Warning! the Rifter® Number 70 Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!
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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 70 Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 PDF Edition – March 2017 Copyright 2015 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®, Chaos Earth®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, Dead Reign®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Powers Unlimited®, RECON®, and Splicers® 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 a Bizantium and the Northern Islands, Armageddon Unlimited, Aliens Unlimited, Arzno, Atorian Empire, ARCHIE-3, Beyond Arcanum, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, Brodkil, Biomancy, Biomancer, Bio-Wizardry, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, Dimensional Outbreak, Dinosaur Swamp, Dyval, Elf-Dwarf War, Heroes Unlimited, 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, Doc Reid, Dog Boy, Dog Pack, Dweomer, Emperor Prosek, Erin Tarn, Fadetown, Free Quebec, Gadgets Unlimited, Gargoyle Empire, Glit- ter Boy, Gramercy Island, Hardware Unlimited, Heroes of the Megaverse, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, Juicer, Ley Line Walker, M.D.C., Mechanoid Space, Mega-Damage, Mega-Hero, Megaversal, MercTown, Minion War, Morphus, Mutant Underground, Mysteries of Magic, Merc Ops, Naruni, Naruni Enterprises, NEMA, Ninjas & Superspies, NGR, Northern Gun, The Nursery, P.P.E., Powers Un- limited, Psi-Stalker, Psyscape, SAMAS, S.D.C., Secrets of, Shifter, Siege on Tolkeen, Skelebot, Skraypers, Sorcerer’s Forge, Splu- gorth, Splynncryth, Splynn, Techno-Wizard, Temporal Magic, Temporal Wizard, The Disavowed, 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. Palladium Online www.palladiumbooks.com Also visitSample us at facebook.com/PalladiumBooks file The Rifter® #70 RPG sourcebook series is 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: #70 Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse® Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Editors: Alex Marciniszyn Contributing Writers: Brandon Aten Nathan Bingham Chris Isberg Irvin Jackson Travis Legge Kevin Siembieda Josh Sinsapaugh Mark Temple Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Charles Walton II Interior Artists: Amy L. Ashbaugh Kevin Long Benjamin Rodriguez Tanya J. Ramsey Charles Walton Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt Typesetting & Layout: Wayne Smith Art Direction: Kevin Siembieda Based on the RPG rules, characters, conceptsSample and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda. file Special Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists this issue, especially new contributors. Our apologies to anybody who may have gotten accidentally left out or their name misspelled. – Kevin Siembieda, 2015 3 Contents – The Rifter® #70 – Spring, 2015 Page 6 – Glitter Boy Concept Art Page 30 – New Technojacker Skills Page 33 – Piloting/Transportation Skills This issue’s Page Six Art is a Glitter Boy concept drawing Page 34 – Weapon Proficiencies created by the indomitable Kevin Long way back in 1990! The Page 35 – Robot Combat: Technojacker pencil sketch is just one of the items publisher Kevin Siembieda Page 36 – Technojacker Clans has pulled from his private collection to make available at the Artwork by Charles “Splicehead” Walton II. 2015 Palladium Open House – May 15-17. Page 7 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda Page 39 – 10 Tips for Game Masters With the Palladium Open House only four weeks away, pub- – Optional house rules, suggestions, lisher Kevin Siembieda talks about the excitement building for and ideas for running role-playing games the event amongst the Palladium staff, the things he loves about the POH and some of the things we’re doing to make this POH Chris Isberg offers some excellent suggestions and advice that truly special. One way is to share the legacy and creations of the the Palladium crew (including game wizard, Kevin Siembieda) past and present with our fans. That has prompted Kevin to dig all found fun and eminently playable. Send us your G.M. tips and out rare collectibles and original artwork he intends to make avail- house rules for publication in future issues of The Rifter®! able at the Open House. Also read about the “negatives” from the ™ original books that are being offered. What a rare opportunity. Page 42 – The Unbidden We hope to count some of you among the people attending, even – Official source material for Rifts® if it’s for one day or an evening. Writer Josh Sinsapaugh (D-Bees of North America, etc.) Page 9 – Palladium News presents a trio of transdimensional monsters that follow dimen- sional anomalies and weaknesses in the dimensional bleed to in- Things are starting to heat up for both Rifts® and Robotech® vade new worlds. Hell Pits are one such means of entry. Each is RPG Tactics™. New game releases are coming, Robotech® bizarre and dangerous, and likely to be found anywhere on Rifts RPG Tactics™ Wave One is in full-swing and we have all kinds Earth, Phase World, the Three Galaxies and other places where of plans for this game line, and not just the hotly anticipated Rifts and dimensional energies are strong. And adaptable to any Wave Two items. Things are percolating behind the scenes for Palladium world setting. Rifts® and all of a sudden we are fielding all sorts of inquiries Page 42 – Conqueror Worm about the Rifts® I.P. Very fitting considering 2015 is the 25th Page 45 – Gem Heads (Robo-Pillagers) Anniversary of Rifts®. Publisher Kevin Siembieda talks about Page 49 – Brain Squids the few things that have already gotten put into place. Artwork by Tanya J. Ramsey. There is a brief AdeptiCon Convention Report, a reminder about Gen Con and more about the Palladium Open House. Page 51 – The City of New Strawn™ Page 12 – Coming Attractions – Optional location and adventure ideas for Rifts® New books are on their way (Chaos Earth® Resurrection, First-time Rifter® contributor, Travis Legge, outlines the in- Robotech® Expeditionary Force Marines™, and more), plus dependent City-State of New Strawn located in Kansas, along there are a few new ancillary items such as the Robotech® Dice with some notable characters and adventure ideas. Bag and dice, Imaginos Plus™ #1 comic book (featuring an Erin Tarn comic strip), and Kevin Siembieda’s old A+Plus #5 Page 58 – The Deep Frontier™ comic book. They and others are all described in Coming Attrac- – Optional source material for Rifts® tions. Oh, and if you are a fan of Palladium Fantasy and haven’t taken a look at Bizantium and the Northern Islands™, what First-time Rifter® contributor, Mark Temple, writes about the are you waiting for? potential for adventures under the sea, and includes some notable communities, characters and equipment, including underwater Page 20 – Splicers®: Blood and Iron™ habitats, civilian submarines and a new aquatic O.C.C. A nice addition to campaigns and adventures that use Rifts® World – Official source material for Splicers® Books Lemuria and Rifts® Underseas. Writer Brandon Aten (Madhaven, Triax 2, etc.) gives us a Page 62 – Life under the sea sneak preview of an upcoming Splicers® Sourcebook by shar- Page 63 – Equipment ing the much expanded description, powers and abilities of the Page 64 – Harpoon Rifle Technojacker™Sample. Page 64 – Diving Hard Suitfile Page 21 – The Technojacker™ O.C.C. Page 65 – Civilian Submarines Page 22 – Limitations to Machine Control Page 67 – Freelance Aquanaut O.C.C. Page 24 – Technological Evolution (nanobots) Artwork by Benjamin Rodriguez. Page 29 – New Technojacker Skill Packages 4 Page 68 – Frost Magic™ larly Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Ninjas and Superspies™, Beyond the Supernatu- – Official source material for The Palladium ral™, Dead Reign®, Splicers® and Nightbane®. Fantasy RPG®, Rifts®, Phase World®, Chaos Pay is lousy, fame is dubious, but you get to share your ideas Earth®, Heroes Unlimited™, and any game setting and adventures with fellow gamers and get four free copies to show to your friends and family. where magic exists. H. Nathan “Nate” Bingham and Kevin Siembieda team up The Cover to offer a Wizard who specializes in frost and cold-based magic This cover is by Charles Walton II. It depicts a hostile drag- spells, along with 60+ spells; more than 40 of them completely on in hot pursuit of a Coalition “Smiling Jack” SAMAS. Watch brand new. for the print that will become available soon.