Palladium Books® – Weekly Update – February 4, 2021

One game system – every genre – countless worlds – endless adventure

By Kevin Siembieda

I want to thank you for your valuable feedback and suggestions. In addition to responses to our online polls, we have gotten some very good suggestions via the Help Desk and Surprise Package comments. A few gamers even sent letters in the mail. They are all appreciated and usually very helpful.

Several books are moving forward and they are all pretty epic. In addition, we have a surprise or two we will be springing on you very soon. Secret projects that were originally planned as surprises for the rescheduled 2021 Palladium Open House (now April 21-24, 2022), but hey, it is still Palladium Books’ 40th Anniversary and Rifts’ 30th, so we need to do something special. And we will. I hope you will dig them. That’s all I am saying at the moment.

Rifts® Duty’s Edge, our latest novel, is stirring up a lot of interest. It is available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com now and will ship as a physical book from Palladium around February 15 – available for ordering now. Our other novels are also available as PDF and physical books. Details for the PDF are in the block entitled New on DriveThruRPG. The physical book’s details are a bit further down in this Update.

A quartet of popular titles are back in stock: Villains Unlimited™ – Rifts® Black Market™ – Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans™ – Rifts® Xiticix Invasion™ – are back in stock and available now. See details below.

If you backed the Playmats by Red Duke Games Kickstarter, you have until Sunday to let them know which mats you want, before it closes. You might also want to reach out to friends to see if they would like you to add a few for them. More details follow.

If your store is having trouble ordering Palladium titles from their Distributor, tell them they can buy direct from Palladium Books. They can get our Retailer Terms by contacting Palladium via the Help Desk or by telephone (734-721-2903). We just got an order from a new store thanks to one of you! Please keep spreading the word. Thank you.

Alex has added a dozen or so one-of-a-kind Rifts® negatives to my Ebay store and we plan to add many more over the next few weeks. Maybe some original art, too

There’s a lot of excitement at Palladium Books as new book titles move forward, but for this Update I am going to focus on the immediate and the time sensitive stuff.

Palladium Mutants & Ninjas Bundle of Holding – offer ENDS in 11 days

– Act quick to get $176.50 worth of PDF books for just over $20 (the threshold price at the time this is being written)

As I stated in our Monday Mini-Update, if you want to see more Bundles of Holding featuring Palladium titles, please support the Palladium Mutants and Ninjas™ Bundle. Besides, I think it is one of the most fun and versatile Bundles ever offered. It is always a blast rolling up your mutant animal characters. Then you can use your intelligent, humanoid, mutant animal character(s) in almost any setting. As superheroes or mutant heroes on the run a la the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® or X-Men style Heroes Unlimited™ stories, or as D-Bee heroes in Rifts® and Chaos Earth®, or as monsters (or mutants or even Nightbane heroes) in Nightbane® and Beyond the Supernatural™, or as alien people in Phase World®, Aliens Unlimited®, Robotech®, The Mechanoids®, or even as forgotten people or archaic dying races in Palladium Fantasy® especially in the Land of the Damned, the Yin-Sloth Jungles, and other remote places. Youngsters relate to mutant animal heroes, so they make great characters to introduce role-playing games to kids. Play these unlikely heroes serious or silly, but any way you play them, they are unique and fun.

The Palladium Mutants and Ninjas Bundle gets you everything that exists for After the Bomb and Ninjas & Superspies – $176 worth of PDFs for just over $20. Remember, the sooner you buy in on a bundle, the bigger the savings, because the price rises as the number of purchasers grows. Note: 10% of the proceeds goes to a worthy charity. Complete details below and at the Bundle of Holding page. Please continue to spread the word.

The Palladium Mutants and Ninjas Bundle of Holding presents the After the Bomb® and Ninjas & Superspies™ game lines from Palladium Books. Designed by the late Erick Wujcik (Amber Diceless Roleplaying, TMNT & Other Strangeness RPG and more), these 1980s mutant and ninja RPGs and supplements remain some of the finest books Palladium has published. This new offer gathers Ninjas and its standout companion Mystic China™, along with the entire After the Bomb® product line, for a bargain price.

The Bundle of Holding provides each ebook complete in PDF (Portable Document Format). Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these books have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and customers are entitled to move them freely among all their devices.

Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this offer's designated charity, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Center provides services, resources, and technical assistance to child victims, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

The total retail value of the titles in this offer is $176.50 US dollars. Customers who pay just $7.95 get ALL 9 titles in the Starter Collection (retail value $78) as DRM-free PDF ebooks, including the complete Ninjas & Superspies Revised rule book of martial arts and espionage action (retail price $10.50); both the After the Bomb 1E (1986) sourcebook and After the Bomb 2E (2001) rule book (total retail $16.50), which depict a post-holocaust Earth ruled by intelligent animals; the road-warrior rules expansion and location sourcebook Road Hogs (retail $5); and five issues (#3-7) of Palladium's in-house magazine, The Rifter®, with Ninjas articles and scenarios.

IMPORTANT: Those who pay more than the threshold (average) price, which, at the time I write this is just over $20, also get the starter set PLUS the entire Bonus Collection with 13 more titles worth an additional $98.50.

The After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks present nearly 200 mutant animals and the rules to turn any animal from sparrow, house cat or pet dog to eagle, lion or rhinoceros into an intelligent mutant animal. Plus, there is a Planet of the Apes style post-apocalypse world setting to consider, complete with villains, giant mutant insects, weapons, vehicles and gear as a setting or play them in a comic book setting like the beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®.

Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG offers 40+ unique martial arts, plus spies, gadgets, and more. Mystic China presents martial and mystical powers, magic, immortals, and demons. Both are wonderful settings – as is Heroes Unlimited™ – for intelligent, humanoid, mutant animal characters that fit nicely into all sorts of heroic settings.

