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 19 Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

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Palladium games are found in stores everywhere

First Printing - July, 2002

Copyright © 2002 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 fonn or by any means, without pennission 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.

PaIJadium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, 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, Mechanoid Space, Heroes Unlimited, HU2, Ninjas & Superspies, Aliens Unlimited, Mutant Underground, The Nursery, Hardware Unlimited, Gadgets Unlimited, RECON Modem Combat, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS, Coalition Wars, RiftsworkZ, Systems Failure, Gramercy Island, Skraypers, Atorian Empire, Wonnwood, Land of the Damned, The Citadel, Wolf en Wars, Wolfen, Cosmo-Knights, Cyber-Knight, Free Quebec, Xiticix Invasion, Splugorth, 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, BrodkiJ, Juicer, Crazy, 'Burbs, 'Borg, 'Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, Shifter, The Anvil Galaxy, 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® #19 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 #19 Sourcebook and guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith

Supervising Coordinator & Typesetting: Maryann Siembieda

Contributing Writers:

James M.G. Cannon Kevin Christensen

Jeremy Clements

Wayne Field

Shawn Merrow

Nicholas Mueller

John C. Philpott

Michael Richardson Jr.

Edward J. Sauerland

Kevin Siem bieda

Rodney Stott

Richard Thomassen

Todd Toho

Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein

Cover Illustration: Mark Evans

Based on the RPG rules, characters,

Interior Artists:

Apollo Okamura

Wayne Breaux Jr.

Kent Buries

Freddie Williams II

Michael Wilson

Tyler Walpole

and other Palladium Madmen

Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards

Credits Page Logo: Nikias Brandt

Keylining: Kevin Siembieda

concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda.

Special Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists. Our apologies to anybody who got acci­dentally left out or their name misspelled.

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Contents - The Rifter~ #19 - July, 2002 Page 6-Art

A fun illustration by Apollo "The Toronto Swallow" Okamura. It depicts a wizard and friend exhausted from going through piles of writing submissions for The Rifter®, with many more on the shelf behind them.

Page 7 - From the Desk

of Kevin Siembieda Palladium's President, CEO and Chief Game Designer,

Kevin Siembieda, reminds people that The Rifier® is about sharing ideas and showing off new talent. That's why a bunch 0'

you readers should send in adventures and source material for possible publication. Especially material for Heroes Unlim­itedTM, After the Bomb®, Ninjas & Superspies™, Nightbane®, The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Phase World®, and other game settings.

Hey, we need some new artists for The Rifter® too.

Page 8 - Palladium News Convention updates (hey, Pentacon will be the third or fourth

con that Kevin and Maryann Siembieda are attending this year! Don't miss 'em), A+Plus comics, plus word on other news and stuff.

Page 11 - Coming Attractions The latest and greatest out and coming soon from Palladium

Books, including the most recent book in the Palladium Weapon Series (Weapons and Assassins) and the next one in the series (Weapons & Castles of the Orient), Land of the Damned Two, Mutant UndergroundTM (for HU2), and the latest on RECON Modern Combat (a book that is really shaping up into something exciting). Not to mention Palladium's Checklist of recent re­leases and upcoming products (page 17) through the end of the

year.

Page 18 - What would I do with

2,000,000 CCG cards? Maryann ran an online essay contest on that premise. The

winner got a "case" of RiftS® CCG booster cards and runners up got a box or two. We thought you'd like to see the top five win­ners and enjoy some of the silly fun.

Art by Scott Johnson.

Page 21 - Questions and Answers Another big, juicy section for questions and answers by

Rodney Stott, Shawn Merrow and Kevin Siembieda. This is­sue's Q&A covers a lot of different subjects, including Rahu-Men and Changelings in Rifts®, black powder weapons, aging characters, aging superheroes, and Chaos Earth. Helpful information and material officially endorsed by Palladium Books.

Artwork by Kevin Long and Mike Wilson. Oh, and yes, stats for the NEMA body armor on page 24 will appear next issue.

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Page 25 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG®

Wand Magic Kevin Christensen presents some cool ideas about how magic

wands are created, their powers and design elements, along with four Famous Wands of Lore. It is fun and useful material to spruce up your game.

Illustrated by Kent "Mr. Baseball" BurIes.

Page 29 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG®

The Magic of Ophid's Grasslands Nicholas Mueller offers a number of interesting and clever

spells designed specifically for Ophid's Grasslands.

Art by that Kent BurIes fella.

