Sample file Warning! Violence and the Supernatural The fictional Worlds of ® are violent, deadly and filled with supernatural monsters. Other dimensional beings, often referred to as "demons," torment, stalk and prey on hu­ mans. Other alien life forms, monsters, gods and demigods, as well as magic, insanity, and war are all elements in this book. Some parents may find the violence, magic and supernatural elements of the game 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 12 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 First Printing - October, 2000

Copyright 2000 Palladium Books Inc. &

All rights reserved, world wide, under the Universal Copy­ , HU2, Ninjas & Superspies, Hardware Un­ right Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced in limited, Aliens Unlimited, , BTS, Co­ part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission alition Wars, RiftsworksZ, , Century Station, from the publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews. Gramercy Island, Chaos Earth, Skraypers, Wormwood, Baalgor All incidents, situations, institutions, governments and people Wastelands, Mount Nimro, Eastern Territory, Library of are fictional and any similarity, without satiric intent, of charac­ Bletherad, Land of the Damned, Wolfen, Coalition Wars, Free ters or persons living or dead, is strictly coincidental. Quebec, Xiticix Invasion, Splyrm Dimensional Market, Hammer of The Forge, Siege On Tolkeen, Psyscape, Mechanoids Space, Palladium Books®, Rifts®, ®, RECON®, ARCHlE-3, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tam, Emperor ®, The Palladium Role-Playing Game®, The Prosek, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Mega-Damage, Skelebot, Mechanoids®, ®, After the Bomb®, SAMAS, Glitter Boy, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Phase World® and Megaverse® are registered trademarks Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Bio-Wizardry, Cyber-Knight, owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Psi-Stalker, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, 'Burbs, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Inc. Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, Spatial Mage, Mutant Underground, The Anvil Galaxy, and other names, titles and likenesses of ® is a registered trademark of Harmony Gold USA, characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palla­ Inc. dium Books Inc. Gen Con® is a registered trademark of . Knights of the Dinner Table™ is a trademark of Kenzer Co. Sampleand the creation of Jolly Blackburn.file Palladium On-Line www.palladiumbooks.com

The RifterTM #12 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180. Printed in the USA. 2 Palladium Books® Presents: THE #12

Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Supervising Coordinator & Typesetting: Maryann Siembieda Contributing Writers: Ismael Alvarez James M.G. Cannon Richard Jenkin Shawn Merrow John Courtenay Shera Christina Stiles Kevin Siembieda Rodney Stott Carl Syphrett Jon Thompson Knights of the Dinner Table: Jolly Blackburn Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Ramon Perez & Joachim Gmoser Interior Artists: Apollo Okamura Wayne Breaux Jr. Scott Johnson Tyler Walpole Keylining: Kevin Siembieda Freddie Williams II Michael Wilson Based on the RPG rules, characters, Sampleand other Palladium Madmen concepts and Megaverse® createdfile by Kevin Siembieda. Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards Credits Page Logo: NikJas Brandt

Special Thanks to all of our contributors. Our apologies to anybody who got accidentally left out or their name misspelled.

3 Contents The Rifter® #12 - October, 2000

Page6-Art fluke. Of course, with the ever increasing popularity of the A cool illustration of a full conversion cyborg that has sur­ comic book and success of Kenzer & Company (good work vived a devastating bombardment. The illustration is by up and guys), some day, Jolly may be too busy to continue to do the coming artist, Matt Henegar, from Portland, Oregon. This same strip for The Rifter®. With any luck, that'H be years and years gent did the art on page one too. away. Don't forget the KoOT comic books are available from Page 7 - From the Desk Kenzer & Company, 1935 S. Plum Grove Rd., Suite 194, Pala­ tine, IL, 60067. of Kevin Siembieda Rumblings from fans about late books and Coalition Wars™ being slotted in when several late books languish, has prompted Page 23 - Palladium Megaverse® Palladium's overworked publisher to address the issue again, Questions and Answers and try to explain (for the last time?) why books get delayed and This issue, Rodney Stott and Shawn Merrow focus on ques­ rescheduled. If nothing else, this little missive will give the tions concerning practitioners of magic as it applies to Rifts®, reader a peek behind the scenes and into the mind of Kevin Palladium Fantasy and our other RPGs. All really helpful ma­ Siembieda (but don't look too close, it's scary in there). By the terial endorsed by Kevin Siembieda. way, Palladium has been on time with 65% of its new releases Artwork on page 28 is by Scott Johnson, page 25 art is by this year. And we hope to continue to improve. Mike Wilson.

Page 8 - Palladium News (12 pt) Page 27 - Game Master and Player tips and A Rifts® CCG?! Can it be possible?! Well, not directly from advice for creating fun and interesting characters Palladium Books (we'll stick to role-playing), but this late Christina Stiles presents a number of cool ideas and sugges­ breaking "license" is looking like a done deal. Read all about it. tions for building colorful and dynamic characters with person­ Other news includes the fate of the Coalition Wars™ and a ality and history behind them. Gen Con® report. Artwork by Wayne Breaux Jr.