BACK in Stock: Villains Unlimited^™ – Rifts^® Black Market^™ – Rifts^® Secrets of the Atlanteans^™ – Rifts^® Xiticix Invasion^™ – available now

The holiday season and Surprise Package offer extended into January depleted some of our inventory of fan favorite titles. Well, they are back in stock. A few other titles are running low, but if they become temporarily out of stock, it will be for only 1-3 weeks. The following books are back in stock and available now:

BACK IN STOCK: Villains Unlimited^™ for the Heroes Unlimited^™ RPG

It is the reference book that never gets old – scores of superhuman villains, a secret organization that supplies villains and criminals, another that hunts superhumans, plus rules and tables for creating your own super-organizations, Game Master playing tips, and more. All of it provides Game Masters with bad guys and ideas for adventure, because each description presents the villain’s origin, motivation and goals. Just drop ‘em into your campaign and watch the super abilities fly. That’s why Villains Unlimited™ has been a fan favorite for years.

• 80+ villains completely statted out.
• A few villain teams and organizations and their evil agendas.
• S.C.R.E.T. stands for Superbeing Control Retrieval and Elimination Teams. Are they hunting your heroes?
• Fabricators Inc. is an international arms dealer.
• Magic Tattoos, weapons, cyborgs, madmen and more.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda and Kevin Long. Art by Kevin Long.
• 224 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 501 – available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Black Market^™

This is one of my favorite Rifts® titles, so I am delighted to see droves of Rifts® fans discovering it. Talk about a toy box and resource for adventurers, mercenaries, criminals and most any character.

• Black Market structure and operations.
• The most powerful Black Market factions.
• 10 Black Market O.C.C.s and their special abilities.
• Black Market Techno-Wizard devices and magic.
• 29 weapons, plus vehicles, power armor, and robots, including the TW Ironmage Glitter Boy! Traveling Show creation tables, and more.
• An awesome resource for players and G.M.s alike.
• Written by Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Clements, and Carmen Bellaire.
• 192 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No. 886 – available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Secrets of the Atlanteans^™

Masters of dimensional travel and the fabled Tattoo Magic, True Atlanteans have become renowned as vampire slayers and heroic Champions of Light. But there is also a festering darkness from within the Atlantean Clans. A darkness that could destroy them all. Learn about Atlantean civilization, the many clans, where they are found across the Megaverse, why they hide, and the secrets of the Stone Pyramids. Also discover the power of Shadow Magic, the treachery of the Sunaj Illuminati, and much more.

• 60+ Magic Tattoos.
• 60+ Shadow Magic spells.
• 50+ new Crystal Magic spells and the Crystal Mage O.C.C.
• Secrets of the Stone Pyramids, described and mapped.
• Stone Master and Undead Slayer, revisited.
• Sunaj Shadow Mage and Shadow Assassin O.C.C.s.
• The dark history, shame, and secrets of True Atlanteans.
• Learn more about the famous Atlantean Tattooed Warriors, Undead Slayers, Stone Masters and other Atlantean heroes.
• Tremble at the terrible secrets of the Aerihman and their plans for inter-dimensional domination.
• Who are the Sunaj and why do they hunt True Atlanteans?
• Valuable source material and adventure ideas galore.
• Written by Carl Gleba.
• 192 pages – $26.99 retail – Cat. No 890 – available now.

BACK IN STOCK: Rifts^® Xiticix Invasion^™

Xiticix Hive society is more varied, organized and deadly than you might imagine. Like a beehive, there are all types of Xiticix, each with a special job from caring for eggs and larvae to various hunters and warriors to the queen herself. Find out about these dangerous insectoids and their most hated enemy, Wild Psi-Stalkers, and more.

• 9 types of Xiticix.
• The Hivelands and Hive structure, mapped.
• Xiticix Weapons and abilities.
• Wild Psi-Stalkers and their tribes.
• 15+ Non-Player Characters.
• Lazlo’s Xiticix War, CS operations in the Hivelands, Fort Barron, Fort Perrion, adventures, maps, and more.
• Written by Breaux and Siembieda.
• 160 pages – $22.99 retail – Cat. No. 838 – available now.

Playmats by Red Duke Games Kickstarter closes Sunday, February 7, 2021

So many of you purchased Palladium playmats in the Playmats by Red Duke Games Kickstarter, RDG asked us to tell you Backer Orders CLOSE Sunday, February 7, 2021, so you only have 3 days left to make your playmat selections and any add-ons. If you know someone who was a backer, there is still time for them to add on any playmats you might want.

What? You missed this limited Kickstarter offer? It is our understanding that RDG may do another one in a few months offering a range of new playmats. And they have invited Palladium to participate again. We are kicking around ideas for new playmats now.

NEW! Duty’s Edge – Rifts^® Novel – ships February 15

There has been a lot of excitement and pre-orders for Rifts® Duty’s Edge. Please keep the orders coming. All the Rifts® novels are selling well. In fact, I had to send Hammer of the Forge Volume One: The Cosmo-Knight in for a short printing before existing inventory runs out (still available now).

Rifts® Duty’s Edge is the story of a lone survivor of a New German Republic Special Forces operation who struggles to complete the mission on his own. A mission to destroy wicked monsters and cut off a vital line of support to the Gargoyle Empire. A mission that could save many lives. Of course, it is a journey that takes many twists and turns as one determined individual hopes to beat impossible odds. Set in the Middle East.

• A stand-alone Rifts® novel complete in itself.
• 5 x 8 inch paperback, same size as the Hammer of the Forge novels.
• Written by Will Erwin.
• 236 pages, $12.99 retail for the physical book. Cat. No. 308 – available now as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com – the physical novel ships February 15.

