Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

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Burren
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Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Burren »

Hey there. I'm interested in trying out Palladium Fantasy. I'm familiar with Rifts and some of the other Palladium games but I've never once cracked open a PF book. Besides the core book, what are the best sourcebooks to acquire for someone completely unfamiliar with the world? I realize this may be a silly question as I'm sure they're all good and everyone will have their favorites (and that's great; I would love personal reviews!) but I could use some guidance. I'd like to take advantage (and Kevin's advice for trying out a new setting) of the Christmas Surprise Package and humbly request a number of PF books. Many thanks in advance! Cheers! :)
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

Ether the Western Emp. or Eastern Hinterlands.
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Prysus »

Burren wrote:Hey there. I'm interested in trying out Palladium Fantasy. I'm familiar with Rifts and some of the other Palladium games but I've never once cracked open a PF book. Besides the core book, what are the best sourcebooks to acquire for someone completely unfamiliar with the world? I realize this may be a silly question as I'm sure they're all good and everyone will have their favorites (and that's great; I would love personal reviews!) but I could use some guidance. I'd like to take advantage (and Kevin's advice for trying out a new setting) of the Christmas Surprise Package and humbly request a number of PF books. Many thanks in advance! Cheers! :)

Greetings and Salutations. This topic comes up from time to time, so when I respond I tend to save time by quoting myself.

Prysus wrote:
flatline wrote:I've got Palladium 1st edition, Mysteries of Magic, and Weapons, Armor, and Castles (which isn't technically fantasy).

So if I were to use the grab bags to start an instant Palladium Fantasy collection, what books should I ask for besides the 2nd edition core book?

--flatline

Greetings and Salutations. If you hop over to the PF forum you'll find threads with very similar questions (you may have to search for them though). Might be a good idea to swing by and check out other people's opinions on the matter. However, my thoughts are...

1) Monsters & Animals. Lots of monsters, both playable and potential enemies (ranging from minor annoyance to big bad). Also, it has animal stats which are useful for pets, random encounters, familiars, and more. I'd call this one essential after the main book.

2) Dragons & Gods. It includes dragons, elementals, spirits of light, A.I., and gods. Even if none of those things appeal to you, they come in handy if someone is playing a clergy type or a warlock. Also provides a few hidden clues to the setting and such. If none if those things appeal to you though, feel free to pass. This is more likely for very high powered campaigns and/or NPC.

After those two it becomes a lot more personal taste. I'd recommend whichever location the game is going to be set. So if the Western Empire is the campaign setting, get the Western Empire book. I'll provide some added info all the same.

Old Ones: Timiro setting, and a high level campaign included.

Adventures on the High Seas: Bizantium setting. Lots of island adventures, a plethora of new O.C.C., stats on ships, and a few hidden notes (like Kingdom colors based upon nation flags). Highly recommended by me.

Wolfen Empire: Lots of Wolfen Empire info. If that's where the campaign will take place, you're playing a Wolfen, or you just like the furry humanoids, a good pick. If you prefer, you can go with the two classic [Further] Adventures in the Northern Wilderness books. Wolfen Empire is effectively those two books combined. There are definite differences, but you needn't worry about that too much just starting off.

Island at the Edge of the World: First edition adventure book. While it has setting info too, I won't recommend it for starting your collection.

Yin-Sloth Jungles: Another 1st Edition book. Lots of O.C.C. and monsters, but they'll all need to be converted. Setting info too. Good book, but due to the need conversions I don't recommend it to start off.

Western Empire: Good if this is where the campaign will be held or you want to use them as bad guys. While different, for a quick analogy I think if them like the CS. Even if you don't want to be them, still nice to have their stats when the players face them. Also has some new magic/Alchemists items, if you're into that kind of thing.

Baalgor Wastelands: Another setting book. Lots of new monsters/races. I personally really enjoy this book. However if you're not looking for new monsters/races and you're not interested in the area, it may not hold much use for a new comer to PF. I still think it's a cool book, but your mileage may vary.

Mount Nimro: Giants! A few new O.C.C., but mostly restricted to giants and that region.

Eastern Territory: Another area book. Good if you want a game there. As a G.M., it's one of my favorite places to start a game (if I'm sticking to the established setting).

Library of Bletherad: Very useful book in many ways, but also limited. They give you new schools of magic, but no way to learn them and no O.C.C. info. Rune items you can't find, etc. Also gives some setting info such as Currency and a few other gems like that. I think it's great, but more flavor and something to build/expand upon than a use as is (to me). Probably not something I'd recommend fresh out, but an early addition later. If someone is going TO the library, then essential, of course.

Northern Hinterlands: Region specific, but good book. More designed as a lead-in for the Land of the Damned though. Lots of optional O.C.C. such as Blacksmith and Artisan. Also has the Barbarians, which some people really like. Your mileage may very upon personal tastes.