Page 10 - Coming Attractions Page 29 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG® The Heroes UnlimitecffM RPG Hardcover is available now (and on time!) and Gramercy IslandfM for HU2 will be out Into the Shadows soon! Jon Thompson presents an in-depth look at the professional If you want to know the when, where and what the next assassin in Palladium Fantasy. Includes the assassin's code, books in the Coalition WarsTM: Siege on Tolkeen series will types of assassins and their areas of expertise (along with appro­ be about. Here's the entire lowdown! Yeah, baby. priate bonuses), new assassin skills, new poisons, and a variety of gimmick weapons and magic items perfect for the trade. All source material is optional but sound and fun additions to any Page 15 - "Fantasy role-playing" fantasy campaign. Check it out! is our middle name Artwork by the impeccable Wayne Breaux Jr. Palladium Books' first big role-playing release is the ever-popular Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (now in its Page 40 - Systems Failure™ Second Edition). If you like Rifts® and our other games, you'll love Palladium Fantasy. And we have all kinds of new The Texas Lone Star Cavalry sourcebooks coming out for it, starting with The Eastern Terri­ Ismael Alverez offers optional source material, characters tory this fall (and followed by The Northern Hinterlands and and adventure ideas for the bug-invasion RPG, Systems Fail­ Land ofthe DamnedfM series). ure.™ Includes some new equipment. Artwork by Scott Johnson. Page 18 - 2000 X-Mas Surprise Package 'Tis the Sampleseason for Christmas cheer and Palladium's annual Page 48 - Heroes Unlimited,TM file 2nd Edition Christmas Grab-Bag/Surprise Package. How to get yours is aJl The Geiger Organization (and super squads); explained right here. Don't miss out on the fun and autographs. Optional characters, adventure ideas & source material Carl Syphrett presents The Geiger Organization - a dark and Page 21 - Knights of the Dinner Table™ secret operation involving superhumans and its own dangerous Jolly Blackburn and the KoOT gang are BACK and as funny agenda. Over 18 superbeings (good, misguided and evil), Living Dead Men, and Hook, Line and Sinker™ adventures. as ever. See, we told you KoOT's absence from last issue was a Artwork by Freddie Williams II. 4 Page 73 - Rifts® RPG Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Blueprint of a Dragon John Courtenay Shera offers an interesting bit of prose and Please note that most of the material presented in The ideas for adventure. Rifter® is "unofficial" or "optional" rules and source material. Artwork by newcomer Tyler Walpole. They are alternative ideas and things one can include in his campaign or enjoy reading. They are not "official" to the main games or world settings. As for optional tables and adventures, Page 79 - Rifts® RPG if they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky, too Phase World® source material high-powered or inappropriate for your game, modify them or ignore them completely. All the material in The Rifter® has Richard Jenkin presents Tyrell Industries for Phase World®. been included for two reasons: One, because we thOUght it was Including William Tyrell, Advanced Weapon Tech Division, imaginative and fun, and two, we thought it would stimulate and new weapons, spaceships, robots and gizmos. Butt-kickin' your imagination with fun stuff that you can use (if you want) or fun for all Phase World® fans. which might inspire you to create your own wonders. An impressive ton of artwork by Apollo Okamura.

Page 103 - Rifts® Phase World® Hammer of the Forge The next chapter in James M. G. Cannon's Phase WorkJTM story. Coming Next Issue ••• Artwork by Apollo Okamura. The Rifter™ #13 Page 111 - Rifts® Lone Star Comic Strip • The conclusion of the Rifts® Lone Star Urn ... where the heck is the final chapter in Ramon Perez's comic strip. Really! exciting Rifts® Comic Strip? This page ... urn ... explains things. Sorta. • Knights ofthe Dinner Table.® Sheesh. What's with these creative types anyway? • Material for The Palladium Fantasy RPG®. Siembieda's frequently late with his books, last issue there was M no KoDT, now Perez's Rifts® Comic Strip is A WOLl You'd • Material for Heroes UnlimitetP • think these guys are truly dedicated to their work and just refuse to crap-out something just to be on time. Yeah, yeah, we know • The next chapter of the Hammer ofthe the drill, "want to keep quality, blah, blah, blah." Forge™. Anyway, the extra long, pulse-pounding conclusion (part • Material for Rifts® seven) by Ramon Perez (Penciller, lnker, Letterer, and Writer) WILL appear in The Rifter® #12. Now do you guys see what • The latest news and developments at us Editors have to contend with: temperamental writers, artists, Palladium. and changing schedules from the printer, to name but a few. It's a tough job I've got. • Source material for the Palladium Megaverse®. • New contributors and fun. • So please join us. The Cover

The cover to The Rifter #12 is a gorgeous piece of artwork by Ramon Perez and painter Joachim Gmoser. It was specifi­ cally commissioned as the poster to commemorate Palladium's 20th anniversary! Thus, we thOUght it made the ideal cover for The Rifter #12 as it is the last issue of the year, depicts Palla­ dium's last 20 years of accomplishments in role-playing and launches our next twenty years to come. (Yes, we plan to be Samplewww.palladiumbooks.com file - Palladium On-Line around for another 20 years, maybe longer. We're like cock­ roaches, you just can't get rid of us. Hmm, maybe we should change that cockroach analogy?)

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