Other Rifts^® Novels available on DriveThruRPG

• Rifts® Sonic Boom™. Follow the exploits of a CS platoon sworn to protect humankind from all threats, be they aliens, dragons, masters of magic or fellow humans out for themselves.
• Rifts® Deception’s Web™, the second novel in this trilogy, reveals a conspiracy within the Coalition military that could spell disaster for our protagonists.
• Rifts® Treacherous Awakenings™ is the pulse-pounding conclusion of the third novel in this epic trilogy by Adam Chilson.
• Rifts Anthology: Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™. Rifts® short stories by 11 authors including Kevin Siembieda, Carl Gleba, Mark Oberle, Braden Campbell, Taylor White, Jason Richards, and others.
• Rifts® Machinations of Doom™ Graphic Novel & Sourcebook. The comic is by acclaimed Eisner Award winning artist Ramon K. Perez, source material by Siembieda and Perez.
• Rifts® Path of the Storm was a Rifts® movie script written on spec.
• Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™, Volume One: The Cosmo-Knight. The adventures of Caleb Vulcan, newly minted Knight of the Cosmic Forge.
• Rifts® Hammer of the Forge™, Volume Two: The Reckoning. The epic conclusion of the Hammer of the Forge story.

UPDATE: Shipping & Deliveries

We believe it is safe to use Media Mail, once again. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is getting caught up with its backlog of packages and beginning to resume a more normal schedule of delivery. However, that may vary depending upon where you live and it may still take twice as long for your Media Mail and other USPS mail to reach you. Still, this is a vast improvement from the 4-8 weeks it has been taking. Likewise, those of you who ordered via Media Mail in December and January should be getting your packages any day now. If you do not receive it in another week, please reach out to Palladium so we can do a trace on your package. Note: When you want fast, easy to track, packages automatically insured for $100.00 we recommend UPS Ground. It is more expensive but arrives to most places in the contiguous United States within 2-5 days. Use US mail to ship outside the country, Alaska, Hawaii, and the territory of Puerto Rico.

I spoke with a very nice customer on Friday. He had placed an order around December 26th. It shipped a day or two later and he had not gotten it yet. His status was ORDER PENDING, so he called to inquire. We traced it and found USPS had tried to deliver it the day before. Yes, 4 weeks after the order left Palladium’s warehouse, but it had finally arrived. Ironically, he had not checked his mail that day and later happily reported that he was able to retrieve his package from the local post office. Another one of many happy stories about orders and Surprise Packages arriving weeks late but arriving safe and sound.

Note: Please do NOT wait more than six weeks to reach out to Palladium. After a certain point in time the shipping service cannot trace a delivery. When that happens they can do nothing about packages in question and you may out of luck.

UPDATE: Rifts^® CS Manhunters

I remain hot as hell as I work to retool and finish this fun book. I think it is pretty darn great, with 50 useful new psionic abilities and CS Manhunter O.C.C.s that are truly superspies and assassins. Each one makes unique and intriguing player characters or dangerous NPC villains. Rifts® CS Manhunters also reveals secrets about Dog Boys and Kill Hounds, other CS psychics, Psi-Ops, and the role many play in the Minion War™, as well as revisiting the Seven Dangers Prophecy (first introduced in Rifts® Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids®), some fun gadgets and implants, and more. As good as CS Manhunters was, I had been struggling with aspects of it. When I finally made a breakthrough on that front everything fell into place and it is all coming together beautifully. Source material that should give both players and Game Masters plenty to work with. All of it building toward something epic.

As for the question of who watches the watchmen? Meaning the Coalition military and its elite. The answer is, the CS Manhunters. A secret division under the auspices of Psi-Battalion. Super-patriots, spies and assassins all rolled into one. Men and women who not only hunt the most dangerous spies, fugitives, and enemies of the Coalition States, but also protect the Emperor and hunt down traitors within the Coalition States. An elite force of expert manhunters and cold-blooded killing machines who use psionic abilities as part of their arsenal, follow orders without question, and kill without hesitation.

• New Coalition Psychic O.C.C.s.
• 50+ new psionic abilities and revisits of some favorites.
• CS Manhunter Divner and Precog.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Interrogator and Psi-Enforcer.
• CS Manhunter Bursters and Zappers.
• CS Manhunter Psi-Healers and CS Slayers.
• CS Manhunter Killhound and Dog Boy O.C.C.s.
• CS Manhunter Mind Melters, the deadliest of them all.
• CS Manhunter squads and special operations.
• Insight about Coalition psychics and secretive Psi-Ops.
• The impact of the demon plagues unleashed by the Minion War.
• Player Characters, NPCS, background info, adventure ideas, and more.
• 96-128 pages – $17.99 retail – Cat. No. 894 – In production and nearing completion.

UPDATE: Creature Feature^™, a Beyond the Supernatural^™ sourcebook

This is going to be another fun adventure sourcebook. The manuscript will go into editing and rewrites as soon as I finish CS Manhunters and most of the artwork is done. Though I may add a few illustrations and already have artists lined up. Creature Feature™ builds on material that has appeared in various issues of The Rifter® but there is a ton of new material and information useful to both Game Masters and players.

• A gallery of supernatural creatures. Some new. Some familiar, updated and expanded. All terrifying.
• Rules clarifications and errata.
• Game Master source material and advice on rules, psychic abilities, proximity and threat levels, I.S.P. multipliers, and more.
• Advice about running modern horror RPGs and using supernatural creatures in your games.
• Lots of adventure ideas, including an updated and expanded full adventure, “The Squatter.”
• New background and setting information for the BTS setting and a few surprises.
• Written by Steven Dawes, Kevin Siembieda, and others.
• Art by Steven Cummings, Nick Bradshaw and others.
• 160-192 pages – $22.99 or $26.99 depending on final size – Cat. No. 704.

