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 these books. Some parents may find the violence, magic and supernatural elements of the games inappropri­ ate 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 ®Number 19 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 Palladium games are found in stores everywhere

First Printing - July, 2002

Copyright © 2002 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 fonn or by any means, without pennission 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 char­ acters or persons living or dead, is strictly coincidental. PaIJadium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, ®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, ®, After the Bomb®, Phase World® and Megaverse® are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. Chaos Earth, Mechanoid Space, , HU2, Ninjas & Superspies, Aliens Unlimited, Mutant Underground, The Nursery, Hardware Unlimited, Gadgets Unlimited, RECON Modem Combat, , BTS, Coalition Wars, RiftsworkZ, , Gramercy Island, Skraypers, Atorian Empire, Wonnwood, Land of the Damned, The Citadel, Wolfen Wars, Wolfen, Cosmo-Knights, Cyber-Knight, Free Quebec, Xiticix Invasion, Splugorth, Fadetown, Ham­ mer of The Forge, Siege On Tolkeen, Psyscape, Dweomer, ARCHIE-3, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tam, Emperor Prosek, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Mega-Damage, Skelebot, SAMAS, Glitter Boy, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Bio-Wizardry, Psi-Stalker, BrodkiJ, Juicer, Crazy, 'Burbs, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, Shifter, The Anvil Galaxy, and other names, titles and likenesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.

PalladiumSample Online www.palladiumbooks.com file

The Rifter® #19 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180. Printed in the USA. 2 Palladium Books® Presents: THE #19

Sourcebook and guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Supervising Coordinator & Typesetting: Maryann Siembieda

Contributing Writers: Interior Artists: James M.G. Cannon Apollo Okamura Kevin Christensen Wayne Breaux Jr. Jeremy Clements Kent Buries Wayne Field Freddie Williams II Shawn Merrow Michael Wilson Nicholas Mueller Tyler Walpole John C. Philpott and other Palladium Madmen Michael Richardson Jr. Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards Edward J. Sauerland Credits Page Logo: Nikias Brandt Kevin Siem bieda Keylining: Kevin Siembieda Rodney Stott Richard Thomassen Todd Toho

Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Mark Evans

Based on the RPG rules, characters, concepts Sampleand Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda. file

Special Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists. Our apologies to anybody who got acci­ dentally left out or their name misspelled.

3 Contents - The Rifter~ #19 - July, 2002

Page 6-Art Page 25 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG® A fun illustration by Apollo "The Toronto Swallow" Wand Magic Okamura. It depicts a wizard and friend exhausted from going through piles of writing submissions for The Rifter®, with Kevin Christensen presents some cool ideas about how magic many more on the shelf behind them. wands are created, their powers and design elements, along with four Famous Wands of Lore. It is fun and useful material to Page 7 - From the Desk spruce up your game. of Kevin Siembieda Illustrated by Kent "Mr. Baseball" BurIes. Palladium's President, CEO and Chief Game Designer, Kevin Siembieda, reminds people that The Rifier® is about Page 29 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG® sharing ideas and showing off new talent. That's why a bunch 0' you readers should send in adventures and source material for The Magic of Ophid's Grasslands possible publication. Especially material for Heroes Unlim­ Nicholas Mueller offers a number of interesting and clever itedTM, After the Bomb®, Ninjas & Superspies™, Nightbane®, spells designed specifically for Ophid's Grasslands. The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Phase World®, and other game Art by that Kent BurIes fella. settings. Hey, we need some new artists for The Rifter® too. Page 33 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG® By Lance and Speed of Wing Page 8 - Palladium News Ever wonder if there are any special techniques, training and Convention updates (hey, Pentacon will be the third or fourth bonuses to riding a winged mount like a Pegasus? Well, wonder con that Kevin and Maryann Siembieda are attending this year! no longer. Richard Thomassen presents rules, bonuses, and the Don't miss 'em), A+Plus comics, plus word on other news and Great Gryphon for your entertainment. stuff. Artwork by Michael Wilson.

Page 11 - Coming Attractions Page 37 - For the Palladium Megaverse® The latest and greatest out and coming soon from Palladium Books, including the most recent book in the Palladium Weapon Go Mental Series (Weapons and Assassins) and the next one in the series John Charles Philpott gives us some food for thought con­ (Weapons & Castles of the Orient), Land of the Damned Two, cerning "mental" skills like memorization, philosophy, puzzles Mutant UndergroundTM (for HU2), and the latest on RECON and others, as well as some new physical skills and Optional Modern Combat (a book that is really shaping up into something Rules to Tame the Physical Skill Junkie. Outstanding and useful exciting). Not to mention Palladium's Checklist of recent re­ material suitable for most any Palladium role-playing game set­ leases and upcoming products (page 17) through the end of the ting. year. Artwork by Kent BurIes and Michael Wilson.

Page 18 - What would I do with Page 43 - Rifts® 2,000,000 CCG cards? We're Not All Mind Readers, You Know Maryann ran an online essay contest on that premise. The Ed Sauerland creates a number of interesting new "Eruptor" winner got a "case" ofRiftS® CCG booster cards and runners up psionic character classes, including the Blaster, the Freezer (the got a box or two. We thought you'd like to see the top five win­ cold hard truth behind this variation on Hydrokinesis) and the ners and enjoy some of the silly fun. Soaker (Hydrokinesis as a power in its own right). Each is ac­ Art by Scott Johnson. companied by a number of specific abilities, bonuses and penal­ ties. A nice addition to any Rifts® campaign. Page 21 - Questions and Answers Artwork by the always impressive Freddie Williams II. Another big, juicy section for questions and answers by Rodney Stott, Shawn Merrow and Kevin Siembieda. This is­ Page 54 - Rifts® sue's Q&ASample covers a lot of different subjects, including Coalition Support Vehiclesfile Rahu-Men and Changelings in Rifts®, black powder weapons, Wayne Field presents some of the workhorse vehicles behind aging characters, aging superheroes, and Chaos Earth. Helpful the scenes that keep the Coalition Army on its feet and in the information and material officially endorsed by Palladium trenches. Six new vehicles in all - completely described, statted Books. out and illustrated. Artwork by Kevin Long and Mike Wilson. Oh, and yes, stats for the NEMA body armor on page 24 will appear next issue. Art by Apollo "The City-Rat" Okamura.

4 Page 66 - Rifts® Phase World® The Cover Hammer of the Forge The attractive but forceful (or at least "force field") young Chapter 19: Everything New is Old Again. James M. G. Can­ lady could be a psychic or one of the new practitioners of magic non's gripping Phase WorldfM story continues with new drama to appear out of the ashes of Chaos Earth. and intrigue and a hint of things to come. The artist is Mark Evans, and the artwork is actually taken Artwork by Apollo "searching for a nickname" Okamura. from one of the cards in the Rifts® Collectable Card Game. Art director, Kevin Siembieda, thought it fit the psionics and magic theme of this issue very nicely. Page 72 - Systems Failure™ Fort Folsom Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Todd Yoho gives us a small but important stronghold against Please note that most of the material presented in The "the bugs" located in West Virginia. An overview, key leaders, Rifter® is "unofficial" or "optional" rules and source material. and adventure ideas are all there just beggin' to be used in a They are alternative ideas, homespun adventures and material Systems Failure adventure. mostly created by fellow gamers and fans like you, the reader. Artwork by Tyler Walpole. Things one can elect to include in one's own campaign or sim­ ply enjoy reading about. They are not "official" to the main Page 81 - Nightbane® & Other Palladium RPGs games or world settings. Demon Hunters As for optional tables and adventures, if they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky, too high-powered or inap­ Rollicking Mike Richardson offers us a completely fleshed propriate for your game, modify them or ignore them com­ out Demon Hunter o.c.c. with notes on how the character can pletely. be easily used in Nightbane®. The Palladium Fantasy RPG®. All the material in The Rifter® has been included for two Rifts®. Heroes Unlimited™. Ninjas & Superspies™. and Be­ reasons: One, because we thought it was imaginative and fun, yond the Supernatural™. and two, we thought it would stimulate your imagination with Mike also gives us a nifty villain called "The Dark Rider." fun ideas and concepts that the reader can use (if you want to), Artwork by Wayne Breaux Jr. or which might inspire you to create your own wonders.

Page 91 - Chaos Earth™ RPG www.palladiumbooks.com - Palladium Online (12 pt) Part Three: Magic & Magic O.C.C.s Kevin Siembieda is back with another heart stopping instal­ Coming Next Issue lment for Chaos EarthTM, a complete new role-playing game being developed and presented in the pages of The Rifter® be­ The Rifter™ #20 fore the fmal version is released as a new game in 2003. • Chaos Earth™, Part Four: The weapons and Ever want to play in an apocalyptic setting? We mean as hu­ equipment of NEMA and maybe some other man civilization collapses all around you? You have? Good, O.c.c.s, some monsters and more setting here's your chance. Enjoy. information and ideas. This installment opens with Excerpts from the Journal of Lieutenant General Lindsey Sawyer (she was introduced last is­ • Material for Nightbane®. sue) to advance the story and set the stage for the current situa­ • More material for Rifts®. tion. We get a glimpse at life in and General Sawyer's • Material for Palladium Fantasy®. personal experiences and fears. It is followed by a section about • The next chapter of the Hammer ofthe the emergence of magic in Chaos Earth and a few new Magic Forge™. O.C.C.s. Plus more hints about NEMA and is forces and a bit on • The latest news and developments at psychics. Yep, the excitement for Chaos Earth just keeps build­ ing. Palladium. Artwork by Mike Wilson. Bulldog power armor by Wayne • Source material for the entire Palladium Breaux Jr. Megaverse®. • New contributors and fun. The themeSample for issue 19 • So please join us. file Magic and psionics seems to be the running theme of this is­ sue. Magic wands, new magic spells, the emergence of magic Palladium Books® role-playing and spell casters in Chaos Earth, new psychic O.C.c.s and glimpses of the future (see Coming Attractions) fill this pulse games ... infinite possibilities, limited pounding issue. Of course we had to throw in a little tech for only by your imagination™ you technophiles so there is a little something for everyone. En­ joy. Sample file

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