Tag: Palladium Books

Press Release: PALLADIUM BOOKS® WEEKLY UPDATE – MAY 30, 2019

  By ,

PALLADIUM BOOKS® WEEKLY UPDATE – MAY 30, 2019

BY KEVIN SIEMBIEDA

ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE

I hope those of you who had a long weekend enjoyed yourselves. I worked through most of it figuring I’d have three days of quiet to move along Rifts® Bestiary™ and I did. Email problems and computer issues plagued us since the last Weekly Update, devouring Wayne’s time, so we are only now getting into the laying out phase of Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One. I took that time to go back into the manuscript and do additional embellishments on some of the beasts. I really want this book to be a crowd-pleaser and wow people. I also wrote what I thought might be a Foreword to the book, but I’m not sure I’m going to use it, so I’ll include it here in this Weekly Update as my Closing Thoughts.

Those difficulties we had sending out mass emails meant we were unable to email the May 23rd Weekly Update, and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you. We hope you didn’t miss out on the mind-blowing Rifts® sale that ran from last Thursday through yesterday. We were able to send out a couple “sale ends soon” emails that should have reached most of you.

NEW Sale: All Dead Reign® and most Nightbane®, and select other titles featuring the undead and darkness, are on sale now through next Wednesday at prices to send chills down your spine. The sale takes place here in Palladium Books’ online store PLUS a similar sale is taking place on DriveThruRPG for PDF titles. We figured with the new season of Fear the Walking Dead returning this weekend, we’d put Dead Reign® and other dark settings on sale. But it is only for a short time, so please spread the word!

Otherwise, we continue to push forward with work on several titles. While our main focus is getting Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One to the printer and into your hands, other books are coming along too. At this stage, that’s mostly writing, editing and artwork by others. The next book release will be The Rifter® #83, filled with truly great adventure source material. Then Dead Reign®: In the Face of Death™ sourcebook and Garden of the Gods™ sourcebook for Palladium Fantasy. As I mentioned last Update, I may flip the release order of those two and do Garden of the Gods™ then In the Face of Death™. I still haven’t decided yet, but fantasy is calling me. Then with a little luck and hard work, Chaos Earth® Psychic Scream™ and/or The Rifter® #84 will quickly follow and all four of five titles will be available by the end of July. On top of that, we have people working on Rifts® Antarctica and Rifts® Titan Robotics™, along with a number of other titles, including books for Palladium Fantasy.

NEW SALE – DEAD REIGN®, NIGHTBANE® AND OTHER BOOKS – AT PDF PRICES – NOW THRU JUNE 5, 2019

Are you are aching to destroy zombies and battle the forces of darkness? Yes! Then this sale is for you. ALL Dead Reign®, Nightbane® and other select physical books are on sale (except for those that are extremely low or out of stock) at prices to wake the dead! Palladium Books – today thru Wednesday night, June 5, 2019. A similar sale for PDF titles is also happening at DriveThruRPG; see details below.

  • Dead Reign® rule book
  • Dead Reign® Sourcebooks – ALL
  • Nightbane® rule book
  • Nightbane® sourcebooks, most, including Dark Designs™
  • Fantasy: Dragons and Gods™
  • Fantasy: Old Ones™ (adventure source book)
  • Fantasy: Land of the Damned™ Two: Eternal Torment™ (undead and monsters)
  • The Rifter® #78 (the Modern Necromancer)
  • Rifts® Vampire Sourcebook
  • Rifts® Africa (4 Horsemen of Apocalypse)
  • Rifts® Madhaven™ (haunted New York City)
  • Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ (demon invasion)
  • Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™ (CS fighting demon invasion)
  • Rifts® Dark Conversions™ (undead and monsters)
  • Rifts® Chaos Earth® Resurrection™ adventure sourcebook
  • On sale now thru June 5, 2019. Enjoy and please spread the word.

A KICKSTARTER YOU MAY WANT TO SUPPORT: THE WORLD BETWEEN NOVEL (FANTASY) BY SARAH ORR ATEN – 7 DAYS LEFT

Many of you know Sarah Aten from Gen Con, the Palladium Open House and her activities online. Sarah is a dear friend and a great helper. And she is writing a Fantasy time travel novel that she is funding via Kickstarter, now thru June 6, 2019. Get all the information you need from the Kickstarter, and if it sounds good or you want to support our friend Sarah, then please do so. For more details, here is the link to The World Between Kickstarter. Sarah, unleash your imagination! I look forward to getting my book.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1825805433/the-world-between

Rifts Bestiary

UPDATE: RIFTS® BESTIARY™, VOLUME ONE – JUNE RELEASE

It has taken a while but this monster of a book is entering the final stage of production, and nobody is happier about it than we are. Next stop, the printer.