UPDATE: Rifts^® Titan Robotics^™

I am as excited for this sourcebook and high-tech toy box as you are, and it will be coming this spring. There are many new types of sleek Titan Robotics power armors, giant robots, vehicles, weapons, and gear. But as fun as these tech toys are, Rifts® Titan Robotics™ is much more. Revealing the secret operation of ARCHIE-3 and his program to monitor and manipulate the outside world. Learn about Archie’s androids that run Titan Robotics and his current schemes and plans for the future. All of which provides fodder for adventure.

We are also giving the book a new cover. More on it in a few weeks. Rifts® Titan Robotics™ is probably a 160 page World Book, but may expand to 192 pages.

• New Giant Robots.
• New Power Armor, equipment and accessories.
• 30+ power armors and robots, plus other equipment.
• New weapons, gear and vehicles.
• Titan Robotics Corporation and structure.
• Archie’s secret kingdom and plans for the future.
• New O.C.C.s and key Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
• Android executives, security and much more.
• Wellington Industries, campaign prompts and more.
• Art by Walton, Cummings, Atkins, and others.
• Written by Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda. Cover by Mike Majestic.
• 160-192 pages (tentative) – $22.99 retail (or $26.99) – Cat. No. 899.

UPDATE: Rifts^® Bestiary^™ Volume Two

The second big, “monster book” reference for Rifts® of what we anticipate to be three volumes in the series, more if we decide to make ghosts, spirits and Entities and/or Creatures of Magic part of the Bestiary series. Much like Volume One, Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume Two collects 70-100 monsters and animals plus 12-24 new beasts found across Rifts North America. The anticipated page count is 224-256 pages.

All volumes of the Rifts® Bestiary™ series are a great resource for players and Game Masters alike. Each description is updated, expanded, and highly detailed to present players with exotic and alien creatures as pets, guardians and riding animals, as well as slobbering monsters to battle and fierce beasts for Game Masters to throw at their players. Designed to offer adventure ideas, offers notes on young, adult, male and female creatures, and all provide plenty of ways to enhance your characters and spice up adventures. Each is accompanied by a map that shows at a glance where the beast can be encountered. Ah, but in the presence of Rifts and magic means any of the creatures may appear anywhere in the world, so be on your toes.

• Monsters and animals of Rifts North America organized into big, easy to use sourcebooks.
• Updated and expanded descriptions and information for each existing monster.
• Updated and uniform stat blocks.
• New exotic creatures – predators, exotic riding animals, beasts of burden, alien horrors, giant insects, and more.
• A map for every creature showing where it is found.
• Easily adapted to any Palladium setting – Palladium Fantasy®, Chaos Earth®, Splicers®, Phase World®, the Three Galaxies™, The Mechanoids®, Heroes Unlimited™/Aliens Unlimited™, and others.
• Basic S.D.C. stats included with each creature description.
• Fully illustrated, with art by Charles Walton II, Ramon Perez, Robert Atkins, and many others. Written by Kevin Siembieda.
• 256 pages each volume – $26.99 – Cat. No. 897 (Volume Two).

Fun products not to be overlooked

While you wait for new product, let me remind you about some existing products you should not forget about because you will love them.

Rifts^® Glitter Boy Miniature

“I’m over the top with the Glitter Boy mini ... You guys are awesome. Keep up the great work.” – Palladium Books fan C.C.

We are seeing a lot of rekindled interest in Palladium’s existing metal miniatures as well as new ones. More of both are coming your way. Both versions of the Glitter Boy, the SAMAS, Sky Cycle, CS troops, and Simvan Rider and Ostrosaurus are among my personal favorites. My question to you: Metal or resin?

Rifts^® Poker Card Decks

What can I say? Both of these poker decks are just gorgeous and fun. Plus useful for players of Rifts® for Savage Worlds.

“I’m coming back to Rifts® thanks to the Savage Worlds system.” – Rifts® fan K.T.

After the Bomb^® RPG series

I am especially pleased people seem to be rediscovering the fun and vast potential of the After the Bomb® RPG series created by Erick Wujcik and me. The After the Bomb® RPG was updated and expanded by Erick a few years before he died and remains pure fun. Create any intelligent, anthropomorphic animal you can imagine for any setting.

While its official setting is a post-apocalyptic, one where intelligent mutant animals have inherited the Earth, After the Bomb® can be used to create mutant, humanoid animals as superheroes and villains for Heroes Unlimited (to recapture the feel of the old TMNT RPG or something new), as D-Bees for Rifts®, and as aliens for Phase World® or any setting. Character creation is fun with more options than before, and the sourcebooks offer more animal mutants for your consideration. Mutants Down Under and Mutants in Orbit are two of my personal favorite sourcebooks in the series. Down Under because Erick outdid himself with fun and wow factor, and Orbit (written by me) for a number of reasons and the fact that it is for both Rifts® and After the Bomb®. And both have giant bugs. What can I say, I like bugs.

Add more spice, powers, and martial arts with material found in Ninjas & Superspies (40+ different martial arts and more) and Mystic China (martial and mystical powers, magic and demons).

“Favorites: TMNT, After the Bomb®, Ninjas & Superspies, and Heroes Unlimited. My After the Bomb® collection is complete ... I am running a long-term Transdimensional TMNT game and always need more places to visit, psychic powers, and martial arts.” – After the Bomb fan D.M.

“I have all the After the Bomb® stuff and love it.” – After the Bomb fan J.G.

