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 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 ® Number 82 Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

1 Dedication – To the memory of my beloved friend, . He died 10 years ago, but his passion for games, pushing the envelope, thinking big, and Palladium Books is still with me — with all of us – today. Erick’s legacy not only continues in the games and sourcebooks that bear his name, but in everyone he had touched over the years. And that is a great many people around the world. I would say I miss him, and I do, except ... I feel him (and Kay) with me every single day. Still prodding me to push my ideas further and sending me hope and inspiration when I need them most. Love you, Erick. – , 2018

First Printing – November, 2018

Copyright 2018 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.

Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Chaos Earth®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, ®, The Mechanoids®, ®, Megaverse®, ®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Powers Unlimited®, RECON®, and ® are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. The slogan “A Megaverse of adventure – limited only by your imagination,” RPG Tactics, and titles and names such as Bizantium and the Northern Islands, Armageddon Unlimited, Aliens Unlimited, Arzno, Atorian Empire, ARCHIE-3, Beyond Arcanum, , BTS-2, Brodkil, Biomancy, Biomancer, Bio-Wizardry, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, Dimensional Outbreak, Dinosaur Swamp, Dyval, Elf-Dwarf War, , I.S.P., Land of the Damned, Lazlo, Victor Lazlo, Lazlo Agency, Lazlo Society, Palladium of Desires, C.A.M.E.L.O.T., Chi-Town, CS, Coalition States, Cosmo-Knight, Crazy, Cyber-Knight, D-Bee, Dark Day, Dead Boy, Devil Worm, Doctor Feral, Dog Boy, Dog Pack, Dweomer, Emperor Prosek, Erin Tarn, Fadetown, Free Quebec, Gadgets Unlimited, Gargoyle Empire, Glitter Boy, Gramercy Island, Hardware Unlimited, Heroes of the Megaverse, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, Juicer, Khemennu, Ley Line Walker, M.D.C., Mechanoid Space, Mega-Damage, Mega-Hero, Megaversal, MercTown, Minion War, Moorcroft, Morphus, Mu- tant Underground, Mysteries of Magic, Merc Ops, Naruni, Naruni Enterprises, NEMA, Ninjas & Superspies, NGR, Northern Gun, The Nursery, P.P.E., Powers Unlimited, Psi-Stalker, Psyscape, SAMAS, S.D.C., Secrets of the Coalition States, Shifter, Siege on Tolkeen, Skelebot, Skraypers, Sorcerer’s Forge, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Splynn, Techno-Wizard, Temporal Magic, Temporal Wizard, The Dis- avowed, Three Galaxies, Tome Grotesque, Triax, Vampire Kingdoms, Warpath: Urban Jungle, Void Runners, Wilk’s, Wolfen, Wolfen Wars, Wormwood, Wulfen, Xiticix, and other names, titles, slogans, and the likenesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. PalladiumSample Online www.palladiumbooks.com file Also visit us at facebook.com/PalladiumBooks

The Rifter® #82 is part of an RPG sourcebook series published by Palladium Books Inc., 39074 Webb Court, Westland, MI 48185. Printed in the USA by McNaughton & Gunn of Saline, Michigan.

2 Palladium Books® Presents: #82

Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith

Editor: Alex Marciniszyn

Contributing Writers: Interior Artists: Matthew Clements Robert Atkins Daniel Frederick Nicholas Bradshaw Mark Oberle Kent Burles Matt Reed Mark Dudley Julius Rosenstein Scott Johnson Kevin Siembieda Kevin Long Todd Yoho Apollo Okamura Charles Walton II Ramon Perez Jr. Erick Wujcik Roger Peterson And the many contributors to the Remembrance R.K. Post Benjamin Rodriguez Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Kevin Siembieda Charles Walton II Cover Illustration: Nicholas Bradshaw

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.

