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 61 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 First Printing – January 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 Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Mega- verse®, Nightbane®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, 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,” and titles and names such as Armageddon Unlim- ited, Aliens Unlimited, Arzno, Atorian Empire, ARCHIE-3, Beyond Arcanum, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, Brodkil, Bioman- cy, Biomancer, Bio-Wizardry, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, Chaos Earth, Dead Reign, 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, Glitter Boy, Gramercy Island, Hardware Unlimited, Heroes of the Megaverse, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, 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, 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® #61 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: #61 Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse® Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Editor: Alex Marciniszyn Contributing Writers: W. Bachman Liam Gray Ian Herbert Andrew Landers John Meyers Kevin Siembieda Alex Tulloch Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Amy L. Ashbaugh Interior Artists: Kent Burles Mark Dudley Joseph Lawn 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 all our contributors, writers and artists – and a special welcome on board to Tanya J. Ramsey and all the artists and writers making their debut this issue. Our apologies to anybody who may have got- ten accidentally left out or their name misspelled. – Kevin Siembieda, 2013 3 Contents – The Rifter® #61 – January, 2013 Page 6 – Art by Chuck Walton Page 17 – The Crusaders and the Black Crusade™ Another piece of artwork to get you excited about Rifts® Part 3: Vergence Northern Gun One. This is the book that goes into production – Optional source material for Phase World® & immediately after Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook goes to the Three Galaxies™ printer. Andrew Lander is back with more setting and source mate- Page 7 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda rial for Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies™. Ver- gence is a mysterious dimension and haven for True Atlanteans. The holidays have come and gone, leaving an exciting and The author provides world information, places of interest, new promising New Year ahead for Palladium Books. types of Atlanteans, and lots and lots of magic: magic staves, new Publisher Kevin Siembieda recaps the highlights and disap- magic tattoos, Stone Magic, and much more. pointments of 2012, and talks about what the future may hold Page 20 – Atlantean Archons for us. That includes sourcebooks for Rifts®, Chaos Earth™, Page 22 – Atlantean Blade Master Robotech®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Palladium Fan- Page 24 – Archon Tattoo Magic tasy® and other game lines. Not to mention Robotech® RPG Page 25 – Stone Magic Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™, a big, juicy boxed Page 27 – Kreecei Lithos game filled with gorgeous 1/285th scale game pieces. This Page 29 – Advanced Pyramids game release will not only rock the world of Robotech® RP- Page 31 – Archon Staves Gers, but miniature gamers and Robotech® fans around the Page 32 – Dread Wraith world. Page 34 – The Fall of Vergence Page 36 – Adventures Page 8 – News Artwork by Mark Dudley. Tattoo art by Andrew Lander. Subscribe to The Rifter® and get a FREE gift is the lead-off article because it is our limited, once a year, special subscrip- Page 38 – The City of Charter tion offer. Here’s the latest news about people important to Pal- – Optional source material for Rifts® ladium Books, upcoming releases and more information about Robotech® RPG Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™, John Meyers presents the City of Charter in Rifts New Eng- including the scoop that we’ll be launching a true Kickstarter land. Everything you’d expect is there for your gaming enjoy- crowdfunding for it in the coming months. Kevin and the Pal- ment: Background, key characters, notable places, more True ladium staff will be keeping their noses to the grindstone this Atlanteans, Techno-Wizardry and more. year, so there are only two convention appearances planned for Artwork by Kent Burles. 2013: Anime North in May and Gen Con® Indy in August. Plan ™ accordingly. Page 48 – Purebred Animals for Mutants in Avalon – Optional source material for After the Bomb® Page 11 – Coming Attractions and suitable of use in Heroes Unlimited™ and The books you have been waiting for are getting finished other game settings and will be coming your way this Winter and Spring. The first Ian Herbert gives us an array of unique mutant animals com- is Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook, detailing the current ex- mon to the British Isles and suitable as mutants, aliens, monsters ploits of Doc Reid and his vampire-slaying Reid’s Rangers, and heroes in most any setting. the vampires and werebeasts of the Yucatan, dark magic and Page 48 – Canines more. Much more. Rifts® Northern Gun 1 & 2 shall follow Page 48 – Bulldog it, and then Rifts® Earth is shaken up by the events of Rifts® Page 49 – Corgi Megaverse® in Flames™. The Robotech® UEEF Ma- Page 50 – Cattle rines™ Sourcebook and support for Rifts®, Chaos Earth™, Page 50 – Hereford BTS and other games lines are also part of our line-up. De- Page 51 – Highland Cattle scriptions for the titles we anticipate coming out between now Page 51 – Jersey and Summer are found in this section. Oh, and Rifts® Black Page 52 – Welsh Black Market continues to be a hot seller and Robotech® Genesis Page 53 – Chickens Pits™ Sourcebook was released in December and is available Page 53 – Buff Orpington now. Page 54 – Derbyshire Redcap Page 55 – Scots Dumpy ® Page 16Sample – The Rifter Super-Subscription Offer Page 56 – Goats file This special subscription offer, with free gift, only comes once Page 56 – Bagot a year, and for a limited time only. Take advantage of the offer Page 57 – Horses while you can. And while this deal is perfect for those of you who Page 57 – Dartmoor Pony can’t find The Rifter® in the stores, we encourage those of you Page 57 – New Forest Pony who can, to support your local game shops. Page 58 – Shetland Pony 4 Page 59 – Shire Horse can submit articles, G.M. advice, player tips, house rules, adven- Page 60 – Sheep tures, new magic, new psionics, new super abilities, monsters, Page 60 – Llanwenog villains, high-tech weapons, vehicles, power armor, short works Page 61 – Scottish Blackface of fiction and more. So think about writing up something short Page 62 – Swine (even something as small as 4-6 pages). Newcomers and regular Page 62 – Berkshire contributors are always welcomed. Page 62 – Gloucester Old Spot The Rifter® needs new material, especially when it comes to Page 63 – Landrace adventures and source material, for all of our game lines, espe- Page 64 – Tamworth cially Rifts®, Chaos Earth™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Page 64 – Deer Unlimited™, Ninjas and Superspies™, Beyond the Supernatu- Page 64 – Irish Elk ral™, Dead Reign™, Splicers® and Nightbane®. And presenting the dynamic artistry of newcomer Tanya Pay is lousy, fame is dubious, but you get to share your ideas Ramsey. and adventures with fellow gamers and get four free copies to show to your friends and family.