Page 33 - The Palladium Fantasy RPG®

By Lance and Speed of Wing Ever wonder if there are any special techniques, training and

bonuses to riding a winged mount like a Pegasus? Well, wonder no longer. Richard Thomassen presents rules, bonuses, and the Great Gryphon for your entertainment.

Artwork by Michael Wilson.

Page 37 - For the Palladium Megaverse®

Go Mental John Charles Philpott gives us some food for thought con­

cerning "mental" skills like memorization, philosophy, puzzles and others, as well as some new physical skills and Optional Rules to Tame the Physical Skill Junkie. Outstanding and useful material suitable for most any Palladium role-playing game set­ting.

Artwork by Kent BurIes and Michael Wilson.

Page 43 - Rifts®

We're Not All Mind Readers, You Know Ed Sauerland creates a number of interesting new "Eruptor"

psionic character classes, including the Blaster, the Freezer (the cold hard truth behind this variation on Hydrokinesis) and the Soaker (Hydrokinesis as a power in its own right). Each is ac­companied by a number of specific abilities, bonuses and penal­ties. A nice addition to any Rifts® campaign.

Artwork by the always impressive Freddie Williams II.

Page 54 - Rifts®

Coalition Support Vehicles Wayne Field presents some of the workhorse vehicles behind

the scenes that keep the Coalition Army on its feet and in the trenches. Six new vehicles in all - completely described, statted out and illustrated.

Art by Apollo "The City-Rat" Okamura.

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Page 66 - Rifts® Phase World®

Hammer of the Forge Chapter 19: Everything New is Old Again. James M. G. Can­

non's gripping Phase WorldfM story continues with new drama and intrigue and a hint of things to come.

Artwork by Apollo "searching for a nickname" Okamura.

Page 72 - Systems Failure™

Fort Folsom Todd Yoho gives us a small but important stronghold against

"the bugs" located in West Virginia. An overview, key leaders, and adventure ideas are all there just beggin' to be used in a Systems Failure adventure.

Artwork by Tyler Walpole.

Page 81 - Nightbane® & Other Palladium RPGs

Demon Hunters Rollicking Mike Richardson offers us a completely fleshed

out Demon Hunter o.c.c. with notes on how the character can be easily used in Nightbane®. The Palladium Fantasy RPG®. Rifts®. Heroes Unlimited™. Ninjas & Superspies™. and Be­yond the Supernatural™.

Mike also gives us a nifty villain called "The Dark Rider."

Artwork by Wayne Breaux Jr.

Page 91 - Chaos Earth™ RPG

Part Three: Magic & Magic O.C.C.s Kevin Siembieda is back with another heart stopping instal­

lment for Chaos EarthTM, a complete new role-playing game being developed and presented in the pages of The Rifter® be­fore the fmal version is released as a new game in 2003.

Ever want to play in an apocalyptic setting? We mean as hu­man civilization collapses all around you? You have? Good, here's your chance. Enjoy.

This installment opens with Excerpts from the Journal of Lieutenant General Lindsey Sawyer (she was introduced last is­sue) to advance the story and set the stage for the current situa­tion. We get a glimpse at life in Chicago and General Sawyer's personal experiences and fears. It is followed by a section about the emergence of magic in Chaos Earth and a few new Magic O.C.C.s. Plus more hints about NEMA and is forces and a bit on psychics. Yep, the excitement for Chaos Earth just keeps build­ing.

Artwork by Mike Wilson. Bulldog power armor by Wayne Breaux Jr.

The theme for issue 19 Magic and psionics seems to be the running theme of this is­

sue. Magic wands, new magic spells, the emergence of magic and spell casters in Chaos Earth, new psychic O.C.c.s and glimpses of the future (see Coming Attractions) fill this pulse pounding issue. Of course we had to throw in a little tech for you technophiles so there is a little something for everyone. En­joy.

The Cover The attractive but forceful (or at least "force field") young

lady could be a psychic or one of the new practitioners of magic to appear out of the ashes of Chaos Earth.

The artist is Mark Evans, and the artwork is actually taken from one of the cards in the Rifts® Collectable Card Game. Art director, Kevin Siembieda, thought it fit the psionics and magic theme of this issue very nicely .

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 the reader can use (if you want to), or which might inspire you to create your own wonders.

www.palladiumbooks.com - Palladium Online (12 pt)

Coming Next Issue The Rifter™ #20

• Chaos Earth™, Part Four: The weapons and equipment of NEMA and maybe some other O.c.c.s, some monsters and more setting information and ideas.

• Material for Nightbane®. • More material for Rifts®. • Material for Palladium Fantasy®. • The next chapter of the Hammer ofthe

Forge™. • The latest news and developments at

Palladium. • 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™

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