on the campus of the University of Michigan, is this weekend. Artist, Larry Elmore and the man behind Hero Games, Steven Long, are the convention’s guests of honor. Kevin Siembieda and the Palladium staff are also guests participating in panel talks and fun. The Palladium crew will be available to chat, sign autographs and sell product in the dealer’s room throughout the show.

We expect to have as much fun at U-Con as we did a couple weeks ago at Trinity Con. Come on down and join the fun.

U-Con at the Michigan Student Union Bldg.
530 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(734) 930-6363
http://www.ucon-gaming.org

Rifts® Mercenary Adventures shipped November First

This little adventure sourcebook is a gem. Check it out, it should be in stores across the country by the end of next week.

  • A half dozen new “optional” merc O.C.C.s.
  • Devil Rider Psi-Stalker Clan.
  • A dozen adventure outlines and merc boot camp.
  • Written by Pat Nowak and Kevin Siembieda.
  • $10.95 – 64 pages, Cat. No. 867. November 1, 2005.

    Other great Rifts® Merc inspired titles:
    Rifts® Mercenaries™ – $16.95 – 160 pages
    Rifts® MercTown™ – $17.95 – 160 pages.
    Rifts® Merc Ops™ – $17.95 – 160 pages.
    Rifts® Naruni Wave 2™ – $13.95 – 96 pages.

    Rifts® Adventures in Dinosaur Swamp™

    – December 8, 2005

    Palladium Books is on a roll and this is another book that is going to surprise people. New and different dinosaurs that wield magic and are smarter, stranger and more dangerous than you can imagine. More monsters, O.C.C.s, NPCs, world information, places to explore and adventure ideas. A lot of valuable source material and a ton of adventure ideas to bring Dinosaur Swamp to vivid life.

  • Spell casting dinosaurs and other dangers.
  • New R.C.C.s, Native Americans, weapons and equipment.
  • The Ocmulgee Mounds and their unique powers and healing abilities.
  • 101 adventure ideas, Hook, Line & Sinker™ adventures, campaign suggestions, tips and more.
  • Written by Kevin Siembieda and Todd Yoho.
  • $17.95 – 160 pages. Cat. No. 866. December 8, 2005.

    Tome Grotesque™ – December or January

    Sourcebook for Beyond the Supernatural™

    Tome Grotesque™ is the first sourcebook for Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG and will continue to unveil the sinister world environment.

    Much more than a book of monsters, Tome Grotesque™ will help set the tone and atmosphere for the BTS setting. Each creature will serve as a catalyst for numerous adventures and conspiracies.

    Many of these supernatural fiends are not slobbering beasts, but cunning, wicked geniuses who work behind the scenes to inspire wickedness and cruelty. They are the genesis of sorrow and the roots of evil who secretly insinuate themselves in our world and work to lead humans astray. Beings known as Ancient Evils are the most powerful and possess the greatest powers and magic. They are also the ones most likely to establish cults and command human pawns and demonic henchmen to worship, serve and protect them. Thus, destroying an evil cult, madman or cadre of monsters is nothing more than a short-term and temporary solution. To permanently stop bad things from happening, one must find the root cause – the Greater Demon or Ancient Evil – or the nightmare will start up all over again.

  • Supernatural Predators who stalk our streets at night.
  • Pranksters and Haunters.
  • Demonic Servants who tempt, corrupt and torment humans.
  • Ancient Evil that functions as sinister puppet masters, schemers and destroyers lurking in the shadows where they pull the strings of lesser beings and mortal men.
  • Demonic magic and psychic abilities.
  • Spectacular artwork and adventure ideas.
  • Written and created by Kevin Siembieda.
  • $17.95 – 160 pages. Cat. No. 702. December or January, 2006.

    Beyond Arcanum™ – February 2006

    For Beyond the Supernatural™

    Magic is a choice, and those who choose it are often led down a dark and dangerous path. To stay virtuous can be a difficult task.

    Here again, there will be a new and sinister twist on how magic works in the modern setting, who is really in control of its power, and how its secrets can be used for good or evil. In addition, Beyond Arcanum will include places of power, ancient artifacts, charms, mystic relics, cursed items and more.

    We apologize for the delay in the release, but Kevin wants to make sure this book is not rushed. It has to be perfect.