Palladium Horror

Beyond the Supernatural (BTS) is modern horror done so plausibly that it could be the real world. Only it is much more mysterious, dangerous and fun. And soon to be expanded to its full potential. Creature Feature is just one baby step toward what is to follow with Beyond Arcanum and Tomes Grotesque.

Dead Reign® is a great introductory setting and rules for anyone new to role-playing or the Palladium game system. It captures all the classic zombie tropes while putting a spin on them at the same time.

Nightbane® is, if you can believe it, a much darker and sinister setting that combines horror with conspiracy and characters who possess superhuman and magical abilities. Only your heroes must turn into monsters themselves to use them. I often describe it as superhero-horror or the X-Files meets the X-Men. It is easily combined with Heroes Unlimited or Rifts®.

Products Coming Soon in 2021

I will get into more details about tentative product release dates and specific titles in upcoming Weekly Updates. As usual, I have a very ambitious and optimistic release schedule in mind, however, I’m going to try to hold off on announcing releases until books are nearing completion and should not be delayed. Below are my reasonable expectations for the first two quarters of 2021. Others may be added.

• Property of the Coalition States Mug is back – available now!
• NEW! Gamer Mug – available now and looks cool. It is sitting on my desk right now as I write this.
• Rifts® CS Manhunters – February release. I have been burning with ideas and writing about it all day long.
• BTS Creature Feature – February or March, you’ll enjoy it.
• Rifts® Miniatures – 2-4 new figures – February or March.
• Rifts® Titan Robotics – March or April.
• Rifts® Miniatures – 2-4 new figures – March or April.
• Rifts® Antarctica – May – got art being done for it now.
• Rifts® Bestiary Volume Two – Summer.
• Palladium Fantasy: Land of the Damned 3: The Bleakness – Summer.

Note: Just because a book is not listed does not mean it is off the schedule, it means I’m trying not to over-promise. We want to release a whole bunch of other titles you have been wanting for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Chaos Earth®, BTS and others. Plus there will be new stuff coming to DriveThruRPG. In fact, new items are already arriving! Take a look at the cool, new, Gamer Mug and the return of the Property of the Coalition States Mug, back due to popular demand. And I do mean demand. Both hold 16 ounces and are suitable for hot or cold beverages. Sounds like time to unleash your inner nerd and get one of these or one of the other 4 mugs. See details below and in the online store.

NEW! Gamer 16 Ounce Mug – available now

Whether you drink coffee, hot cocoa, soda-pop, or whatever your beverage of choice may be, this fun mug reminds you of your favorite pastime and that new possibilities exist with every roll of the dice.

The new, large, 16 ounce Gamer mug presents the word “Gamer” in a box with dice cascading down from above. The design appears on both sides of the mug. Created by Wayne Smith and Freddie Williams II (art directed by Kevin Siembieda). The mug has an orange interior to add a nice splash of color.

• A must for every proud gamer!
• Dice and the word “Gamer” highlighted in a box.
• Glossy black exterior with an orange interior.
• Art and words are located on both sides of the mug.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2596 – available now.

BACK IN STOCK! Property of the Coalition States 16 Ounce Mug – available now

Back due to popular demand! The iconic Property of the Coalition States and notorious CS Death’s Head insignia printed white on a glossy black, 16 ounce coffee mug, with a blood red interior for a splash of color. The design appears on both sides of the mug. Created by Wayne Smith and Kevin Long (art directed by Kevin Siembieda).

• The infamous words “Property of the Coalition States” and the notorious Death’s Head logo and lightning bolts (indicating CS special forces) in white.
• Glossy black exterior with a blood red interior color.
• Art and words are located on both sides of the mug.
• 16 ounce ceramic mug.
• Dishwasher and microwave safe.
• $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2588 – available now.

Other Mugs Available Now

Everyone loves these mugs. Isn’t it time you started your collection? I like to use them to as a secret code to reflect my mood to those around me. To my thinking the Gamer mug means I’m feeling playful. Rifts® Property of the Coalition States: I’m a soldier in the trenches and working hard. Dead Reign®: Back off or I will eat you alive. Fantasy Dragon: My imagination is on fire. Rifts Logo: Feeling the infinite possibilities. Rifts® Titan Robotics: I’m feeling mighty. Of course, they represent something else to each of you or just represent one of your favorite games, like a normal person.

• Rifts® Titan Robotics™ Mug – A dynamic Titan robot and the Rifts® logo. Art by Steven Cummings. White on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blue interior. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2595 – available now.
• Rifts® Logo Coffee Mug – The famous Rifts® logo in white on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blue interior. Logo by Kevin Long. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2587 – available now.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG® Dragon Mug – The famous red on black 3-headed hydra battling a knight from the iconic original Palladium Fantasy RPG cover. Art by Kevin Siembieda. Red on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with an attractive orange interior. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2589 – available now.
• Dead Reign® (Zombie Attack) Mug – A trio of hungry zombies and the Dead Reign® logo in white on a glossy black, 16 ounce ceramic mug with a blood red interior for a splash of color. Art by Steven Cummings. Dishwasher and microwave safe. $10.99 retail – Cat. No. 2594 – available now.

Rifts^® Ultimate Edition – Cat. No. 800HC – Available now

This big, 376 page role-playing game is everything you need to start playing Rifts®. Just add some dice, some players, and a heaping helping of imagination and you are ready to go.