Don’t forget, we are not just collecting monsters and animals from Rifts® books and reprinting them. I am updating each and every one of them, making every creature feel like something new and expanded. Each one a comprehensive description filled with fun surprises and ideas for adventure and various uses by players and G.M.s alike. Beasts from across the Megaverse and ranging from delightful and helpful to monstrous and alien. Roughly 100 monsters and animals in the Rifts® Bestiary Vol. One, alone. Plus words from Erin Tarn about the wilderness of North America. June release.

The Rifter Number 83

UPDATE: THE RIFTER® #83 – JUNE RELEASE

The artwork has been coming in all week. Another book soon to go into final layout.

  • Treasures of the Megaverse® by Carl Gleba.
  • Operation Minotaur for Beyond the Supernatural™ by Hendrik Härterich.
  • Half-Ogre race for Palladium Fantasy RPG® by Ian Herbert.
  • Prophet O.C.C. for Palladium Fantasy RPG® by Ian Herbert.
  • Hunter/Vigilante for Heroes Unlimited™ by Matt Reed.
  • The Superspy/Secret Operative for Heroes Unlimited™ by Matt Reed.
  • News and Coming Attractions.
  • 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 183 – June release.

The Rifter Number 84

UPDATE: THE RIFTER® #84 – END OF JUNE OR EARLY JULY RELEASE

Wayne has made his selections and I will be assigning artwork soon. Another great issue full of fun and ideas.

  • Source material for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural™, and more!
  • John Zeleznik cover.
  • 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 184 – end of June or July release.

In the Face of Death

UPDATE: IN THE FACE OF DEATH™, A SOURCEBOOK FOR DEAD REIGN®

The next book on my schedule. I expect this one to go quickly. Artwork is done. As soon as I am finished with Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One, I dive into finishing In the Face of Death™. A June/July release.

Garden of the Gods

UPDATE: GARDEN OF THE GODS™ – SUMMER RELEASE

The cover is being painted and the interior artwork that is already coming in is looking great. This Palladium Fantasy sourcebook should be fuel for countless adventures and will be followed by the Lopan world book which explores the rest of the island nation, its people, and more adventure.

Garden of the Gods™ is a unique adventure engine that should give players and Game Masters plenty of fuel for their characters and games. The Raw Preview Edition gives you a great idea of what you can expect when the finished book is released later this summer. We cannot wait to get all these books into your hands. I am shooting for an end of July/Gen Con release, but August is probably more realistic.

Chaos Earth Psychic Scream

UPDATE: RIFTS® CHAOS EARTH® – PSYCHIC SCREAM™ – SUMMER RELEASE

The interior artwork is being worked on even as you read this. Another epic sourcebook by Taylor White with additional material by Kevin Siembieda. Shooting for a July release, but no promises. I am pumped about this title.

UPDATE: RIFTS® TITAN ROBOTICS™

Finished artwork and concept sketches are already starting to come in and looking fabulous. Half the art has been assigned and I will be assigning the rest very soon. As those of you who have purchased the Titan Robotics™ Raw Editionalready know, there is a lot of new tech, power armor, robots, etc., in this book that needs to be illustrated. I now have a trio of artists working on the book, and will be assigning others. A summer or fall release, which depends on how quickly some other projects come together.

UPDATE: RIFTS® BESTIARY™, VOLUME TWO – FALL RELEASE

Nothing new on this front, but we all want it to be released as quickly as possible. Looking at a fall release.

Rifts Antarctica

UPDATE: RIFTS® ANTARCTICA™

Nothing new to report. I think Rifts® Antarctica™ is going to surprise and delight a lot of people. It is also a great example of the fun you can have with the Raw Editions. The sold out Rifts® Antarctica Raw Edition is a far cry from what the finished book is going to be. Those of you who bought the Raw Edition get a glimpse at Palladium’s creative process. When you compare the two, you’ll see what we kept, what we eliminated, what we added, and how we embellished the material to reach the creative finale of the finished book coming this fall or winter. Fun and educational for those of you who aspire to be writers yourself or just like to have the inside track at Palladium. And true of all Raw Editions vs the finished book. Probably a fall or winter release.