Special Thanks to Dan, Mark D., Mark O., Matt C., Julius and all our contributing writers and artists this issue, as well Sampleas to Matthew Balent for some great old photos, the folks who contributed their fileheartfelt remembrances of Erick, and to the family and friends of Erick Wujcik everywhere. And as always, to the fabulous and hardworking Palladium staff. Our apologies to anybody who may have gotten accidentally left out or their name misspelled. – Kevin Siembieda, 2018

3 Contents – The Rifter® #82 – 2018

Page 6 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda Page 38 – Flights of Imagination by Paula Leasure Blumm Page 39 – My Friend, Erick by Paul Deckert It has been 10 years since Erick Wujcik was taken away from Art by Kevin Siembieda. Photos by Matthew Balent and oth- us much too soon at age 57. The fun and insightful trip down ers. memory lane starts here, with some photos of Kevin and Erick at in 1984. Here Kevin talks about their early days work- Page 40 – The Name Giver ing together, Erick’s many accomplishments, and presents an Er- ick Wujcik Bibliography of Palladium Books published works – “Official” G.M. & Player Tipsfor All Settings and some things you may mot know about Erick. It is a fun and We thought it only fitting to reprint this gaming advice byEr - interesting read, and a prelude to many more insights about this ick Wujcik from The Rifter® #1. It’s solid advice that holds up. creative dynamo in the Remembrance section on page 22. Art by Scott Johnson. Photos by Matthew Balent. Page 45 – Thinking Big Page 9 – Palladium News Publisher Kevin Siembieda offers up the latest goings-on – “Official” G.M. & Player Tipsfor All Settings since last issue. He talks about the bold moves we are making Some more great tips and advice by Erick Wujcik from The with the company and upcoming releases, the Christmas Surprise Rifter® #2. Learn from a master of seeing the big picture and Package offer (yes, it is that time of year again, see page 18 for thinking big. It will make your games feel epic. So read, learn and complete details), some errata for The Rifter® #80, and updates unleash those imaginations. on the books in the pipeline. Art by Apollo Okamura and Kevin Long.

Page 48 – The Impact of Age – “Official” Source Material for theNightbane ® RPG Page 11 – Coming Attractions Mark Oberle (co-author of Nightbane® Survival Guide and Nightbane® Dark Designs™) presents more information about Books like Rifts® Bestiary Volume One, In the Face of the Becoming and tables for selecting skills based on the ‘Bane’s Death™, Rifts® Bestiary Volume Two, Rifts® Chaos Earth®: age and experience. Psychic Scream™, Rifts® Antarctica, Garden of the Gods™, Page 50 – Adapting to Power Chaos Earth®: First Responders, and many other titles are in Page 51 – Educational Character Classes production, along with a lot of other books. Read all about them Page 51 – Young Nightbane here. Page 52 – Average Nightbane Page 18 – 2018 Christmas Surprise Package™ Page 54 – Older Nightbane Page 55 – New Skills Quite possibly the best deal in gaming. Certainly the most fun. Artwork by R.K. Post and Roger Peterson. A way to get autographs from the Palladium crew wherever you live. All the details are right here. Page 57 – Hitting the Gym Page 22 – Erick Wujcik Remembered – Optional Source Material for Heroes Unlimited™ – Fond, fun insight to the Matt Reed revisits and expands upon the Physical Training Hero with new abilities, signature moves, and more. It is all so man and his work at Palladium fun and compelling it will leave you wanting to dive into a He- Kevin Siembieda has managed to put together an uplifting and roes Unlimited™ game with martial artists and Batman types of insightful celebration of Erick’s life that is fun and touching. The heroes. many contributors are just a few of the millions of people who Page 58 – Parkour and Stunting have been touched by Erick’s work in gaming or by the man him- Page 59 – Determining Focus self. It is a tribute to the creative spirit and a joyful life that has Page 60 – Hand to Hand and Signature Moves inspired countless others around the world. Erick is missed, but Page 61 – The Power of Signature Moves never forgotten. For your reference we list the page numbers for Page 62 – Physical Training Abilities some of the remembrances. Page 64 – General Abilities Page 23 – Erick and Kevin by Kevin Siembieda Page 65 – Defensive and Fast Abilities Page 24 – The Butterfly Effect by Julius Rosenstein Page 66 – Other Stuff Page 27Sample – My Early Recollections by Matthew Balent Page 66 – Sample Physical Trainingfile Characters Page 28 – The Wujcik Legacy by Mark Oberle Page 66 – Olympian Page 32 – Living in the Moment by Brandon Aten Page 66 – Swashbuckler Page 34 – Art and story by Nicholas Bradshaw Page 67 – Manik Page 36 – Mutant Animals and Humanity by Michael Leonard Artwork by Mark Dudley.

