I think I may post this as a press release and a Murmur from the Megaverse®, because I want everybody to know where we’re at and where we are heading.
A great deal has happened to us all these past few years. The Crisis of Treachery nearly destroyed us, but together we survived. And, I’d like to think, we came out of it all stronger, smarter and better.
No, Palladium Books is NOT 100% healthy and strong. We continue to struggle a bit, and things like Erick Wujcik’s terminal illness have struck me and others pretty hard. Erick is a beloved friend and to know that he suffers and that his time on this planet may be coming to an abrupt and unwanted end is, to say the least, sad. I’ve worked through much of my sorrow and emotions, and choose to enjoy the time I have left with my friend, and to focus on all the wonderful, good times and triumphs we have shared. Again, I feel like I’m coming out of this stronger and more motivated than ever. Erick has done as much as anyone (and more than most) to keep Palladium going and I’m not going to falter now when we are so close to the finish line.
The Palladium crew and I have put a great many things in place over the last 6-8 months, and 2008 is the year to make them a reality.
The move from our 22,500 square feet of office and warehouse in Taylor, Michigan to a smaller facility is a very good thing. The Taylor building is just more than we need and is holding us down. The heating bills alone can range from $1,500 to $3,800 a month. So can snow removal, and you don’t even want to know about rent.
We’re down to two buildings as our final candidates. One in Livonia with better office space and one in Westland with more warehouse space but less office space (but set up in such a way that we could add more offices when needed). Both, ironically, are 3.2 miles from home, instead of 27 miles to Taylor. We are leaning heavily toward the Westland facility.
While we’re at it, we plan to reorganize the warehouse, add racking and a fork lift and set it up for top efficiency and growth potential. Whichever one we go with, the savings in rent and utilities should be in the neighborhood of $60,000.00 annually! A very good start indeed.
By utilizing volunteers – fans, friends and crazy people – to help us pack up the offices and move, Palladium should save another $10,000 in moving expenses. Plus, we hope there will be a little fun involved. If we aren’t all exhausted, maybe we can slip in a little gaming, but don’t be fooled, we will be working our keisters off. We’ll give our wonderful helpers a 40% discount on any product they might want, provide beverages and some food, and, if we have the time and resources, I have a fun, little surprise in mind to make them feel special.
The new building is a tangible symbol of Palladium’s rebirth and a new era of greatness. At least, that’s how we are looking at it.
Palladium is now reaching a position to realize its potential. We continue to work on a number of secret projects, large and small, that should please our fans, attract new gamers, and make Palladium strong. We even have good feelings about the possibility of a Rifts® Movie.
While third party products in new mediums like film and electronic games are exciting possibilities, their fate ultimately rests in the hands of third parties who may, or may not, make them a reality or do the RPG source material justice. Consequently, we are focusing on what we, Palladium Books, can do for ourselves and for you. If any third party project becomes reality, well, it’s frosting on the cake and new frontiers for adventure.
As already reported, we have a number of exciting, dare I say, epic role-playing games and sourcebooks in the works or already sitting on our shelves waiting for final development and publication.
The return of the Robotech® license has filled our heads with grand plans for that line. The Shadows Chronicles® RPG is just the launch of a new era of RPGs and sourcebooks for the Robotech line. It will be followed by the New Generation (Invid Invasion) sourcebook, the Macross Saga™, Southern Cross™ and what I hope will be a giant book containing ALL the Spaceships of Robotech® across the generations! I’d like to see all of the above released this year! While we will draw upon some of the material from our old books, most of the material will be new, and all of it rewritten and updated. Excitement is high for this game line.
The Minion War series is one epic book after another: Hades (available now), Dyval™ (coming soon), Dimensional Outbreak™ (Phase World®), Armageddon Unlimited™ (HU2), Heroes of the Megaverse® and Megaverse® in Flames (Rifts®). ALL should come out in 2008. Dyval and Dimensional Outbreak™ are in final production.
More for Rifts® - The Shemarrian Nation™, Triax™ Two, Deep South™, Rifts® Voodoo, Fleets of the Three Galaxies™ and many others are lined up as Rifts® releases for 2008.
Dead Reign™ RPG – zombies come to Palladium in a big way. Initial artwork has already been assigned. Manuscript should be in our hands in a few weeks.
Sourcebooks for Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Nightbane®, Heroes Unlimited™ and others are either in development or sitting on a shelf waiting to be reviewed, approved and put into development. This doesn’t include the half a dozen secret projects we are working on. Many so cool, you’ll drool with anticipation when they are announced. We just don’t want to reveal them until they are close to becoming a reality or ready for launch.
The energy here at the offices of Palladium Books and among our freelancers is electric! People are pumped up to the point of exploding. Ideas, artwork and writing are flying around like crazy.
Despite our remaining cash flow problems and pressure to get out books and deal with a thousand things at once, I am pumped up and excited like I have not been in years! All of us are.
This is the year Palladium starts anew and kicks out some of the coolest products you’ve seen in years . . . from anybody. We’re going to keep role-playing alive and try to knock your socks off with every product. If you liked Hades, you will love Dyval™. Dimensional Outbreak™ will please and surprise, and so will Heroes of the Megaverse®. Dead Reign™ is a new setting and game line that will delight you zombiephiles. Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® is only the beginning, and we hope to support all our existing game lines this year and in the years to come.