If you have never played the rich, unpredictable, genre-melding Rifts® setting, you are missing epic adventure that never grows old, because anything is possible. No other RPG blends science fiction, fantasy, horror, and post-apocalyptic adventure with demons and aliens, robots and cyborgs, magic and the supernatural in such a plausible and dynamic way. A setting that lets you play any type and style of game you can imagine. With characters like Dragon Hatchlings, Cyber-Knights, Glitter Boys, Ley Line Walkers, Techno-Wizards, and Juicers that challenge the imagination. And those are just a tiny handful of the O.C.C.s you can play in Rifts®. Not to mention hundreds of different alien, supernatural, magical, and other beings available as player characters. All of it set on an Earth that is both familiar and as alien as a thousand different planets. So check it out, build your character, start a campaign, and watch your characters become legends.

• 30+ player characters to choose from; tech, magic, or psychic.
• Cyborgs, robot and power armor pilots, Scout, Assassin, and more.
• 140+ magic spells, plus Techno-Wizards, Shifters, and more.
• 90 psionic powers and psychic characters.
• Sourcebooks offer hundreds of different alien, supernatural beings, creatures of magic, and other beings, many available as player characters.
• There has never been another RPG quite like Rifts®.
• 376 page hardcover, some color – $41.99 retail – Cat. No. 800HC – available now.

NEW on DriveThruRPG.com – Rifts^® Duty’s Edge novel and Mutants & Ninjas Bundle of Holding.

Palladium Mutants & Ninjas Bundle of Holding: Act quick and you can get $176.50 worth of PDF books for just over $20 (the current threshold price as I write this). The Palladium Mutants and Ninjas Bundle of Holding presents the After the Bomb® and Ninjas & Superspies™ game lines from Palladium Books. Designed by the late Erick Wucjik (Amber Diceless Roleplaying), these 1980s mutant and ninja RPGs and supplements remain some of the finest books Palladium has published. This new offer gathers Ninjas and its standout companion Mystic China™, along with the entire After the Bomb® product line, for a bargain price.

The Bundle of Holding provides each ebook complete in PDF (Portable Document Format). Like all Bundle of Holding titles, these books have NO DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and customers are entitled to move them freely among all their devices.

Ten percent of each purchase (after gateway fees) goes to this offer's designated charity, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Center provides services, resources, and technical assistance to child victims, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

NEW! Duty’s Edge – A Rifts® Novel by Will Erwin. The lone surviving soldier from a New German Republic Special Forces operation struggles to complete the mission on his own. A mission to destroy wicked monsters and cut off a vital line of support to the Gargoyle Empire. It is a journey that takes many twists and turns as one determined individual hopes to beat impossible odds. A stand-alone Rifts® novel complete in itself. 236 pages, Cat. No. 308 – now available on DriveThruRPG.com – coming soon as a physical novel from Palladium Books.

COMING: Garden of the Gods for Palladium Fantasy RPG® in February. This fan favorite Fantasy sourcebook will be made available on DriveThru sometime mid-February.

In the meanwhile, please enjoy recent releases such as the two Hammer of the Forge novels: The Cosmo-Knight and The Reckoning (Phase World®, the Three Galaxies, and Cosmo-Knights), the Rifts® trilogy of novels: Sonic Boom, Deception’s Web, and Treacherous Awakenings, as well as the Rifts® Anthology: Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs (11 authors), Machinations of Doom (graphic novel by Ramon K. Perez), and Path of the Storm (a proposed Rifts® movie script) and 300+ other Palladium Books RPG Titles.

Also available: Free Garden of the Gods™ (Fantasy) and Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One Sneak Previews, and the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet: A Microsoft Excel-based character management system. Packed with features and data collected from every official Palladium Fantasy sourcebook to enable you to create Fantasy characters quickly (25 minutes!) and help you to update and manage them for years to come.

Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Three: Zombies, Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Two: Civilians and Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume One: Survivors. There are also paper miniatures for Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy® and Rifts®. A new, up-to-date, PDF Palladium Books Catalog. Nightbane® Dark Designs™ sourcebook with 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, 18 new Morphus Tables, all other Morphus Tables collected and more. Systems Failure™ RPG, a 160 page RPG that deals with alien invasion and a post-apocalypse setting that is fun and dynamic. Civilization is on the verge of collapse when the so-called "bugs" invade and turn humans into zombie-like slaves. Monsters, heroes and fun. A complete RPG and setting. Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two: 256 pages of technology and fun. 30+ power armors, 30+ body armors, 15 combat vehicles, 45 vehicles (hovercycles, etc.), 10 robot haulers, the Robodome and more. Bizantium and the Northern Islands™: the northernmost part of the Known World, the Cold Born, Necromancy ships made from dead sea serpents, 15 creatures, Random Sea Monster Generator, and more. Rifts® Northern Gun™ One. This fan favorite might be thought of as the big book of giant robots – an in-depth look at Northern Gun, 70+ weapons, 27 robots, NG O.C.C.s, key people and places, and much more. Mysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic™ with Wizards, their Apprentices, nearly 60 new magic spells and remember, magic and monsters in the Fantasy RPG are easily adapted to Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, HU2 and other settings. Wolfen Empire™ Fantasy sourcebook, the Great Northern Wilderness and Killer Winters, 12 Wolfen Tribes, Wolfen military and society, 15+ creatures, 5 full adventures, 101 adventure ideas, random encounter tables, notable people, places, plus FREE Sneak Previews of The Rifter® #80, The Rifter® #81, The Rifter® #82, and more on DriveThruRPG.com.

