Warning! Violence and the Supernatural

The fictional Worlds of Palladium Books® are violent, deadly and filIed with supernatural monsters. Other­dimensional beings, often referred to as "demons," torment, stalk and prey on humans. Other alien life forms, mon­sters, gods and demigods, as welI as magic, insanity, and war are alI 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.

The RifterTM Number Eight Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

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First Printing - October, 1999

Copyright 1999 Palladium Books Inc. & Kevin Siembieda

All rights reserved, worldwide, 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 .

The Rifter, Systems Failure, Ninjas & Superspies, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, BTS, Beyond the Supernatural, Century Station, Chaos Earth, Skraypers, Phase World, Wormwood, Baalgor Wastelands, Mount Nimro, Eastern Territory, Xiticix Invasion, Splynn Dimensional Market, Hammer of the Forge, The Siege Against Tolkien, Siege Against Tolkeen, Free Quebec, Psyscape, Mechanoids Space, ARCHIE-3, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tarn, Emperor Prosek, SpJugorth, Mega-Damage, Skelebot, SAMAS, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Cyber-Knight, Mystic Knight, Battle Magus, Psi-Stalker, Glitter Boy, Simvan, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, 'Burbs, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, Spatial Magic, Spatial Mage, Blood Priest, Death Walker, Cursebringer, Murder-

Mage, Warborn, Warba by, Kumongas, 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 Hannony Gold USA, Inc.

Palladium On-Line www.palladiumbooks.com

The RifterTM #8 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180. Printed in the USA.

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Palladium Books® Presents:

THE

Sourcebook and guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor-in-Chief: Wayne Smith

Supervising Coordinator & Typesetting: Maryann Siembieda

#8

Contributing Writers: Matthew Burns James Calder James M.G. Cannon Randi Cartier Bill Coffin David Haendler Jason Marker Mark Sumimoto Kevin Siembieda Jason Richards Nathan Taylor

Knights of the Dinner Table: Jolly Blackburn

Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein

Cover Painting: Brom

Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards

Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt

Keylining: Kevin Siembieda

Based on the RPG rules, characters, concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda.

Interior Artists: Apollo Okamura Ryan Beres Scott Johnson Ramon Perez Wayne Breaux Jr. and other Palladium Madmen

Rifts® Comic Strip: Ramon Perez Coleen Laxalt

Special Thanks to Brom for his cover painting and to all of our contributors. Our apologies to anybody who accidentally got left out or whose name was misspelled.

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Contents - The Rifter #8 - October, 1999­

Page 6 - From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda

Publisher Kevin Siembieda talks about how the year 2000 marks the anniversary of both the ever-popular Rifts® RPG series and Palladium Books. This causes him to ruminate a bit about the past and talk about the excitement promised by the future (forgive him, he's getting old).

Page 7 - Palladium News, Info, & Coming Attractions

There is a bunch of news this issue starting with the marriage of Jolly Blackburn, cartoonist supreme. Then there's news about Apollo Okamura doing more artwork for other Palladium titles, Mike Wilson opening a store (a must-read for anybody living in Portland), a call to fledgling artists to contribute to The Rifter™ and industry news. Be in the know.

Coming Attractions makes note of Palladium's many new and pulse-pounding titles planned for the rest of 1999 and what read­ers can expect in the year 2000.

Page 11 - 1999 X-Mas Surprise Package It's that time of year again, so here's our 1999 X-Mas Surprise

Packnge-Grab Bag! Autographs, a secret surprise, and tons of great stuff from Santa's helpers, Kevin & Maryann Siembieda. We want to make X-Mas for our fans the merriest ever.

Page 12 - Systems Failure™ Adventure & Source Material

Palladium's new shoot 'em up, save the world, role-playing game has taken the market by storm with rave reviews and hot sales. So when author/designer, Bill Coffin, suggested doing an adventure and source material contribution for The Rifter™, we jumped at the chance. Besides, it fits in with the Halloween theme of this October issue.

What? You don't know about Systems Failure? Here's the nitty-gritty. On the eve of the Year 2000, computers and society around the world "crash." Only strange alien "Bugs" are the ones responsible. The Bugs are stinking monsters from another dimension who have invaded Earth and enslaves its people to manufacture energy for them. Anybody who gets in the way is killed or turned into a zombie. But here's the dig. The monsters don't need to do this. They're energy junkies and use the power plants and electricity to get high! America is fighting! Are you in?