Like I said, we hope to make 2008 the rebirth of Palladium Books. We’re glad so many of you (including a large number of NEW gamers and the return of many past Palladium fans) are here to enjoy the wonders of this new era. Spread the word and game on!
– Kevin Siembieda, January 22, 2008
Erick Wujcik will be the live guest on Matthew Daye’s Gateway to the Megaverse®, Monday, January 28, 2008.
Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to talk to the man who wrote such epic games and sourcebooks as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles® and Other Strangeness, Ninjas & Superspies™, Mystic China™, Rifts® China, Dragons & Gods™ and Amber Diceless™, among many, many others.
If Erick is in the area and at the Palladium offices, he’s asked that Kevin Siembieda join the talk. Hearing these two friends and maniacs talk together is always a blast.
Tune in, Monday, January 28, 6:00 PM EST, to listen to Erick Wujcik (and Kevin Siembieda?) talk about games, game design, and a whole lot more. Remember, this is a live podcast and you can ask questions via telephone or email. Always fun and entertaining and always available for download afterward.
I’m momentarily putting aside Dyval™ and everything else to get Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® finished over the next couple of weeks and to the printer! If all goes well, it should be ready to ship around February 27, 2008. We’ll, post updates as things progress.
Robotech® is the number one asked about RPG product coming from Palladium Books. There are something in the neighborhood of 150 pre-orders and we are going to do everything in our power to get this bad boy in your hands as quickly as possible. And remember, Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® is only the start of the Robotech® relaunch from Palladium Books. – Kevin Siembieda, Publisher & Writer
The role-playing game will pick up where the DVD movie begins. The return of the Robotech Expeditionary Force, the separation of the SDF-3 from the rest of the fleet, and everything else that is part of Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles®.
Palladium has not seen so much anticipation for a new role-playing game release since the debut of Rifts® in 1990.
Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® is a NEW role-playing game. It is not a rehashed, retooled reprinting of the original RPG from the 1980s. Furthermore, the release of the Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® DVD Movie earlier this year, the release of the Deluxe DVD, Shadow Chronicles® Art Book, and the announcement of a Robotech® Movie in development at Warner Bros. Pictures have ramped up interest and excitement for Robotech. This new RPG should appeal to role-players of all generations.
I have had to put Dyval™ aside. I’m just stalled and struggling with this book, even though Carl Gleba’s ideas, setting, magic and monsters are fantastic. To make it the best it can be, I’m briefly putting Dyval aside to finish Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles RPG. I think getting away from Dyval™ for a little while and getting out Robotech® will rekindle my creative energy. I hope you understand, and my apologies for those of you who may be disappointed. This book is going to be fantastic. And it will come out soon – March at the latest, I promise!
Don’t worry, as soon as I’m done with Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles®, I’m back to finish Dyval and Dimensional Outbreak! Count on it! – Kevin Siembieda, Publisher & Writer
Dyval™ is another dimension of Hell, the next book in the Minion War™ series, and is every bit as fantastic as the first, Hades.
Dyval™ is a hellish dimension very different from Hades, but just as exotic, dangerous and horrible. The Deevil Host, evil monsters and minions, Deevil society, monstrous War Steeds, magic, adventure settings and more. Interest among Palladium fans is high.
- Rifts® Dimension Book 11: Dyval™ (Minion War™)
- Rifts® Dimension Book 12: Dimensional Outbreak™ (Minion War™)
- The Rifter® #42
- Heroes of the Megaverse® (Minion War™)
- Nightbane® Survival Guide™ Sourcebook
- Dead Reign™ RPG (zombies!)
- Robotech® New Generation® (Invid™) Sourcebook
- Fleets of the Three Galaxies™ (Phase World®)
- New limited prints – one by Chris Bourassa, another by Mark Evans.
- Palladium’s big move and much, much more.
You have till March 31, 2008, but why wait to take advantage of Palladium’s annual subscription drive? You get a free gift and for those of you in the USA, free shipping.
The Rifter® seems to get better with every new issue. Don’t miss the fun, excitement and news.
This year is the best offer ever. We hope to attract the largest subscription base ever – 1000 subscribers, so we’re offering the best range of FREE gifts ever. $22-$31 dollars worth. So tell your friends, neighbors and even enemies!
In the USA this Special Subscription offer includes free shipping, discount on the cover price, a FREE gift worth $22 to $31, and, of course, the convenience of delivery right to your mailbox.
Elsewhere in the world. Regrettably, the high cost of postage/shipping to Canada and other countries outside the USA makes the subscription more expensive for fans around the world. We apologize for that, but we are only passing along our actual shipping cost. We hope you understand.
The Rifter® only seems to keep getting better and better, is becoming an increasingly coveted collector’s item (with many issues out of print) and always fun.
This year we hope to shatter previous subscription numbers. As fewer and fewer retailers carry a large range of role-playing game products, we have seen The Rifter® subscriptions increase throughout 2007. This year, we are hoping to get our subscription base up to a record shattering 1000 subscribers! (612 is our old record.) Which is why we’re offering the biggest selection for your free gift ever.
Click here for more details, and to order your subscription to The Rifter®.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
© Copyright 2008 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
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. Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.