UPDATE: THE DISAVOWED™, LIVING NOWHERE™, BEYOND THE SUPERNATURAL™SOURCEBOOKS, AND OTHER TITLES

These titles and several others are NOT forgotten and are in various stages of active production or waiting for production. As always, just because a book is not specifically listed in every Weekly Update, it does not mean it is discontinued or in limbo, it means there are more immediate things to talk about or there’s no substantive news to report. We are anxious to put as many of the books you’ve been waiting for into your hands as possible over the next 18 months. That includes Chaos Earth® First Responders™, Rifts® Antarctica, Rifts® CS Arsenal™, Rifts® Living Nowhere™, Beyond the Supernatural™ sourcebooks, more Fantasy sourcebooks and other titles. So if a book you are waiting for is not mentioned in an Update, it means there is nothing new to report, but it should still be in the pipeline and news for it will be coming in the weeks or months ahead. Right now, we are focused on releases for the next six months, which by our count is 6-7 titles. And many of them are in various stages of production or development.

NEW ON DRIVETHRURPG.COM – STOP THE DARKNESS SALE – ALL PDFS FOR DEAD REIGN®, NIGHTBANE® AND SELECT OTHER TITLES ON SALE – NOW THRU JUNE 5

Are you are aching to destroy zombies and battle the forces of darkness? Yes! Then this sale is for you. ALL Dead Reign®, Nightbane® and more PDF titles are on sale! Starting today thru Wednesday night, June 5, 2019. A similar sale for book titles is also happening at PalladiumBooks.com.

  • Dead Reign® rule book
  • ALL Dead Reign® Sourcebooks
  • ALL Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures
  • Nightbane® rule book
  • ALL Nightbane® sourcebooks
  • Fantasy: Dragons and Gods™
  • Fantasy: Old Ones™ (adventure source book)
  • Fantasy: Land of the Damned™ Two: Eternal Torment™ (undead and monsters)
  • The Rifter® #78 (the Modern Necromancer)
  • Rifts® Vampire Sourcebook
  • Rifts® Africa (4 Horsemen of Apocalypse)
  • Rifts® Madhaven™ (haunted New York City)
  • Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ (demon invasion)
  • Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™ (CS fighting demon invasion)
  • Rifts® Dark Conversions™ (undead and monsters)
  • Rifts® Chaos Earth® Resurrection™ adventure sourcebook
  • On sale now thru June 5, 2019. Enjoy and please spread the word.

Recent PDF additions include the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet: a Microsoft Excel-based character management system. Packed with features and data collected from every official Palladium Fantasy sourcebook to enable you to create Fantasy characters quickly (25 minutes!) and help you to update and manage them for years to come. The Rifter® #79 (Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Gaming through History, G.M., and more), The Rifter® #78 (the Modern Necromancer, Palladium Fantasy®, Rifts®, Splicers®, more); Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™, the Coalition’s response to the escalating Minion War™ crisis, Psi-Battalion, CS Demon Hunter, special training and more).

Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Three: Zombies, Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Two: Civilians and Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume One: Survivors. There are also paper miniatures for Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy® and Rifts®. A new, up-to-date, PDF Palladium Books Catalog. Nightbane® Dark Designs™ sourcebook with 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, 18 new Morphus Tables, all other Morphus Tables collected and more. Systems Failure™ RPG, a 160 page RPG that deals with alien invasion and a post-apocalypse setting that is fun and dynamic. Civilization is on the verge of collapse when the so-called “bugs” invade and turn humans into zombie-like slaves. Monsters, heroes and fun. A complete RPG and setting. Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two: 256 pages of technology and fun. 30+ power armors, 30+ body armors, 15 combat vehicles, 45 vehicles (hovercycles, etc.), 10 robot haulers, the Robodome and more. Bizantium and the Northern Islands™: the northernmost part of the Known World, the Cold Born, Necromancy ships made from dead sea serpents, 15 creatures, Random Sea Monster Generator, and more. Rifts® Northern Gun™ One. This fan favorite might be thought of as the big book of giant robots – an in-depth look at Northern Gun, 70+ weapons, 27 robots, NG O.C.C.s, key people and places, and much more. Mysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic™ with Wizards, their Apprentices, nearly 60 new magic spells and remember, magic and monsters in the Fantasy RPG are easily adapted to Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, HU2 and other settings. Wolfen Empire™ Fantasy sourcebook, the Great Northern Wilderness and Killer Winters, 12 Wolfen Tribes, Wolfen military and society, 15+ creatures, 5 full adventures, 101 adventure ideas, random encounter tables, notable people, places, plus FREE Sneak Previews of The Rifter® #80, The Rifter® #81, The Rifter® #82, and more on DriveThruRPG.com.