Land of the Damned 1&2: Good books, but not really my type of thing. I don't use them, and actually avoid them (primarily because some of the races for it are super munchy, and after it first came out you see almost everyone trying to make one of these super ultra rare races that you never find outside this specific region, which ultimately ticked me off). High level stuff. If you're running a high powered campaign, sure. Otherwise I suggest avoiding until later. Even if you find the books interesting, not very useful for someone starting out and region specific more designed for epic level games.

Anyways, that's just a quick rundown from my point of view. I hope that helps. Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day. Farewell and safe journeys to all.

Now I just realized that post seems kind of old, so it doesn't include Mysteries of Magic or Bizantium. I'll add them now ...

Bizantium and the Northern Islands: Region specific, again. This will cover far more information on Bizantium than the High Seas book (above), and great if you want sea adventures. There's a few new O.C.C., a few new skills, and even a new type of enemy for the area.

Mysteries of Magic: I've never read much of this book myself, as my players have always avoided magic like the plague (not sure why). There are some mixed feelings on this book (from what I've seen), in part because it was meant as a series of books and the others never came out. The book does introduced new spells and various new information on magic in general. There are a few new O.C.C. (and O.C.C. variants), but can't say I've ever heard much good about them or the skills. If you want to expand on magic in general, this can be a useful addition, even for a Rifts setting. However, unless you love magic and want all the information you can have on it, this probably isn't a high priority book. From what I've seen, it tends to be often forgotten.

Hope that helps. Farewell and safe journeys for now.
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Glistam »

You can find good maps that fans have made of the Northern Wilderness/Wolfen Empire, Kiridin, The Land of the Damned, Timiro, Bizantium, and an entire world map. Some quick searches should pull them up.
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

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Glistam wrote:You can find good maps that fans have made of the Northern Wilderness/Wolfen Empire, Kiridin, The Land of the Damned, Timiro, Bizantium, and an entire world map. Some quick searches should pull them up.

Not to beat my own drum or anything, but you can find many of those maps in my signature below.

Also, welcome to the boards!
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Razorwing »

Prysus wrote:
Mysteries of Magic: I've never read much of this book myself, as my players have always avoided magic like the plague (not sure why).


The most likely reason is that many players view magic in Palladium as weak. It takes too long to cast even low level spells... and often an incredibly long time to recover spent PPE. There are a few ways to remedy this with optional and home rules (some of which I use in the games I play and run). The same is often true of Psychics, though to a lesser degree.

It really depends on how much magic you want in your games. I like using the PPE channeling rules from the Rifter for casting, and a similar home brew rule for PPE/ISP recovery (where the amount one recovers per hour of rest/meditation increases with the character's level). I also use the spellbook rules from another issue of the Rifter... which also allows players to potentially gain spells when the capture or kill a rogue mage (though they have to take care of their own books too). This has made magic a more attractive option for many of my players... especially when they see how I use these factors with my own characters (and NPCs).

All this said, magic isn't for everyone... and some people will never see the potential of magic no matter what you show them.
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Burren
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Burren »

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks to everyone for the responses!

Do most of you play within the world detailed in the PF books (from what I can glean from posts and other content it appears to be quite expansive...I can't wait to dig into some of this material) or do you use the system for your own created worlds?

Cheers!
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Burren
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Burren »

Thanks for the responses, everyone. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Cheers!
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by mirithol »

One of the nice aspects about the world is you can adventure in the kind of environment you're interested in. I like the North and the Sea of Despair so Adventures in the High Seas, Bizantium and the Northern Islands(newest), and the Northern Hinterlands will get you done. Also, the Library of Bletherad is a great resource.
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by Burren »

mirithol wrote:One of the nice aspects about the world is you can adventure in the kind of environment you're interested in. I like the North and the Sea of Despair so Adventures in the High Seas, Bizantium and the Northern Islands(newest), and the Northern Hinterlands will get you done. Also, the Library of Bletherad is a great resource.


I've heard this about Palladium Fantasy and was one of the reasons I wanted to check it out. My Christmas Surprise Package is on the way so I can't wait to see what's in it. :D
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

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Hotrod wrote:
Glistam wrote:You can find good maps that fans have made of the Northern Wilderness/Wolfen Empire, Kiridin, The Land of the Damned, Timiro, Bizantium, and an entire world map. Some quick searches should pull them up.

Not to beat my own drum or anything, but you can find many of those maps in my signature below.

Also, welcome to the boards!


You go ahead and beat those drums...
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Re: Venturing into the wilds of Palladium Fantasy

Unread post by zyanitevp »

Hotrod wrote:
Glistam wrote:You can find good maps that fans have made of the Northern Wilderness/Wolfen Empire, Kiridin, The Land of the Damned, Timiro, Bizantium, and an entire world map. Some quick searches should pull them up.

Not to beat my own drum or anything, but you can find many of those maps in my signature below.

Also, welcome to the boards!

As someone that has paid for some of these map creations, beat loudly!
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Best 2 places to start are Timiro (Old Ones sourcebook) and Eastern Territories.
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