  • The Arcanist O.C.C. and other practitioners of magic.
  • Magic spells designed for the BTS setting.
  • Magic rituals, weapons, charms and artifacts.
  • Ancient secrets and places of magic.
  • Spectacular artwork by Dubisch and Russell.
  • Plenty of ideas and inspiration for adventures.
  • Written by Kevin Siembieda and Todd Yoho.
  • $17.95 or $22.95 (probably the latter) depending on final page count – Cat. No. 703. February, 2006.

    Coming in 2006

    The Rifter® #33
    The Best of the Rifter®
    Rifts® Arzno™ – The Vampire Incursion™
    Rifts® Madhaven™ (the ruins of New York)
    Rifts® Sourcebook One – Expanded
    Powers Unlimited™ 3 for Heroes Unlimited™

    Plus sourcebooks for Palladium Fantasy, BTS, Chaos Earth and more.

    Sorry about the continuing delays

    Adventures in Dinosaur Swamp is coming along fine and is almost finished.

    Tome Grotesque is Kevin’s next project to finish (most of the art is already done and there are a mountain of notes and unfinished rough drafts on characters and monsters waiting in the wings). We’re still shooting to get this beautiful, macabre masterpiece out for 2005, but we want to make it as fantastic as possible so it might slip into January 2006. Beyond Arcanum is his next project after that.

    Why the delays? One reason is our printer’s extended production schedule, the other is our fault.

    We always forget how much time the Christmas Grag Bags take out of every day. Kevin and the staff spend hours working together to sign autographs and hand pick every Grab Bag to make it as special as possible.

    Another reason is putting together our epic plans for 2006 (see below). In the publishing biz, you have to plan and schedule ahead. That means making plans, cutting deals, putting together creative teams, assigning artwork and putting things into motion MONTHS in advance. To make 2006 a year to truly remember, we’ve had to spend a lot of time doing just that for the last few months, stealing away our precious creative time. However, we think you’ll agree that it was all worth it when you see what we have in mind for Palladium’s 25th Anniversary year long extravaganza (see below).

    2006 Year Long Celebration

    2006 is Palladium’s 25th Anniversary. Yep, Palladium turns 25 years old and we want to celebrate this milestone all year long.

    You heard right, a year long celebration marked with one or more special anniversary items EVERY SINGLE MONTH!

    Palladium Books would be nothing without YOU, our loyal fans and imaginative gamers, so we want to make YOU part of the celebration. After all, you are part of the growing Palladium family, and we want to share this epic achievement with each and every one of you.

    How big is this milestone, pretty darn big. Palladium is one of perhaps 3-4 role-playing game companies to survive 25 Years under one owner. And we’re gearing up for our next 25 years.

    So rather than throw a big flashy party, or go on a trip, or pay out a big bonus to the Palladium staff, we all decided to make 2006 special for you. Seriously, we all talked it over, and we want to do things that will make 2006 special for all of Palladium’s gamers.

    That means new products for Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural™, and Chaos Earth™, as well as Rifts®. In fact, one of the special items for 2006 will be a gorgeous art book featuring John Zeleznik’s Palladium artwork – from concept sketches, pencils and color comps, to the finished art.

    But we have a lot more in mind than just the usual. We are planning to enhance the Palladium website, open a second store full of downloadable products, add new features and provide avenues for you to contribute more directly.

    Meanwhile, every month will offer one or more new anniversary products that we hope will excite and please everyone. One such item will be a 128 page, Best of The Rifter® Special Issue (a 5th issue free to subscribers) that will also include an index of material that has appeared in ALL issues to date. Another will be the classic Anniversary T-shirt, but there will be bumper stickers and much, much, much more.

    And not just the usual nicknacks. Oh no, we have a range of unique products in mind that we hope will knock your socks off. Some funny, some cool, some costing only a few bucks, some a bit more, but ALL will be reasonably priced, all will be collectible, and all will be created with YOU in mind.

    The element of surprise will be part of the fun. YOUR “not” knowing what these special products are going to be is part of the fun. You’ll have to look here every month to see what it is. Hopefully, they will all be things that will make you smile, bring back memories and inspire new game sessions and heroic adventures. And this is all in addition to our regular schedule of products!

    Nobody in role-playing has ever done a year long celebration, so you’ll be part of an industry first and something special. Also please feel free to offer YOUR suggestions and wish list of cool items that you want made available to celebrate 25 Years of Imaginations Unleashed!

    Stay tuned. Palladium’s 25 Year Anniversary Celebration starts January 2006!