PRESS RELEASE: PALLADIUM BOOKS® WEEKLY UPDATE – MAY 23, 2019

  By ,

PALLADIUM BOOKS® WEEKLY UPDATE – MAY 23, 2019

BY KEVIN SIEMBIEDA

ONE GAME SYSTEM – EVERY GENRE – COUNTLESS WORLDS – ENDLESS ADVENTURE

Lately my thoughts have been all about blowing minds and Wow Factor with our books. So with that in mind, I thought we’d do a massive, mind-blowing Rifts® SALE here in our online store AND a similar sale on DriveThruRPG – ALL Rifts® titles (except for those we are running very low on) at a discount that should send shudders throughout the Megaverse®. But only for a short time. Spread the word!

The Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One enters into the layout phase. I’m still doing a bit of last minute writing, but Wayne is about to start laying out the book. As a big book with maps and art for each beast, that should take about a week. Then it is off to the printer!

The next book release will be The Rifter® #83, filled with great adventure source material. Then Dead Reign®: In the Face of Death™ sourcebook and Garden of the Gods™ sourcebook for Palladium Fantasy. Actually, depending on which I feel the hottest writing, I may flip the release order of those two. I haven’t decided yet. And with luck, Chaos Earth® Psychic Scream™ and/or The Rifter® #84 all out by the end of July. On top of that, we have people working on Rifts® Antarcticaand Rifts® Titan Robotics™ along with a number of other titles, including books for Palladium Fantasy.

Hey, it’s the holiday weekend, so I will keep this Update short. Enjoy the sales and your long weekend.

MIND-BLOWING RIFTS® SALE – NOW THRU MAY 29, 2019

ALL Rifts® titles on sale (except for those we are running very low on) are available now through the weekend, and until Wednesday night, at prices that will shake the Megaverse®. But only for a short time, so please spread the word.

What else is there to say? Oh, a similar sale for PDF books is happening at the same time on DriveThruRPG.com. Take advantage of both sales while you can and enjoy.

A KICKSTARTER YOU MIGHT WANT TO SUPPORT – THE WORLD BETWEEN

Many of you know Sarah Aten from Gen Con, the Palladium Open House and her activities online. Sarah is a dear friend and a great helper. She and Wayne run the registers at Gen Con, the POH and other events, and she has plenty of Fantasy and gaming street cred. Well, it seems she has gotten tired of watching her husband, Brandon Aten and her brother, Matthew Orr (Rifts® Sovietski, The Rifter®) be creative in the gaming world, and has decided to write a Fantasy time travel novel entitled The World Between. Which sounds right up the alley for Palladium fans. She is funding it on Kickstarter right now thru June 3, 2019, and is looking for support. I always like to encourage people’s creativity, and I have seen Sarah’s talented side, so I will definitely be making my pledge this weekend. I hope many of you, especially those who know her, will do the same. For more details, here is the link to The World Between Kickstarter. Sarah, unleash your imagination! I look forward to getting my book.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1825805433/the-world-between

Rifts Bestiary

UPDATE: RIFTS® BESTIARY, VOLUME ONE – JUNE RELEASE

Big books like this often feel like they take forever, not just for those of you anxiously awaiting them, but also for us guys creating them. So I am happy to report that the Rifts® Bestiary, Volume One is going into the layout phase of production. Next stop, the printer.

Don’t forget, we are not just collecting monsters and animals from Rifts® books and reprinting them. I am updating each and every one of them, making every creature feel like something new and expanded. Each one a comprehensive description filled with fun surprises and ideas for adventure and various uses by players and G.M.s alike. Beasts from across the Megaverse and ranging from delightful and helpful to monstrous and alien. Roughly 100 monsters and animals in the Rifts® Bestiary Vol. One, alone. Plus words from Erin Tarn about the wilderness of North America. June release.

The Rifter Number 83

UPDATE: THE RIFTER® #83 – JUNE RELEASE

People have been busy editing and illustrating the material for this book. Another book soon to go into final layout.

  • Treasures of the Megaverse® by Carl Gleba.
  • Operation Minotaur for Beyond the Supernatural™ by Hendrik Härterich.
  • Half-Ogre race for Palladium Fantasy RPG® by Ian Herbert.
  • Prophet O.C.C. for Palladium Fantasy RPG® by Ian Herbert.
  • Hunter/Vigilante for Heroes Unlimited™ by Matt Reed.
  • The Superspy/Secret Operative for Heroes Unlimited™ by Matt Reed.
  • News and Coming Attractions.
  • 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 183 – June release.