4 Page 69 – Chaos Earth® Nebraska, Part Three Page 105 – Devil Serpent Tongue Page 109 – Eeracrech Riding Lizard ® ® – “Official” Source Material forRifts Chaos Earth Art by Robert Atkins, Ramon Perez, and Charles Walton II. Dan Frederick, Matthew Clements and Kevin Siembieda team-up to present the Pyromancer O.C.C., Pyromancy Magic, The Theme for this Issue the Zone Twister, some notable characters, and an adventure The theme for The Rifter® #82 is about discovering and un- hook for the Rifts® Chaos Earth® setting. Also suitable for the leashing the power inside each and everyone of us. Enjoy. Rifts® and Phase World® settings. Page 70 – Ionia, Island in the Ashlands Become a Writer for The Rifter® Page 70 – NORAD, the Big Bunker We need new writers and artists to fill the next few decades Page 71 – Nebraskan Pyromancer O.C.C. of . You do not need to be a professional writer to Page 73 – New Pyromancy Spells The Rifter® Page 73 – Pyromancy Spell List starts contribute to The Rifter®. This publication is like a “fanzine,” Page 74 – List of other Fire-Based Spells written by fans for fans. A forum in which gamers just like you can submit articles, G.M. advice, player tips, house rules, adven- Page 74 – Descriptions: Pyromancy Spells by Level Page 74 – Level One tures, new magic, new psionics, new super abilities, monsters, Page 74 – Armor of Ash (7) villains, high-tech weapons, vehicles, power armor, short works Page 75 – Fiery Dagger (4) of fiction and more. So think about writing up something short Page 76 – Level Two (even something as small as 4-6 pages). Newcomers and regular Page 77 – Volcanological Divination (7) contributors are always welcome. Page 78 – Level Three The Rifter® needs new material, especially when it comes to Page 78 – Fiery Arrowhead (4) adventures and source material, for all of our game lines, particu- Page 78 – Fiery Sword or Axe (12) larly Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Page 79 – Level Four Unlimited™, Ninjas & Superspies™, Beyond the Supernatu- Page 79 – Armor of Magma (14) ral™, Dead Reign®, Splicers® and Nightbane®. Page 80 – Level Five Pay is lousy, fame is dubious, but you see your work in print, Page 80 – Fire Jump (Teleport; 15) get to share your ideas and adventures with fellow gamers, and Page 81 – Heal Burns (10) get four free copies to show to your friends and family. Page 82 – Level Six Page 82 – Healing Lava Pool (15) The Cover Page 83 – Walk on Lava (10) The cover is by Nick “The Brick” Bradshaw and depicts one Page 83 – Level Seven of the new monsters found in the Rifts® Bestiary Volume One. Page 84 – Pyroclastic Cloud Attack (25) It is the deadly Devil Serpent Tongue. See page 105 for details. Page 84 – Level Eight Page 84 – Magma Geyser (20) Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Page 85 – Level Nine Most of the material for this issue is “official” source mate- Page 85 – Ash Storm (35) rial. As for optional source material, settings and adventures, if Page 86 – Level Ten they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky, too high- Page 88 – Rain Lava (110) powered or inappropriate for your game, modify them or ignore Page 88 – Zone Twisters them completely. We hope all of it ignites your imagination and Page 89 – Notable Characters inspires you to create your own wonders. Page 90 – Jon “Buckshot” Bauer Page 91 – “Crazy” Cabe Williams www.palladiumbooks.com – Palladium Online Page 91 – Dorther “Dot” Hawkens Page 92 – The Battle for Lincoln ® Artwork by Benjamin Rodriguez. The Rifter #83 ! Rifts® source material. Page 93 – Rifts® Bestiary Preview ! Heroes Unlimited™ source material. ! ® Palladium Fantasy RPG® source material. – “Official” Source Material forRifts ! Other adventure source material. Here is your first peek at the Rifts® Bestiary, Volume One. ! News, coming attractions, product descriptions It’s just a small sampling of some updated monsters and a couple and more. new creatures. ! 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 183. Winter Page 93 – Alien Rex release. Page 95Sample – Allosuarus One game system, infinitefile possibilities Page 96 – Ghost Allosaurus Page 101 – Covenant Falcon limited only by your imagination™ The die is cast. Nothing can stop it.