This is an "official" adventure and source material for the RPG, produced specially for this issue by the creator, Bill Coffin. Illustrated by the bugged out Scott Johnson .

FJyboy O.c.c. & New Core Material starts on page 21 .

Page 28 - Knights of the Dinner Table™ Another hilarious installment of KoDT by creator Jolly Blackburn and Steve Johansson.

Don't forget the KoDT comic books are available from Kenzer & Company, 1935 S. Plum Grove Rd., Suite 194, Palatine, IL, 60067.

Page 30 - Palladium Fantasy RPG® Mysteries of the Deep Forest

Randi Cartier strikes again with a host of new "optional" crit­ters, monsters, a new Warlock spell, and herbs for The Palladium Fantasy RPG® - adaptable to most fantasy settings. Artwork by Apollo Okamura (does this guy keep getting better or What?).

Page 40 - Nightbane® & Beyond the SupernaturaJTM The Charonis

In keeping with the Halloween spirit, James M. G. Cannon presents a new variety of werebeasts - "werebats" from around the world. Optional source material perfect for Nightballe® and adaptable to Beyond the SupernaturafTM and even Heroes UnlimitedTM and other RPGs.

Artwork by Ryan Beres.

Page 47 - Beyond the SupernaturaJTM & Nightbane® The Laughing Man R.C.C.

James Calder gives us a demonic creature suitable for either of Palladium's popular horror games.

Page 49 - Rifts® Lone Star Comic Strip

The next rockin' installment of the Rifts Comic Strip. And you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Part Three of six chapters by Ramon Perez (penciler, Inker, Letterer, and Co-Author) and Coleen Laxalt (plot and Scripter).

Page 57 - Rifts® Demonwrath

Matthew Burns gives us a suitably scary, demon-stomping adventure set in Rifts Russia. Optional source material.

Artwork by "Drew" from Drunken Style Studios.

Page 60 - Rifts® The New Kingdom

Jason Richards and Nathan Taylor give us a new Vampire Kingdom and menaces to deal with this Halloween season. Not

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to mention some cool, optional vampire variants, the Abandoned Vampire, Blood Wraith, and Blood Priest, R.C.c. Optional source material.

Artwork by Wayne Breaux Jr. and Apollo Okamura.

Page 76 - Rifts® Bring Out Your Dead

Mark Sumimoto presents a number of deliciously evil practi­tioners of Necromantic Arts - optional O.c.c.s different from the classic Necromancer. They include the Cursebringer, Death Walker, Murder-Mage, Warbom, and Warbaby.

Artwork by the dynamic Ryan Beres.

Page 95 - Rifts® Fiction Three Words

First time contributor, Jason Marker has written a (very) short story inspired by one of Ramon Perez's illustration in Rifts® Lone Star.

Artwork by Ramon Perez (from Lone Star).

Page 99 - Hammer of the Forge The next chapter in James M. G. Cannon 's Phase WorldfM

story. Artwork by Apollo Okamura.

Page 105 - The Siege Against Tolkeen The next four chapters in David Haendler's Rifts® saga. Artwork by Apollo Okamura.

The Cover We thought this Brom painting of a Frankenstein-like Monster

fit nicely into the Halloween spirit and theme of this issue. Thanks Brom. Coming Next Issue •••

Optional and Unofficial Rules & Source Material Please note that most of the material presented in The

Rifter™ is "unofficial" or "optional" rules and source material. They are alternative ideas and things one can include in his cam­paign or enjoy reading. They are not "official" to the main games or world settings. For example, the story, Siege Against Tolkeen, is likely to be very different from Kevin Siembieda's "official" world books coming in 2000. As for optional tables and adven­tures, if they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky, 100

high-powered or inappropriate for your game, modify them or ignore them completely.

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.

This issue, the Systems Failure™ adventure is approved as an "official" addition to that role-playing game.

The Rifter ™ #9

• More material for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®. • The Bio-Borgs left out of Splynn Dimensional

Market™. • Arzno, an army of Techno-Wizards dedicated to

destroying the Vampire Kingdoms. • The Astral Plane Revisited. • Material for Ninjas & Superspies & HU2. • The next chapter of the Hammer ofthe Forge™. • The continuing saga of The Siege Against

Tolkeen™. • More Knights ofthe Dinner Table™. • More of the Ramon Perez Lone Star comic strip. • The latest news and developments at Palladium. • Source material for the Palladium Megaverse®. • And new contributors.

Palladium On Line: www.palladiumbooks.com

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From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda

The Year 2000 Palladium Books® is twenty!! Rifts® is ten!

I can hardly believe that the year 2000 marks 20 years that Palladium Books has been in existence. It sure doesn't seem that long. I don't feel that old (although you'd think the white hair and the 44 candles that will make my birthday cake look like an infer­no next year would tip me oft). Just the other day an old friend told me my voice held the excitement of a 16 year old (cool).

It has been a great 20 years. The Me chanoids® Trilogy, The Weapons & Armor series, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Heroes UnlimitedTM, Ninja Turtles®, Robotech®, RECON®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies™, Rifts® and others. Palladium even helped to spark the American Japanimation video industry in the direct market with the release of the Robotech® videocassettes back in 1988 and did lots of other innovative and good things too numerous to list. The first 15 years were filled with constant growth, discov­ery, experimentation and raw excitement. These last four years have seen the role-playing game industry go through dramatic and sometimes frightening changes (at least to us insiders). This has made times a bit tougher and difficult. Many RPG companies have merged, others have gone into bankruptcy, or reduced in size. Through it all, Palladium has managed to persevere and keep its quality high.

1999 has been especially good for Palladium. We have built a network of amazing artists, writers and creators - many of whom have become friends rather than just distant, machine-like freelancers . Some of these folks are only beginning to stretch their wings and be seen. New guys like Bill Coffin, Ben Lucas, Steve Edwards, Mark Sumimoto, Steve Trustrum, Mike Wilson, Apollo Okamura, Ryan Beres, and others. Together, we plan on making the next 20 years beller than the first! There is an excite­ment and energy at Palladium Books that reverberates through the stalwart staff and freelancers alike. An energy that we hope will carry us to new heights. To boldly go where no man has ... urn .. . well you get the idea.

Of course The Rifter® will continue into the new Millennium, bringing you new ideas, new talent, new stories, new comic strips, and optional and official game material (in fact, The Rifter#9 will include some Splynn material that got cut from World Book 21). Our goal continues to be the production of the most fun and exciting role-playing games and game worlds imag­inable, and to support our entire line of diverse and popular prod­ucts. That means more supplemental books for The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane® and maybe even Ninjas & Superspies™ and The Ninja Thrtles®. I hope to get around to doing Beyond the Supernatural™, 2nd Edition and Mechanoid® Space™, but no promises. As much as I would

like to do both of these titles, my plate is always overflowing with work, but I will try.

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With 2000 being Rifts® Ten Year Anniversary, we have some big plans and oodles of Rifts® books on the schedule. Inevitably, whenever Palladium releases a number of Rifts® books, the fans of our other, game lines jump up to complain that we are ignor­ing them. Actually, that's never really true, although it may seem like it sometimes.

Publishing and scheduling is a juggl ing act. People don't seem to realize there is a lot more behind creating and publishing RPGs than getting a book written and sent to the printer. There's work­ing out scheduling with the cover artists, the interior artists, mak­ing changes and adjustments, and scheduling with the printer as well as dealing with any problems and delays that may arise. Then there's my own schedule which is always a nightmare, because in addition to writing 2-5 books a year myself, and reviewing and doing minor to major rewrites and contributing to virtually every RPG title released by Palladium, I'm cooking up new ideas like Systems Failure™ (thank god, Bill Coffin is a dream to work with), trying to cultivate new talent, coordinating advertising and marketing, pasting-up books, plus dealing with the day to day problems and issues of running a business. Heck, Maryann does the job of three people herself. It's just part of the fun (and not so fun) aspects of running your own business.

In fact, the reason 1999 is ending with four Rifts® World Books is because we have been working feverishly to get "non­Rifts" titles out for the first three quarters of the year (The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, Deluxe Revised RECON®, The Baalgor Wastelands™, Mount Nimro: Kingdom of Giants™, Systems Failure™ and the Heroes UnlimitedTM G.M. s Guide, plus we experimented with novels and did the four issues of The Rifter™ - which has good stuff for all of Palladium's game lines). The only Rifts® release, until Canada hit the stores in September, was Rifts® Australia, which came out in February.

More importantly, new Rifts® and non-Rifts product was put aside so that I could get several books for Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy RPG® and Nightbane® into development for release in the year 2000. This means 2000 should offer a bunch of great books for everybody! See the Coming Attractions in this issue for details .

- Kevin Siembieda, 1999 Sample

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