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 64 Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

1 Special Palladium ® 30th Anniversary Dedication: To , who helped me find myself as a writer and game designer. I miss our long talks about everything and anything, especially our discussions about games and ideas. To Kay Kozora, for believing in a snot-nosed kid and supporting his dream of publishing and , and for putting up with me and all of Erick’s wacky gaming pals. We miss you. And in memory of my beautiful mother, who passed away much to young. You were my Mom and my friend, and wise beyond reason. My thanks and love to you all, and so many others, who have helped shape me into the man I am today. Kathy, I love you most of all.

– , November, 2013

First Printing – November 2013

Copyright 2013 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 ® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.

Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, The Mechanoids®, ®, Mega- verse®, ®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, 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,” and titles and names such as RPG Tactics, Armaged- don Unlimited, Aliens Unlimited, Arzno, Atorian Empire, ARCHIE-3, Beyond Arcanum, , BTS-2, Brodkil, Biomancy, Biomancer, Bio-Wizardry, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, Chaos Earth, , 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, Doc Reid, Dog Boy, Dog Pack, Emperor Prosek, Erin Tarn, Fadetown, Free Quebec, Gadgets Unlimited, Gargoyle Empire, Glitter Boy, Gramercy Island, Hardware Unlimited, Heroes of the Megaverse, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, Ice Bearman, Juicer, Ley Line Walker, M.D.C., Mecha- noid 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 Unlimited, Psi- Stalker, Psyscape, SAMAS, S.D.C., Shifter, Siege on Tolkeen, Skelebot, Skraypers, Sorcerer’s Forge, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Splynn, Techno-Wizard, Temporal Magic, Temporal Wizard, Three Galaxies, Tome Grotesque, Triax, Vampire Kingdoms, Warpath: Urban Jungle, Void Runners, Wilk’s, Winterserpent, 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.

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The Rifter® #64 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: #64

Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Editors: Alex Marciniszyn Matthew Clements Contributing Writers: Brett Caron Matthew Clements Jeff Duncan Glen Evans Matt Olfson Michael Osborne Kevin Siembieda Bryant Telfer Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Charles “Chuck” Walton Interior Artists: Jeffrey A. Burke Michael Mumah Tanya J. Ramsey Benjamin Rodriguez 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 Matthew Clements and all our contributors, writers and artists. Our apologies to anybody who may have gotten accidentally left out or their name misspelled. – Kevin Siembieda, 2013

3 Contents – The Rifter® #64 – Autumn, 2013

Page 6 Art Page 25 – Gleaners Artist Mike Mumah presents this Christmas inspired missive – Official material for Beyond the Supernatural™ depicting his dramatic recovery from a severe stroke last Christ- Once a year, just in time for All Hallows Eve, the child- mas. You can read about it on page 8 in the Palladium News sec- snatching Gleaner appears. This wicked monstrosity enslaves tion. In fact, you can see some of his latest art in this very issue. as many children as it can to whisk away to its dark dimension, Merry Christmas, Mike; glad your awesomeness lives on. Keep where they are tormented and it devours them. Unless found and drawing. slain before midnight on All Saints Day, the Gleaner will vanish, Page 7 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda only to return Halloween after Halloween. A dramatic Halloween adventure and gruesome BTS monster written by Matthew Cle- Publisher Kevin Siembieda addresses several subjects, from ments, based on concepts by Kevin Siembieda. this being another very late issue (our apologies) to Halloween and Thanksgiving, to Christmas, loved ones and losing those we Page 29 – New Dead Reign™ Survivors care about. Editor Alex Marciniszyn found it all rather uplifting. We hope you do too. Happy Holidays from all of us at Palladium – Optional material for the Dead Reign™ RPG Books. Jeff Duncan presents eight new Survivor Occupations for your inclusion in the Dead Reign™ setting. Kevin Siembieda loved Page 8 – Palladium News them and endorses them wholeheartedly. This issue’s news talks about Mike Mumah getting back in the Page 29 – Professional Athlete saddle of drawing artwork, Palladium’s need for Gamer Masters Page 31 – Cycle Courier to run Palladium gaming events at the 2014 Indy and Page 31 – Game Designer/Novelist how we need those games submitted by January 15, our Page 32 – Gunsmith Fanfare report, confirmation of a Palladium Open House in Page 32 – Hook, Line & Sinker Adventures 2015, and the latest on new game releases. All of that, yet some- Artwork by Tanya J. Ramsey. how Kevin forgot to mention the new Dead Reign™ Source- book 4: Fear the Reaper™ is hot off the presses and available Page 35 – a Day in the Life of Scott Benter, G.A. NOW! Don’t miss it. – A short story for Heroes Unlimited™ Page 10 – Coming Attractions Regular contributor, Glen Evans, give us an unusual look into the world of superhumans. New books are finally being released, with Dead Reign™ Artwork by Jeffrey A. Burke. Sourcebook 4: Fear the Reaper™ and the long-awaited Rifts® Northern Gun™ One both available now. Coming soon: North- Page 48 – Palladium Ice Dwellers ern Gun™ Two, Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™, Robotech® UEEF Marines™ Sourcebook, Robotech® RPG Tactics™, – Official source material for the and more. Plus we remind you about some other cool 2014 re- Palladium Fantasy RPG® & Rifts® leases. This year was the Palladium Fantasy RPG’s 30th Anniversary, Page 16 – 2013 Christmas Surprise Package so we have made sure every 2013 issue of The Rifter® had some Fantasy art and source material dedicated to it. Here are some Here are all the details on Palladium Books’ annual Christmas ‘official’ monsters you should enjoy.The Ice Bearmen are even Surprise Package, made with autographs and love. Read all about more feral and barbaric than their brown Bearman of the North it and place your order today! Oh, and tell your friends. Game on cousins, and the Winterserpent is a cousin to the Ice Dragon and happy holidays from all of us at Palladium Books. with a few special abilities and an affinity for Bearmen. Concepts Page 18 Tinkers by Kevin Siembieda and Chuck Walton. Written by Matthew Clements. Artwork by Charles Walton. – Optional source material for the Nightbane® RPG Bryant Telfer takes a look at the Nightbane, past and present, Page 52 – Too Big to Fail and how many were gypsy-like wanderers throughout the ages. – An Optional Giant adventure Page 19 – Life in the Tinker Family Page 20 – The Tarish Order for the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Page 20Sample – Campaign & Role-Playing Notes Michael Osborne present a uniquefile Fantasy adventure that can Page 21 – Tinker Related Skills be undertaken by Giant Player Characters or pint-sized human Page 22 – Tinker Con Artist O.C.C. ones. Embark on a quest that involves ancient secrets, dark magic Artwork by Benjamin Rodriguez. and undead Trolls!

4 Page 57 – The False Rune Forge can submit articles, G.M. advice, player tips, house rules, adven- Page 60 – Average Possessed Troll tures, new magic, new psionics, new super abilities, monsters, Artwork by Benjamin Rodriguez. villains, high-tech weapons, vehicles, power armor, short works of fiction and more. So think about writing up something short Page 65 – A Cold Night, Dead Past (even something as small as 4-6 pages). Newcomers and regular contributors are always welcomed. – A short story for Rifts® The Rifter® needs new material, especially when it comes to Writer Brett Caron delivers a chilling story of Coalition tenac- adventures and source material, for all of our game lines, espe- ity, bad choices and danger. cially Rifts®, Chaos Earth™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Artwork by Charles Walton. Unlimited™, Ninjas and Superspies™, Beyond the Supernatu- ral™, Dead Reign™, Splicers® and Nightbane®. Page 80 – The Black-Malice Legacy, Part Two Pay is lousy, fame is dubious, but you get to share your ideas – Optional source material for Rifts® and adventures with fellow gamers and get four free copies to show to your friends and family. Matt Olfson, with contributions from Will Hunter and Kevin Siembieda, presents the little known and dark underside of the The Cover Coalition Army’s special forces in Psi-Battalion. This chapter Every 2013 cover of The Rifter® has been fantasy, to cel- presents what the author calls “The Black Arts.” Psychic Regis- ebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Palladium Fantasy RPG®. tration and training programs that groom CS citizens who have This one is by Palladium artist and fan favorite, Charles Walton. psionic powers for work in Psi-Battalion. Page 81 – Identification and Orientation Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Page 81 – JDMP: Tier Zero Training Page 81 – The MPR Program Please note that most of the material presented in The Rifter® Page 82 – CS Psi-Soldiers is “unofficial” or “optional” rules and source material. Page 82 – Academy of Psychic Combat They are alternative ideas, homespun adventures and material Page 83 – Tier One Classes & Bonuses mostly created by fellow gamers and fans like you, the reader. Page 83 – Tier Two Training Things one can elect to include in one’s own campaign or simply Page 84 – Psychic Martial Arts enjoy reading about. They are not “official” to the main games or Page 85 – Dishearten Psi-Martial Combat world settings. Page 87 – Hand to Hand: Telekinetics As for optional tables and adventures, if they sound cool or Page 89 – Kings Telepathic Psychic Martial Arts fun, use them. If they sound funky, too high-powered or inap- Page 90 – Combat Empathy propriate for your game, modify them or ignore them completely. Page 92 – Psi-Bat Squads All the material in The Rifter® has been included for two Artwork by Michael Mumah reasons: One, because we thought it was imaginative and fun, and two, we thought it would stimulate your imagination with Page 94 – The Well of Visions fun ideas and concepts that you can use (if you want to), or which might inspire you to create your own wonders. – Official material for Rifts® Matthew Clements presents a story that gives viewers a www.palladiumbooks.com – Palladium Online glimpse into Rifts® Northern Gun™ One, Two and Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™. Enjoy the foreshadowing and hints ® of things to come. The Rifter #65 The Rifter® #65 is our first issue of the New Year and will The Theme for Issue 64 present our plans for 2014 along with a nice array of source mate- The theme of The Rifter #64 is secrets and monsters in a wide rial and fun. range of Palladium game settings. All tinged with a touch of the ! Source material for Rifts®. ominous or outright horror. Since we are celebrating the 30th An- ! Source material for Heroes Unlimited™. niversary of Palladium Fantasy®, we are making sure every 2013 ! Source material for other settings. issue of The Rifter® contains Fantasy source material. New Fan- ! News, coming attractions and much more. tasy titles should be coming your way in 2014. ! And maybe YOUR submission. Send us something and see if you get published. The Rifter® Needs You We need new writers and artists to fill the next few decades of The Rifter®. You do not need to be a professional writer to Bringing you infinite possibilities contributeSample to The Rifter®. This publication is like a “fanzine,” limited only by your imaginationfile™ written by fans for fans. A forum in which gamers just like you

Celebrating 30 years of Palladium Fantasy RPG®

5 Sample file

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