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.

The Rifter® Number 24 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

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First Printing - October, 2003

Copyright 2003 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®, The Rifter®, Coalition Wars®, RECON®, Nightbane®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, After the Bomb®, Phase World® and Megaverse® are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.

Chaos Earth, NEMA, Mechanoid Space, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, Powers Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Aliens Unlim­ited, Mutant Underground, The Nursery, Hardware Unlimited, Gadgets Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, Three Galaxies, Void Runners, Coalition Wars, Gramercy Island, Skraypers, Atorian Empire, Wormwood, Land of the Damned, The Citadel, Wolfen Wars, Wolfen, Cosmo-Knights, Cyber-Knight, Free Quebec, Xiticix Invasion, Fadetown, Hammer of the Forge, Siege On Tolkeen, Psyscape, Dweomer, ARCHIE-3, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tam, Emperor Prosek, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Mega-Damage, Skelebot, SAMAS, Glitter Boy, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Bio-Wizardry, Psi-Stalker, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, 'Burbs, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, MesozoicLand, Card Magic, and other names, titles and likenesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.

Palladium Online www.palladiumbooks.com

The Rifter® #24 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 #24 Sourcebook and guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith

Contributing Writers:

James M.G. Cannon

Chris Matthys Shawn Merrow

Pat Nowak

Rodney Stott

Kevin Siembieda

Eric Thompson

Todd Yoho

Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein

Typesetting: Wayne Smith

Keylining: Kevin Siembieda

Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards

Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt

Based on the RPG rules, characters,

concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda.

Cover Illustration: John Zeleznik

Interior Artists:

Drunken Style Studios (DSS)

Brandan C. Clark (DSS) Mark Dudley (DSS)

Allen Manning

Brian Manning

Apollo Okamura

Liz RehfuslLAR (DSS)

Sharard Jackson (DSS) Freddie Williams II

and other Palladium Madmen

Special Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists - and a special welcome onboard to the artists and writers making their debut in this issue. Our apologies to anybody who got accidentally left out or their name misspelled.

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Contents - The Rifter® #24 - October, 2003

Page 6 -Art This stunning full page illustration is by Freddie Williams II

and is just a hint of what awaits gamers in Powers Unlimited™ Two a sourcebook for Heroes UnlimitecfTM, 2nd Edition sched­uled for a late November, 2003, release.

Page 7 - From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda The boss talks about why he has deliberately rescheduled Be­

yond the Supernatural™, 2nd Edition, the 48 and 64 page-sized source books and how they are here to stay, and why people may be missing new releases. (Could it be, in part, that long time Pal­ladium fans don't expect us to hit our deadlines? Well, it's time to adjust because Palladium has been hitting its release schedule on time or within two weeks on 90% of its releases in 2003, and that's a trend we hope to keep going.)

Page 9 - Palladium News Convention Calendar for 2003 and even a few scheduled ap­

pearances for 2004 already. Palladium holds the price on its games (with the big, 160 & 192 page books real bargains com­pared to the competition), plus a few announcements, but noth­ing new on the Rifts® Movie yet.

Page 10 - Coming Attractions Palladium has a ton '0 good stuff coming for the end of the

year, starting with Chaos Earth™: Creatures of Chaos™ and Rifts® Adventure Sourcebook: The Vanguard™, both of which just shipped. Ah, but there's more ... a lot more: a pair of World Books for Rifts® China, Powers Unlimited™ Two (for HU2), Beyond the Supernatural™ 2nd Edition, a revised edition of Rifts® Federation of Magic™ (with 34 pages of new material), the Rifts® G.M. Guide and Rifts® Book of Magic back in print, more Chaos Earth™ sourcebooks and other good stuff. Read about the highlights here and then check­out or catalog at the back of the book to see what you've missed.

Page 14 - X-Mas Surprise Package It has become tradition for Palladium Books to give a little

back to the fans this time of year. The 2003 X-Mas Surprise Package - Grab Bag is our way of doing that. Autographed books, T-shirts, back stock, special editions, original artwork and surprises can be yours if you are willing to take the chance. Our way of saying thank you and Happy Holidays. See page 14 for all the details. Limited time offer.

Page 16 - Collector's Super

X-Mas Surprise Package No, you're not seeing double. This year - and this year only­

Palladium is offering something truly amazing, a Grab Bag de­

signed for the true collector and that hard to buy for super-fan. It includes one or more pages of original art (worth $50-$180 each), a new limited edition portfolio of artwork for upcoming projects, limited T-Shirt, some books and other wild stuff. Don't take my word for it, check out page 16. One more way of saying thank you and Happy Holidays.