The Rifter Number 84

UPDATE: THE RIFTER® #84 – END OF JUNE OR EARLY JULY RELEASE

Wayne has made his selections and I will be assigning artwork soon. Another great issue full of fun and ideas.

  • Source material for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural™, and more!
  • John Zeleznik cover.
  • 96 pages – $14.99 retail – Cat. No. 184 – end of June or July release.

In the Face of Death

UPDATE: IN THE FACE OF DEATH™, A SOURCEBOOK FOR DEAD REIGN®

The next book on my schedule. I expect this one to go quickly. Artwork is done. As soon as I am finished with Rifts® Bestiary™ Volume One, I dive into finishing In the Face of Death™. A June/July release.

Garden of the Gods

UPDATE: GARDEN OF THE GODS™ – SUMMER RELEASE

The cover is being painted. The interior artwork has been assigned and is being produced. Another great adventure sourcebook for Palladium Fantasy. It should be followed by the Lopan book.

Garden of the Gods™ is a unique adventure engine that should give players and Game Masters plenty of fuel for their characters and games. The Raw Preview Edition gives you a great idea of what you can expect when the finished book is released later this summer. We cannot wait to get all these books into your hands. I am shooting for an end of July/Gen Con release, but August is probably more realistic.

Chaos Earth Psychic Scream

UPDATE: RIFTS® CHAOS EARTH® – PSYCHIC SCREAM™ – SUMMER RELEASE

The interior artwork is being worked on even as you read this. Another epic sourcebook by Taylor White with additional material by Kevin Siembieda. Shooting for a July release, but no promises. I am pumped about this title.

UPDATE: RIFTS® TITAN ROBOTICS™

Half the art has been assigned and I will be assigning the rest very soon. As those of you who have purchased the Titan Robotics™ Raw Edition already know, there is a lot of new tech, power armor, robots, etc., in this book that needs to be illustrated. I now have a trio of artists working on the book, and will be assigning others. A summer or fall release, which depends on how quickly some other projects come together.

UPDATE: RIFTS® BESTIARY™, VOLUME TWO – FALL RELEASE

Nothing new on this front, but we all want it to be released as quickly as possible. Looking at a fall release.

Rifts Antarctica

UPDATE: RIFTS® ANTARCTICA™

Nothing new to report. I think Rifts® Antarctica™ is going to surprise and delight a lot of people. It is also a great example of the fun you can have with the Raw Editions. The sold out Rifts® Antarctica Raw Edition is a far cry from what the finished book is going to be. Those of you who bought the Raw Edition get a glimpse at Palladium’s creative process. When you compare the two, you’ll see what we kept, what we eliminated, what we added, and how we embellished the material to reach the creative finale of the finished book coming this fall or winter. Fun and educational for those of you who aspire to be writers yourself or just like to have the inside track at Palladium. And true of all Raw Editions vs the finished book. Probably a fall or winter release.

UPDATE: THE DISAVOWED™, LIVING NOWHERE™, BEYOND THE SUPERNATURAL™SOURCEBOOKS, AND OTHER TITLES

These titles and several others are NOT forgotten and are in various stages of active production or waiting for production. As always, just because a book is not specifically listed in every Weekly Update, it does not mean it is discontinued or in limbo, it means there are more immediate things to talk about or there’s no substantive news to report. We are anxious to put as many of the books you’ve been waiting for into your hands as possible over the next 18 months. That includes Chaos Earth® First Responders™, Rifts® Antarctica, Rifts® CS Arsenal™, Rifts® Living Nowhere™, Beyond the Supernatural™ sourcebooks, more Fantasy sourcebooks and other titles. So if a book you are waiting for is not mentioned in an Update, it means there is nothing new to report, but it should still be in the pipeline and news for it will be coming in the weeks or months ahead. Right now, we are focused on releases for the next six months, which by our count is 6-7 titles. And many of them are in various stages of production or development.

NEW ON DRIVETHRURPG.COM – MIND BLOWING RIFTS® SALE – ALL PDF RIFTS®TITLES ON SALE – NOW THRU MAY 29

The name of this Rifts® Sale says it all. Game on.

Recent PDF additions include the Palladium Fantasy RPG® Interactive Character Sheet: a Microsoft Excel-based character management system. Packed with features and data collected from every official Palladium Fantasy sourcebook to enable you to create Fantasy characters quickly (25 minutes!) and help you to update and manage them for years to come. The Rifter® #79 (Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy®, Heroes Unlimited™, