Palladium Books

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Palladium Books Inc.
legal form Inc.
founding 1981
Seat Westland , USA
Branch media
Website www.palladiumbooks.com

Palladium Books Inc. is one of the oldest existing US role-playing game publishers and is based in Westland , Michigan .

history

In 1981 Kevin Siembieda and Erick Wujcik founded the publishing house and brought out their first science fiction role-playing game Mechanoid Invasion . This was followed by Heroes Unlimited ( superhero ), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many other RPGs. The greatest success is the RPG series Rifts , started in 1990 , a mixture of science fiction and fantasy RPG set 300 years after a world war-triggered apocalypse that led to the return of magic, Atlantis and invasions by supernatural monsters .

Various attempts to expand the product portfolio failed:

  • One of the series of novels about Rifts was not well received by the audience.
  • An experiment with a trading card game failed and the partner company had to file for bankruptcy.
  • A console game was developed by Rifts for the Nokia N-Gage , but it found few buyers due to the poor sales of the N-Gage.
  • A film project Rifts with Jerry Bruckheimer has been in the (pre) planning phase for several years.

The company found itself in serious financial trouble in 2006 due to a large internal embezzlement, the above failures, and the general downturn in the role-playing business. At the moment the biggest financial problems have been overcome and sales are on the up again.

Game system

All game books are based on a common, similar system. The special thing about all the role-playing games that are released is the principle of compatibility with one another. With a few small adjustments, you can combine all products (no matter if SF, horror or fantasy) with one another, as they all use the same internal basic system. Palladium Books coined the expression Megaverse (as an increase of Universe , English for universe).

In addition to the general ledger, there are additional extension books for most product lines.

All products are only available in English, but they also have a large fan base in German-speaking countries.

Products

(Series sorted by their first appearance)

  • 1981: Palladium Books of Weapons is an encyclopedic series about historical weapons and military equipment and arbitrary role-playing games.
  • 1981: The Mechanoid Invasion is a science fiction RPG. Human colonists fight a race of cybernetic organisms with psi powers that want to obliterate all humanoid life.
  • 1982: Recon , originally a pure Vietnam RPG, was later expanded into a modern mercenary RPG set in Africa, Asia and South America.
  • 1983: Valley of the Pharaohs is a historical role-playing game set in ancient Egypt. This series has long been discontinued.
  • 1983: Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game is a fantasy role-playing game, the name of which is derived directly from the company name. It originally appeared under the title Palladium Role-Playing Game
  • 1984: Heroes Unlimited is a superhero role-playing game.
  • 1985: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness was based on the comic series of the same name . As sales decreased, the license was not renewed.
  • 1986: After The Bomb , a post-apocalyptic RPG based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . The main theme is the struggle for survival of mutated, intelligent animals, often against the remaining human nations that have developed fascist traits.
  • 1986: Robotech , based on the anime series of the same name and acted in a future shaped by combat robots . The license for it had expired but was reacquired and the series continued.
  • 1988: Beyond the Supernatural , a modern horror role-playing game that is based on Call of Cthulhu and was completely redesigned in 2005.
  • 1988: Ninjas and Superspies is a mixture of spy and martial arts role-playing game with high-tech elements.
  • 1990: Rifts is a mix of science fiction and fantasy role-playing game and takes place 300 years after a world war-triggered apocalypse that led to the return of magic, Atlantis and invasions by supernatural monsters.
  • 1993: Macross II , based on the anime series of the same name , which served as the template for the Robotech series. Since the license has expired, this series will no longer be continued.
  • 1995: Nightbane is a modern horror role-playing game in which the supernatural plays a much more open role than in Beyond the Supernatural . Monsters from a dark parallel world try to take over the world by replacing the various governments with doppelgangers. The game was originally called Nightspawn , but had to be renamed after a legal battle with Todd McFarlane over his comic book Spawn .
  • 1999: System Failure is a post-apocalyptic RPG in which aliens, beetle-like creatures Energy (ger .: bugs ) after the year 2000 problem (ger .: millennium bug take power).
  • 2003: Chaos Earth takes place immediately after a third world war that triggers a magical apocalypse and is the predecessor of Rifts .
  • 2004: Splicers is a science fiction role-playing game in which humans have to fight for their survival on a planet populated by humans using organic technology against a robotic threat (similar to the one in the Terminator films).
  • 2008: Dead Reign is a horror role-playing game in which much of humanity has been turned into zombies . After the total collapse of all structures, the survivors have to fight for survival and against the zombies.
  • The Rifter has been published four times a year since January 1998 and contains additions to the above-mentioned role-playing games, game tips, adventures, etc. The contributions mostly come from fans who can contribute their own ideas.

Video

Palladium also released videotapes of episodes from Robotech / Macross.

Web links