    Palladium Products in Mainstream Bookstores November

    Rifts® Ultimate Edition, Palladium Fantasy™, Heroes Unlimited™ and other Palladium core Role-Playing Games will be available at select Barnes & Noble bookstores in November. Rifts® Ultimate Edition and Merc Ops™ will also be available in Borders, Waldenbooks, and Books a Million in November as part of a National Games Week promotion.

    Palladium expects to increase its presence and range of product in chain bookstores throughout 2006 via distribution through PSI (Publisher Services Inc.).

    Rifts® Promise of Power™ – Available Now

    Rifts® Promise of Power™ shipped, worldwide, October 27, 2005. The videogame for the N-Gage™ mobile game deck has the stamp of approval of Kevin Siembieda and all of us are excited about its release.

    This game is going to thrill Rifts® fans and surprise a lot of critics. The Rifts® videogame is exclusive to the N-Gage™ mobile game deck, and has many features that take advantage of this unique platform. That means a gaming experience unlike anything you’ll encounter on a PC or game console.

    At last we can reveal many of the fun aspects and features of this exciting handheld videogame.

  • A story-driven strategy RPG with an original story exclusive to the N-Gage™ mobile game deck.
  • Strong graphics and colors designed for the small screen. Characters are depicted as rendered two-dimensional sprites, while the background is rendered in 3-D.
  • Sound quality has been engineered to be at its best when held in the hands, playing a game – the sound enhanced by bouncing off one’s own hands.
  • The camera pulls back for strategic views during combat, and can rotate 360 degrees.
  • Multi-player option allows multiple team combinations to lock horns in simultaneous play against each other.
  • Brand new N-Gage™ Arena™ feature – Turn Notification – allows gamers to play one another anytime, anywhere, even when thousands of miles apart and in different time zones.
    This allows one player to make his move or attack, and send the turn to Arena where it waits until the opponent picks it up and responds. As many as three different games can be played at once, so while you’re waiting for your buddy’s next turn, you can play one or two other people in between.
  • The internal AI changes the game and battles every time you play against the machine. That means you can play over and over again in single-player mode without the same, exact outcome.
  • Five multi-player game modes include Melee (Battle Royale, Elimination, and Team Battle), Defender, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag and Survival.
  • 50+ enemies.
  • 100 types of weapons, armor, spells and psionics!
  • Select magic spells can be used to block and trap the enemy and for other strategic uses. Epic spells are . . . well, epic!
  • Player Characters start out as one of three Proto-Character types: Mercenary, Psychic or Mage.
    However, upon reaching fourth level, they can “level up” to an Advanced Character and unlock new abilities and weapons. 14 different Rifts® characters are available as the Advanced Character. For example, a Mage may become a Ley Line Walker, Elemental Fusionist, Mystic or Battle Magus; a Psychic may become a Mind Melter, Mystic, Burster or Cyber-Knight; a Mercenary may become a Juicer, Crazy, Cyborg, Headhunter, Glitter Boy, or Super Trooper.
  • Control up to three characters in your party.
  • Unique good and evil sub-quests.
  • Characters can be created with painstaking attention to detail, or fully equipped with the click of a button through auto-equip and auto-leveling.
  • The World Map shows you where you are and where you are going.
  • Adventure in North America, Free Quebec, Scotland, New German Republic, and China.
  • Well over 40 hours of single-player gameplay.
  • Although Rifts® fans will be able to immerse themselves in the familiar Rifts® setting, gamers who have never seen Rifts® before will find Rifts® Promise of Power™ fascinating, inviting and easy to learn.
  • Authorized and cheerfully endorsed by me, Kevin Siembieda, the creator of the Rifts® pen and paper RPG.
  • Should be available at many GameStop and Cingular stores.
  • Available from select vendors including T-Mobile. Check out the www.rifts-promiseofpower.com website to sample a demo of the game, get free downloads, and more information about the game, the N-Gage and where to purchase them.

    Copyright 2005 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
    This Press Release may be used and portions reprinted with Palladium's permission for the purpose of news and promotion. Rifts®, Megaverse® and Palladium Books® are registered trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. and Kevin Siembieda. Rifts® Promise of Power, Heroes Unlimited, Powers Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Tome Grotesque, Beyond Arcanum, Splicers, MercTown, Merc Ops, Dinosaur Swamp, Chaos Earth, NEMA and all other titles and names are trademarks of Palladium Books.