Warning! the Rifter® Number 54 Your Guide To
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Warning! Violence and the Supernatural The fictional worlds of Palladium Books® are violent, deadly and filled with supernatural monsters. Other-dimensional beings, often referred to as “demons,” torment, stalk and prey on humans. Other alien life forms, monsters, gods and demigods, as well as magic, insanity, and war are all elements in these books. Some parents may find the violence, magic and supernatural elements of the games inappropriate for young readers/players. We suggest parental discretion. Please note that none of us at Palladium Books® condone or encourage the occult, the practice of magic, the use of drugs, or violence. Sample file The Rifter® Number 54 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 First Printing – April 2011 Copyright 2011 Palladium Books® Inc. All rights reserved, world wide, under the Universal Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from the publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews. All incidents, situations, institutions, governments and people are fictional and any similarity, without satiric intent, of characters or persons living or dead, is strictly coincidental. Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, RECON®, Nightbane®, Phase World®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Splicers®, and Megaverse® are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. The slogan “A Megaverse of adventure – limited only by your imagination,” and titles and names such as Chaos Earth, Dead Reign, Dyval, Elf-Dwarf War, Warpath: Urban Jungle, Heroes of the Megaverse, Dimensional Outbreak, Armageddon Unlimited, Wormwood, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, Hammer of the Forge, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, HU2, NEMA, MercTown, Merc Ops, Tome Grotesque, Beyond Arcanum, Naruni, Mechanoid Space, Dinosaur Swamp, Arzno, Lazlo, Victor Lazlo, Lazlo Agency, Lazlo Society, Heroes Unlimited, Powers Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Aliens Unlimited, Mutant Underground, The Nursery, Hardware Unlimited, Gadgets Unlimited, The Three Galaxies, Void Runners, Gramercy Island, Skraypers, Atorian Empire, Land of the Damned, The Cita- del, The Palladium of Desires, Wolfen Wars, Wolfen, Wulfen, Cosmo-Knight, Cyber-Knight, Gargoyle Empire, Free Quebec, Xiticix, Xiticix Invasion, Fadetown, Siege on Tolkeen, Psyscape, Dweomer, ARCHIE-3, Morphus, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tarn, Emperor Prosek, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Splynn, Mega-Damage, Mega-Hero, Megaversal, Skelebot, SAMAS, Glitter Boy, Dog Boy, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Bio-Wizardry, Psi-Stalker, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, and other names, titles, slogans, and the likenesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and PalladiumSample Books Inc. file Palladium Online www.palladiumbooks.com – Also visit us at Facebook.com/Palladium Books The Rifter® #54 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 39074 Webb Court, Westland, MI 48185. Printed in the USA. 2 Palladium Books® Presents: #54 Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse® Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Editor: Alex Marciniszyn Contributing Writers: Interior Artists: James M.G. Cannon bradshaw Aaron Corley Kent Burles Jeremy M. Hutchins Mark Dudley Corey Livermore Nicholas Hendriks Matthew Olfson Joseph Lawn Kevin Siembieda Allen Manning Brian Manning Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Michael Mumah Apollo Okamura Cover Illustration: Michael Leonard Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt Typesetting & Layout: Wayne Smith Art Direction: Kevin Siembieda Based on the RPG rules, characters, concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda. SpecialSample Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists – and a special welcome fileon board to the artists and writers making their debut this issue. Our apologies to anybody who may have gotten accidentally left out or their name misspelled. – Kevin Siembieda, 2011 3 Contents – The Rifter® #54 – April, 2011 Page 6 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda Page 21 – Desh’coda Kevin talks about what has been going on at Palladium Books, Page 22 – Kuamziri upcoming new releases, the new look for the Palladium website Page 23 – Qung (coming soon), Palladium attending Gen Con Indy 2011 and Page 25 – Shell Monsters more. Page 26 – Shimmerlings Wayne had so much good stuff to squeeze into this issue, we Page 27 – Thigmonites did without the usual Page Six art. Page 28 – Varanoie Artwork by bradshaw and Joseph Lawn. Page 6 – News There is a lot going on behind the scenes at Palladium Books. Page 30 – Dark Day Chronicles, Volume Two The News section talks about some of these things, like the new – A Short Story for Nightbane® Palladium website (should go live in April some time), doing more on Facebook and other social media, getting out a pile of Jeremy Hutchins is back with a new story of angels, terror, new releases, and more. self-discovery and adventure in the world of the Nightbane. It is One of the things we’re excited about is Palladium attending a dynamic story that should give you ideas for your own Night- Gen Con Indy, August 4-7, 2011. It will have been three years bane® campaign. since we last had a booth at Gen Con and we’re looking forward Artwork by Mark Dudley. to being there. We hope to see a lot of you come by and say hello. This issue also bids a fond farewell to the long running Ham- Page 37 – Dawn of a New Era, Part Two mer of the Forge™, fiction by James M.G. Cannon. – Optional source material for Heroes Unlimited™ Page 8 – Coming Attractions The conclusion of Corey Livermore’s optional Heroes Un- limited™ setting in which the of existence super-beings and With all the reprints and new releases planned, the Coming aliens has recently been revealed to the human population. World Attractions are as exciting as the News. Check out the 2011 Re- governments scramble to make people feel safe by imposing a lease Schedule through Summer. Read about all the books back law that requires super-beings and aliens to “register.” in print, including Aliens Unlimited™, Rifts® Mercenaries, In this adventure setting, your heroes are framed for an attack Rifts® Black Vault, Rifts® Dark Conversions, Rifts® Game on a space shuttle. They must prove their innocence by uncover- Master Guide, Rifts® China One, Rifts® Book of Magic, ing a conspiracy, finding the real culprit and bringing him to jus- Rifts® Canada, Palladium Fantasy RPG® and many others. tice. If only it were that easy. Many maps and a new super-villain As for new titles, Armageddon Unlimited™ is available and ideas for your gaming pleasure. now, Rifts® Dimension Book 15: Thundercloud Galaxy™® Artwork by Michael Mumah. is out later this month (April), Rifts® World Book One: Vam- pire Kingdoms™ Expanded & Updated, the all new Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook, Rifts® Megaverse in Flames™, Dead Page 50 – New Chillicothe Reign™ Sourcebook Three, Rifts® Lemuria, and Robotech® – Optional source material for Rifts® New Generation Sourcebook, among others, are all coming your way from now through Summer. Matthew Olfson presents his imagining on how a Coalition fortress city is built and operates. It also describes many notable The popular Rifts® Baseball Cap is also back in stock. places with in the city, defenses, and notable characters, as well as consumer electronics galore, and other specialized tech gear. ™ Page 16 – A Megaversal Menagerie Page 52 – Fort Canon – Optional source material for Palladium Fantasy Page 53 – City Walls and Defenses RPG®, Rifts® and other settings. Page 55 – ADC’n’C Building Page 57 – Factory Level Aaron Corley presents a zoological menagerie of strange be- ings, monsters and a couple animals you can drop into your cam- Page 60 – Crimson Field paigns to shake things up. Page 61 – Riley Station Page 16 – Pulse Dogs Page 62 – The M&M Fusion Wing Page 17Sample – Shadow Swine Page 64 – The Tin Rapture file Page 18 – Sentient Beings start Page 65 – Tech-tonic Electronics Page 18 – Aztlanolagians Page 69 – Pyre-Stone Funeral Services Page 19 – Bruskidane Page 69 – CSMT-23, Coalition Television Page 20 – Crypt Guardians Page 70 – NC Viceroy Company 4 Page 71 – City Hall, Cold Storage & Fire Station Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Page 72 – Notable People Please note that most of the material presented in The Rifter® Page 77 – New Chillicothe ‘Burbs is “unofficial” or “optional” rules and source material. Page 84 – People of Note in the ‘Burbs They are alternative ideas, homespun adventures and material Artwork by Kent Burles and Allen and Brian Manning. mostly created by fellow gamers and fans like you, the reader. Things one can elect to include in one’s own campaign or simply Page 91 – The Hammer of the Forge™ enjoy reading about. They are not “official” to the main games or – “Swan Song” world settings. As for optional tables and adventures, if they sound cool or Chapter 54: Swan Song, is the final chapter in the Hammer of fun, use them. If they sound funky, too high-powered or inap- the Forge story-line. It is an epic tale that has run for thirteen and propriate for your game, modify them or ignore them completely. a half years, starting with issue one. We thank the intrepid James All the material in The Rifter® has been included for two M.G. Cannon for the wonderful ride he’s taken us on these many reasons: One, because we thought it was imaginative and fun, years. We hope he will continue to submit short stories and game and two, we thought it would stimulate your imagination with material to The Rifter® in the future. fun ideas and concepts that you can use (if you want to), or which Artwork by Apollo Okamura and Nicholas Hendriks.