• Rifts® is a genre-bending setting that combines science fiction, fantasy, horror, post-apocalypse survival, magic, and endless possibilities for adventure. Imagine a near perfect world of advanced technology 100 years in the future. Then imagine that world crashing down overnight in an apocalyptic upheaval not seen since the formation of the planet. A Great Cataclysm caused by the explosive return of magic. Now fast forward 300 years into the future where magic, dragons, and mythic gods coexist with cyborgs, giant robots and super-science rediscovered from humanity's Golden Age as humans rise from a lengthy Dark Age. But they must contend with countless alien life forms, monsters, and supernatural horrors from beyond the Rifts.
• Rifts® core titles we would suggest: Rifts® Ultimate Edition, Rifts® Game Master Guide, Rifts® Book of Magic, Rifts® Adventure Guide, D-Bees of North America™, Rifts® World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign and Rifts® Sourcebook One. Note: The Rifts® RPG, 1st Edition and Rifts® Ultimate, 2nd Edition are both available.
• 80+ Rifts® supplements, most of them available as PDFs with more coming. Where to start? Wherever sounds fun.
• Rifts® Dimension Books™: Travel to alien worlds and dimensions via the Rifts for off-world adventure and intrigue.
• Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG and sourcebook series (all). Live through the Great Cataclysm and the Coming of the Rifts. Rifts® Chaos Earth® RPG, Creatures of Chaos™, Rise of Magic™, and Chaos Earth® Resurrection™ are all available.
• FREE Sneak Previews for Nightbane® Dark Designs™, Rifts® Secrets of the Atlanteans™, Rifts® CS Heroes of Humanity, and many other previews as well as free and low cost items that we make available. All of it adds to the growing list of Rifts and other Palladium RPG game titles available as PDF books, cards and support. A new title should be added every week or two, so keep watching for them.
• The Rifter® #1-84, ALL issues of The Rifter®. Each issue is a wealth of source material and ideas for 3-6 different Palladium game lines. Most are easily adapted to ANY Palladium game setting. Each issue a gem. 8,500 pages of source material and ideas for heroes, villains, monsters, magic, gear, and adventure.
• Splicers® RPG is like Iron Man meets Game of Thrones with elements of Terminator – except this army of Iron Men are clad in living body armor and wield living, organic weapons and devices. Created in 2004 by writer and game designer Carmen Bellaire, Splicers® was nominated for an Inquest Gamer Magazine Fan Awards Game of the Year, and has since developed a rabid fan base. Science fiction and horror where humans are forced to use genetically engineered, living weapons and organic war machines to battle an insane Artificial Intelligence and her robot legions. Unlike anything you have ever played before!
• Splicers®: I Am Legion™ Adventure Sourcebook: 6 new Great Houses, 4 new Host Armors, 6 new War Mounts, 19 new Bio-Weapons, 15 new killer machines, new Bio-Enhancements, Amalgam creation tables, Legion and a series of adventures that build into a small campaign, and more.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 1st Edition Rules and sourcebooks. A unique world of magic, monsters and heroes. Dozens of nonhuman player characters including Wolfen, Bearmen, Ogres, Orcs and more. 100,000 years of history.
• Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition Rules and many sourcebooks. The expanded world of high fantasy, magic, mystery and heroes of every variety. Includes the Mind Mage and psychic abilities, mages and spells, magic circles and symbols, men-at-arms, scoundrels and a wide range of inhuman player characters including Wolfen, Bearmen, Ogres, Orcs and many more. 100,000 years of history.
• Heroes Unlimited™ RPG first edition rule book and sourcebooks.
• Heroes Unlimited™ RPG Second Edition rule book and sourcebooks. Create any type of superhuman you can desire and bring comic book adventures to life.
• Dead Reign® RPG (Zombie Apocalypse). The dead have risen. It is the battle for survival in the zombie apocalypse, but this setting is much more than your typical zombie game. Play ordinary people or special characters better equipped to survive and hunt zombies. Many unusual types of zombies.
• Dead Reign® Sourcebooks: 6 sourcebooks from Civilization Gone™ to Hell Followed™ (the latter features stats for 23 disasters, masked lunatics, 11 new zombies, 7 apocalyptic character classes, and more) are available.
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 1st Edition Rules. Supernatural horror in the modern world. Play ordinary people, psychics, paranormal investigators or for something different: Victim Characters!
• Beyond the Supernatural™ RPG, 2nd Edition: The complete, revised core game, 14 character classes and 42 occupations for "ordinary people," 100+ psychic abilities, 16 monsters, the Lazlo Agency, world setting and rules.
• Nightbane® RPG and sourcebooks. An RPG setting we call superhero horror. Dark conspiracy, a secret, demon invasion starting with world leaders and law enforcement, and it is spreading. The player characters are the Nightbane®, reluctant superhumans who must turn into monsters themselves to unleash their powers and battle the evil that is clear only to them. A dark, sinister and challenging world of horror.
• After the Bomb® RPG and sourcebooks. Planet of the Apes meets the X-Men! Animal creations, powers and more. Create any type of intelligent mutant animal you can imagine as friend or foe.
• Ninjas & Superspies™ RPG and the Mystic China™ sourcebook. James Bond meets Enter the Dragon. 41 types of martial arts, ninjas, and super-spies with gadgets, gizmos and advanced weapons.
• The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy RPG is a long time, cult favorite with a fatalistic world-view of humans vs aliens with superior technology.
• The Palladium Weapon Series of real world weapons, armor and castles throughout history. Designed for use with ANY game system.
• 200+ Palladium titles in all, plus G.M. kits, paper miniatures and more.
• Heroes Unlimited™ Paper Miniatures – Two sets are now available!
• Palladium Fantasy RPG® Paper Miniatures – Volumes #1-6 are available now. More are coming in the weeks ahead.
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Men at Arms – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Coalition Dead Boys – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Adventurers – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Practitioners of Magic (new) – $2.99
• Rifts® Paper Miniatures: Extras (new) – $2.99
• And more to come in the weeks ahead.