Page 18 - Questions & Answers Rodney Stott, Shawn Merrow and Kevin Siembieda tackle a

diverse selection of questions before diving into Second Edition Fantasy conversions for fan fave Yin-Sloth Jungles. The Jungle conversions are the first in an ongoing series, starting with skills. Next issue, Jungle Magic.

Page 25 - Origins® Game Expo 2004 As this dynamic ad suggests, Origins 2004 has big plans for

Kevin Siembieda, Palladium Books and Palladium fans. Hope to see you there next summer. Call or check out the website for more info.

Page 27 - After the Bomb® & Heroes Unlimited™

MesozoicLand: Part Two Todd S. Yoho's big fmale on Mutant Dinosaurs and the is­

land known as MesozoicLand. Maps, key locations, key charac­ters, villains, weapons, and more. Weapons and equipment start on page 38 and adventures on page 40, plus Hook, Line & Sinker™ adventures on page 46.

Artwork by Brian and Allen Manning.

Page 48 - Rifts®

Media in Rifts Earth A mountain of cool, optional source material by Patrick

Nowak as he takes a look at arts, sports and entertainment com­mon to the Coaiition States and North America. It takes a look at the CS Media machine, radio and television, movie produc­tion and the Black Market, Gladiator Sports and Arenas. in­cludes Entertainment Skills, the Performer O.C.C., Field Reporter O.C.C., Rifts Bard O.C.C., and a comprehensive look at the Rifts Gladiator (including arenas, rules of the game and equipment).

Artwork is by the guys at Drunken Style Studio, Mark Dudley, Brandan C. Clark, and Sharard Jackson.

Page 72 - Rifts® The Metabolic Juicer

A new variant Juicer O.C.C. by Eric Thompson. The pros, the cons, the special abilities, dangers and experience tables.

Artwork by Brian Manning.

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Page 82 - Rifts® Phase World®

The Hammer of the Forge™ Chapter 24 of James M.G. Cannon's epic saga.

Artwork by Apollo Okamura.

Page 89 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG®

Card Magic Optional O.c.c. and rules for a new type of magic by Chris

Matthys. A magic that is more impressive and dangerous than one might think at first glance.

Elegant Artwork by the lady of Drunken Style Studio, Liz Rehfus.

Page 97 - The Catalog of Palladium Books®

- Fall, 2003 For your convenience we present Palladium's entire Fall Cat­

alog of role-playing games, sourcebooks, novels, metal minia­tures, and other good stuff. And at no extra cost. Enjoy.

The theme for issue 24 A venues of power and power misused seems to be the theme

of this issue. Actually, we though Wayne did a rather nice job mixing up the subject matter and material to provide a little something for everyone. A nice package.

The Cover The cover is a closeup detail of John Zeleznik's cover paint­

ing for Beyond the Supernatura(TM Second Edition. What you don't see are the two psychic investigators being menaced in the back alley of the Grimbor Antique shop. Just a little something to help whet people's appetites for this unique role-playing game of horror, modern magic, the supernatural and beyond.

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, homespun adventures and material mostly created by fellow gamers and fans like you, the reader. Things one can elect to include in one's own campaign or sim­ply enjoy reading about. They are not "official" to the main games or world settings.

As for optional tables and adventures, if they sound cool or fun, use them. If they sound funky, too 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 ideas and concepts that you can use (if you want to), or which might inspire you to create your own wonders.

www.palladiumbooks.com - Palladium Online

Coming Next Issue The Rifter™ #25

• Golemancy for Palladium Fantasy®.

• Material for Nightbane® and/or Heroes Unlim­itetPM•

• Material for Beyond the SupernaturatrM•

• More material for Rijts®.

• Expanded Questions and Answers: Rodney, Shawn and Kevin have worked up a larger than usual questions and answers section with Palla­dium Fantasy® Second Edition conversions for the Yin-Sloth Jung/es™. Next up - Jungle Magic.

• The next chapter of The Hammer ofthe Forge™.

• The latest news and developments at Palladium Books.

• Source material for the entire Palladium Megaverse®.

• New contributors and fun. So please join us.

Palladium Books® role-playing games ... infinite possibilities, limited only by your imagination™

Palladium's games are found in stores everywhere 5

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