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 66 Your Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®! 1 PDF Edition – February 2016 First Printing – May 2014 Copyright 2014 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®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid In- vasion®, Megaverse®, 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,” RPG Tactics, and titles and names such as Armaged- don Unlimited, Aliens Unlimited, Arzno, Atorian Empire, ARCHIE-3, Beyond Arcanum, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, Brod- kil, Biomancy, Biomancer, Bio-Wizardry, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, 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. Palladium Online www.palladiumbooks.com Also visitSample us at facebook.com/PalladiumBooks file The Rifter® #66 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: #66 Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse® Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith Editor: Alex Marciniszyn Contributing Writers: Braden Campbell Brett Caron Glen Evans Max Kautsch Kevin Siembieda Edward Sauerland Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein Cover Illustration: Amy L. Ashbaugh Interior Artists: Allen Manning Brian Manning 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 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, 2014 3 Contents – The Rifter® #66 – Spring, 2014 Page 6 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda Page 22 – Jonah, the Sea Dragon Page 24 – Knifeskin, King of the Wasteland Publisher Kevin Siembieda talks about the challenges of cre- Page 25 – Nocturne ativity versus business, how Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two went Page 26 – Packrabbit from 160 pages to 256 pages, how he’s already fast at work on Page 27 – Stinger Moth Megaverse® in Flames (a June release), and that Robotech® Page 28 – Stonebacks RPG Tactics™ is moving ever closer to manufacturing (Summer Page 29 – Quick Roll Monsters release). He also talks about Palladium Books turning 33 years Page 32 – Behaviors Table old this year and how we could not have done it without you. Page 33 – Skill & Instincts Tables Page 7 – Palladium News Page 34 – Weapons & Defenses Tables Page 36 – Ranger O.C.C. All kinds of books are going into final production, and at least Page 38 – Vine Launcher five new titles (starting with NG-2) should be coming your way Page 39 – New Bio-Enhancement: Scent Glands before the end of summer. There is also news about Penguicon, Artwork by Charles Walton. where many fans were excited to see the prototype game pieces for Robotech® RPG Tactics™ as well as the rule book, and Page 39 – Bite of the Snake Men Kevin and the Palladium crew had an enjoyable time. In other – An adventure and villains for Heroes Unlimited™ news, the price of The Rifter® has gone up (but remains a steal), interest in Palladium Fantasy® increases, Gen Con Indy is com- Glen Evans gives us a Heroes Unlimited™ adventure with ing up fast, and you can already reserve rooms for the 2015 Pal- twists and turns, plus a new group of super-baddies with unique ladium Open House. Read all about it. powers and abilities. Page 39 – Eagle Knight Security (EKS) Page 8 – Coming Attractions Page 40 – EKS Player Characters Page 41 – Part One: The Interview New books are coming your way. You are holding the lat- Page 42 – Part Two: The Snake in a Jar est issue of The Rifter®, and by the time you see this, Rifts® Page 43 – Part Three: The Girl in the Ugly Car Northern Gun™ Two will have shipped and be hitting store Page 44 – Part Four: The Snake Hits the Fan shelves (it ships May 19), Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ Page 45 – Conclusion should be almost finished and heading to the printer, and Grave- Page 46 – The Snake Men yard Earth™, Chaos Earth® Sourcebook: Rise of Magic™, Page 46 – Coils Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines™ Sourcebook Page 47 – Scales One, and Robotech® RPG Tactics™ will all follow in the sum- Page 48 – Madam Venom mer months of June, July and August (plus a couple of surprises). Page 49 – Taipan We are also working hard to keep all our titles in print. Speaking Page 50 – Fangs of which, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy is back in print Page 51 – Spit and the Special Anniversary Edition Hardcovers for Heroes Page 52 – Nagraj (the Snake Man) Unlimited™ (released in February) and The Palladium Fantasy Artwork by Tanya J. Ramsey. RPG® (released in April) are selling at a rapid pace; both have sold around half their print run, so if you want one, you had better Page 54 – Space Pirates order in the next few months before they are gone. – Optional source material Page 15 – Splicers®: The Bestiary for the Rifts® Phase World® setting – Optional Source Material for Splicers® Braden Campbell serves up a wealth of information about the Edward Sauerland has provided us with an array of 11 new space pirates of the Three Galaxies, their methods, their targets M.D.C. creatures, plus tables and rules for the random creation and even some of their spacecraft. of gene-spliced monstrosities and the Splicers® Ranger O.C.C. Page 56 – Raiding, Some Basic Considerations Page 58 – Private Navies Be prepared to up the ante of your Splicers® campaign with this fun selection of new material. Page 60 – Pirate Ships and Modifications Page 16 – Maxi Animals Page 60 – Overdrive Failure Chart Page 16 – Super Animals Page 61 – Skiff Page 17 – Giant Chickens Page 61 – Corister-Class Frigate Page 17 – Glutton Page 63 – Auntin Patrol Ship SamplePage 64 – Stonewall Cruiserfile Page 18 – Grave Robber Page 19 – Gut Ripper Page 66 – Other Weapons and Equipment Page 20 – Janus Eel Artwork by Mike Mumah. 4 Page 67 – Skipping Stones The Rifter® needs new material, especially when it comes to – A Rifts® short story adventures and source material, for all of our game lines, espe- cially Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Brett Caron returns with a story of intrigue and travel, as the Unlimited™, Ninjas and Superspies™, Beyond the Supernatu- lead characters go from Lazlo to the Splynn Dimensional Mar- ral™, Dead Reign™, Splicers® and Nightbane®. ket on Atlantis. Can you smell them? The Minions of Splugorth? Pay is lousy, fame is dubious, but you get to share your ideas Enjoy. and adventures with fellow gamers and get four free copies to Artwork by Benjamin Rodriguez. show to your friends and family. Page 80 – Rifts® Black Market Part 2: Rise to Power The Cover – Optional source material for Rifts® Every 2014 cover of The Rifter® will celebrate the 30th An- Maxwell Kautsch is back with part two of his look at the rise niversary of the Heroes Unlimited™ RPG. This cover depicts an to power within the cutthroat arena of the criminal Black Market. unlikely band of intrepid heroes off on an adventure that seems to This time, he also gives us a Black Market Town with notable be about to take an unexpected and dangerous turn. The artist is shops, places and people, plus a handful of Techno-Wizard con- the imaginative Amy L.