Palladium Collectibles, Negatives, Artwork, other Collectibles and Toys are always available in Kevin’s Online Toy & Collectibles eBay Store along with other good things

My eBay store is one of the few places where you can find original artwork by Charles "Chuck" Walton, Kevin Long, and others, as well as one-of-a-kind negatives from classic Rifts® and other Palladium RPG books (they look awesome framed!), rare Palladium collector hardcovers, signed books, other Palladium memorabilia, toys from my personal collection and other collectibles. Check every couple of weeks because we often post new stuff or offer a new sale. There is a sale on negatives starting today, in fact.

Other one-of-a-kind original artwork available by me (Kevin Siembieda), Kevin Long, Charles Walton II (money goes to the artist), other artists, as well as collectible negatives, prints, limited edition hardcovers, proofreader copies, out of print items, Star Wars toys, Marvel toys and many other toys and collectibles from my personal collection. Alex and I will keep adding items as our busy schedules allow, but we have a lot of fun collectibles available now and coming soon. Hundreds of items. Take a look every weekend for new additions.

Available now: One-of-a-kind book negatives. Negatives were very popular items at the Palladium Open House and people went crazy over them at Gen Con – including actor Joe Manganiello who scooped up a pile of TMNT negatives, while Palladium's own Mark Oberle, Carmen Bellaire, Brandon Aten and a whole lot of Palladium gamers went for negatives from Rifts® New West, Lone Star and Free Quebec. Fun.

Negatives are unique and attractive, one-of-a-kind (on rare occasions two-of-a-kind if a page was replaced or a second edition was made) works of art that resemble woodcut art and are very dynamic conversation pieces. Before digital printing, pages of a book were laid out by hand on a board, and each page was photographed. The plastic film negatives were then "ganged" on a massive sheet of Mylar 16 pages per big sheet, and the printing plates were made from the negatives – everything white, printing black.

When our printer, McNaughton and Gunn, went completely digital, they asked if Palladium Books wanted the negs, otherwise they would be destroyed. Regrettably, I let a few dozen be destroyed, but the negatives of many books were sent to Palladium. They have sat in our warehouse for years until I started to offer them for sale. I have also started signing the negatives in silver and each comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Each negative comes on a white board inside a plastic magazine bag and looks fabulous framed! Fits in an 8x10 inch matt opening in a frame (each neg is roughly 8½ x 11 inches).

http://stores.ebay.com/kevinstoys-artandcollectibles

Closing Thoughts

We are feeling so positive about this year’s releases and Palladium’s future. As for the pandemic and politics ... I would say I am hopeful and guardedly optimistic. But that is a difficult task some days. I am sick and tired of wearing masks and all the protocols to keep everyone safe, but we do it, and I hope you do too. Heck, I’m so used to wearing the damn mask that I just realized I’m wearing one now, sitting in my office as I write this. Removing it now. Whenever any of us leaves our own office, we put on a mask. I also have my daily “wipe down” rituals in which I sanitize and disinfect doorknobs and work surfaces that any of us may have had contact with. It is tiresome and annoying, but it has helped to keep us safe and bug free, at least so far.

Funny, when I see or say the word “bug” it often reminds me of our stand-alone Systems Failure RPG. In it you fight invading alien referred to as “Bugs.” Hmm, some of you may find it cathartic to play Systems Failure to destroy “the Bugs” during the pandemic. Besides, it is a quick, fun game regardless. Then again, maybe not. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Bugs have devastated human civilization, but humanity is fighting back. The RPG is all you need to play and is available as a physical book from Palladium and PDF from DriveThru. Sorry for the shameless plug. My Closing Thoughts are a bit stream of consciousness today.

I find when I avoid the gloom and doom in the media and online it helps me stay focused on the things I have direct influence over. You know, like writing, designing, and publishing role-playing game products. The excitement of having some cool stuff nearing release helps keep me motivated to write more. We sure have some good stuff brewing too. Not just the books you know about, but some secret projects and a few little fun things you will learn about soon.

I just finished watching the Mandalorian and that has helped to keep me excited and inspired about my own creative projects. I think I’m watching The Boys next. Of course, with every episode of the Mandalorian I envision how good a Rifts® series would be.

Speaking of Rifts® and Hollywood, a number of you have been asking if there is any news about the Rifts® movie. I am sorry to say Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney have let the movie option expire a while back. That’s okay. Disney has a lot on its plate with the Star Wars and Marvel universes, so I don’t know if they would have given Rifts® the attention it deserves. Fear not, we have been busy shopping Rifts® and all our I.P.s to other Hollywood studios and a few video game companies. We’ve had a few nibbles, but no commitments yet. We get interest from various Hollywood types, but none who have gotten serious. In fact, we have seen interest in Rifts®, Splicers®, Nightbane®, After the Bomb®, Beyond the Supernatural, and Ninjas & Superspies over the years. For awhile a Splicers® live action TV series was looking really good. We even read and approved the script for the pilot episode and the series outline. The head writer, a talented lady, did an amazing job capturing Splicers® and wove a great story. We were stoked. Will it happen? It seems doubtful, but the developer has not given up on it yet, so fingers crossed. I never mentioned it because it takes a loooong time for stuff like this to come together and we do not want to get your hopes up only for nothing to happen. It is going on 7 or 8 years now, so it seems unlikely to see the light of day, but you never know.

None of this has dampened our spirits. Not Hollywood, not politics, not the pandemic and all the crap that comes with it. Like I said, we are focused on what we can create and release, and we have a wealth of ideas for books for years to come. Each one designed to push the envelope and blow your minds.

Enjoy our recent releases like the novels, the Lazlo Raw Preview, mugs, and sales like the Bundle of Holding. We have a whole lot more coming soon. I’m going to get back to it right now. Please stay healthy and happy as best you can.

- Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Friend

© 2021 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

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

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