5 From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda This issue is especially meaningful to me, because it remem- but he was inspired and kept writing more and more of the book bers my beloved friend, Erick Wujcik. until he had written pretty much the whole thing. As I remember Erick passed away on June 7, 2008, at age 57. In some ways, it, he knocked out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® in three and that feels like a long time ago. In other ways, it seems like only a half weeks, Erick always said it took four and a half weeks. last week. I think of Erick every day and I know he is missed by Whichever it was, it would be the fastest turnaround from Erick thousands of people around the globe. That’s just who Erick was: ever. And it was a masterpiece. Larger than life, a masterful networker, and a good friend to so Erick had a million truly amazing ideas for games you have many. never seen or heard of. That’s because Erick’s genius came at In the world of gaming, Erick Wujcik was a genius game a price. He wrestled with manic depression his entire life. That designer, visionary and writer. He is most remembered for writ- meant he was always working on 30 projects, half them new, ing and designing Palladium’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® when he was manic, and never finishing 95% of them when he and Other Strangeness RPG and its first several sourcebooks, was depressed. Still, the works he did leave with us are profound Ninjas and Superspies™, and the Amber® Diceless RPG, but and fun and brought joy to millions of role-players around the he did so much more, especially when it came to bringing joy world. I’m proud to say that I was able to wrangle the most fin- to millions of gamers and inspiring and encouraging countless ished products out of Erick for Palladium Books, and was happy others. to help him set up his own game company, Phage Press, which In 1985, only Erick understood and shared my vision of what published Amber® Diceless and Amberzine™ #1-15. Erick the TMNT® RPG and its sourcebooks needed to be to make it a also started AmberCon, a global network of Amber Diceless great game. Only he saw the same big picture I painted of creat- conventions, and helped produce an Amber® Tarot card deck ing an RPG in which players could create an infinite array of mu- via DesCarte of France. tant animals, not just the Ninja Turtles. When there was nobody What many people may not know, is that Erick and I were else to write it, because I had other commitments and deadlines, best friends and invisible forces in each other’s lives. We of- Erick stepped in to tackle the job. He and I had been talking about fered each other help and ideas, encouragement and love until the conceptSample for at least three months. He knew what I wanted as the day Erick left this mortal coilfile for a brand new cosmic ad- much as I did. We were inside each other’s head and the ideas had venture. been crystalizing in his mind. For those reasons, and because Erick remains an inspiration While he wrote the TMNT® RPG we spoke almost every to me and many others, we present this special tribute issue with single day that he worked on the book. At first, he was only going remembrances from just a handful of the many people who were to knock out the animal creation rules, then the animal powers, touched by this remarkable human being. 6