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," tonnent, stalk and prey on humans. Other alien life fonns, 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 Four A sourcebook, G.M. & Player's guide, and sourcebook for Rifts® and the entire Palladium Books® Megaverse®! 1 First Printing - October, 1998 Copyright 1998 Palladium Books Inc. & Kevin Siembieda 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®, RECON®, Nightbane®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, and Megaverse® are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. Ninjas & Superspies, Heroes Unlimited, Skraypers, Warlords of Russia, Mystic Russia, Phase World, Wormwood, Hanuner of The Forge, The Siege Against Tolkeen, Psyscape, Mechanoid Space, Western Empire, ARCHIE-3, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tarn, Emperor Prosek, Splugorth, Mega-Damage, Skelebots, SAMAS, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Cyber-Knight, Mystic Knight, Battle Magus, Psi-Stalker, Simvan, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, and other names, titles and likenesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. Knights of the Dinner Table™ is a trademark of Kenzer Co. and the creation of Jolly Blackburn. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® is a registered trademark of Mirage Studio. Robotech® is a registered trademark of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. PalladiumSample On-Line: www.palladiumbooks.com file The Rifter™ #4 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180. Printed in the USA. 2 Palladium Books® Presents: THE #4 RPG Guide and Megaverse® Sourcebook Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Supervising Coordinator & Typesetting: Maryann Siembieda Contributing Writers: Randi Cartier Bill Coffin James M.G. Cannon David Haendler David Ransom Kevin Siembieda Mark Sumimoto Steve Trustrum Knights of the Dinner Table™: Jolly "The Man" Blackburn Contributing Editors: Alex Marciniszyn Jim Osten Julius Rosenstein Cover Painting: Michael Dubisch Interior Artists: Apollo Okamura Wayne Breaux Jr. Michael S. Wilson Brandon C. Clark Ka Xiong Mark Dudley Kevin Long and other Palladium Madmen Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt Keylining:Sample Kevin Siembieda -.... ­ file Based on the RPG rules, characters, concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda. Special Thanks to Bill "Don't Call Me William" Coffin (who has just recently tied the knot - congrats from us all) and all The Rifter contributors, as well as all you guys and gals who support our efforts. Our apologies to anybody who got accidentally left out or whose name name was misspelled. 3 Contents - The Rifter #4 - October, 1998­ Page 6 - From Behind the Desk Page 33 - Palladium Fantasy RPG® of Kevin Siembieda Death is Not Always Final Publisher Kevin Siembieda tells what he did on his Being the October issue of The Rifter™, Randi summer vacation - a cruise with some of the staff Cartier, with a little help from Siembieda, whipped (so, you can skip this page and move on to the good up some gruesome spirits of vengeance designed spe­ stuff packed into this issue). cifically for the Palladium Fantasy RPG, but which are easily adaptable to Nightbane®, Beyond the Su­ pernatura/TM, and other Palladium games. The ac­ Page 7 - Palladium News, Info, companying artwork is by Johnson, Long and Apollo. & Coming Attractions A report on the latest from Palladium, including Page 40 - Nightbane® RPG news about Palladium's expanded web site, better The Tribes of the Moon mail delivery for The Rifter™ subscribers, miniatures In keeping with the Halloween spmt, Steve update and more. Trustrum presents werebeasts for the modem age. Coming attractions makes note of Palladium's Optional source material perfect for Nightbane® and many new and special items for the rest of 1998. adaptable to Beyond the Supernatura/TM and even Take special note of the limited, hardcover, "Crimson Heroes UnlimiteclfM and other RPGs. Steve presents Edition" of The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing several werebeast R.C.c.s, O.C.c.s, skills, tribes and Game, Second Edition (only 600 signed and num­ secret societies. Part one of two. Artwork by Wayne bered copies, in time for X-Mas), three new T-shirts, Breaux Jr. and our insane 1998 X-Mas Surprise Package! Page 64 - Rifts® A.R.C.H.lE. Page 12 - Palladium Fantasy RPG® Three vs. The World Hook, Line, & Sinkers for the Western Empire™ Mark Sumimoto gives us an epic Rifts® adventure A hunk of material that couldn't get squeezed into involving everybody's favorite insane computer intel­ the big, 224 page Western Empire adventure ligence, ARCHIE-3. Plus data on The Titan Robotics sourcebook, so we've included it in The Rifter™. A Complex and various Cyberworks, Titan, Northern dozen or so adventure outlines that offer months of Gun and other 'bots, weapons and equipment. This gaming, by Bill Coffin. adventure and source material can be considered "op­ tional" but "authorized" additions to the Rifts® Page 21 - Knights of the Dinner Table™ World. Artwork is by the Drunken Style Studio Another hilarious installment of KoDT by creator (Brandon C. Clark, Ka Xiong, and Mark Dudley be­ Jolly Blackburn. ing the principle artists). Don't forget the KoDT comic books are available from Kenzer & Company, 1935 S. Plum Grove Rd., Page 90 - Rifts® The Evolved Suite 194, Palatine, IL, 60067. First time contributor David Ransom has written more optional Rifts® adventure and source material Page 23 - Palladium Fantasy RPG® involving the feared and hated Gene Splicers. Art­ Long, StrangeSample Trips (G.M. tips & ideas) work by Apollo Okamura. file Bill Coffin, author of The Western Empire sourcebook, offers some Game Master tips and ideas Page 96 - The Siege Against Tolkeen for Writing Epic Campaigns for Palladium Fantasy. The next four chapters in David Haendlers Rifts® The accompanying artwork is by Mike Wilson. saga. Art by Apollo Okamura. 4 Page 102 - Hammer of the Forge Coming Next Issue ... The next chapter in James M. G. Cannon's Phase • The second half of Tribes ofthe Moon for World™ story. Nightbane®. • More material for the Palladium Fantasy Page 109 - Optional Character Sheet RPG®. While Kevin Siembieda was rooting around in • Source material for Heroes UnlimitedfM. piles of Rifler submissions, he came across these • The next chapter of the Hammer ofthe character sheets. As fate would have it, we had been Forge™. getting requests for different log sheets, so we de­ • The continuing saga of Siege Against cided to include them in this issue. Garners can make Tolkeen™. copies for their personal use in gaming. Unfortu­ nately, any cover letter that may have accompanied • More Knights ofthe Dinner Table™. these character sheets has been lost, so we can't give • More G.M. tips. the designer the credit he or she deserves. Sorry. • The latest news and developments at Palladium. The Cover • Source material for the Palladium From the twisted mind of Michael Dubisch (and Megaverse®. the pages of various Palladium RPGs) comes our • And a lot of new faces/contributors. monster-filled Halloween cover. A piece Kevin Siembieda calls, "Monsters on Parade." It is done in ink and acrylic washes. Late Breaking News ... For those of you who live in the New York City Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material area, Kevin and Maryann will be at the Complete Please note that this issue offers an unprecedented Strategist, 11 E. 33rd St, New York, NY on the amount of "official" rules and source material. 27th of November (the day after Thanksgiving). Typically the vast majority of rules, tables, charac­ Kevin will be doing a signing and answering ques­ ters, equipment, adventures and stories are "optional" tions and just having a good time (Maryann wants to or "alternative" things one can include in his cam­ see the Macy's parade:) For more info and details paign or enjoy reading. They are not "official" to the give the Complete Strat a call. (212)685-3880 main games or world settings. For example, the story, Siege Against Tolkeen, is likely to be very different than Siembieda's "official" world book(s) when it co­ mes out. As for optional tables and adventures, if they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky or inappropriate for your game, ignore them. All the material in The Rifter™ has been included for two reasons: One, because we thought it was imaginative and fun, and two, we thought it would stimulate your imagination with fun stuff that you can use (if you want) or which might inspire you to create your own wonders. PalladiumSample On Line: www.palladiumbooks.com file 5 We visited Ocho Rios Jamaica (more silly accents and local From Behind the Desk jargon), Cozumel/Cancun, Grand Cayman, and Key West. Maryarrn, Wayne, Thorn and I took a side trip by prop-jet to the of Kevin Siembieda Yucatan to see the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.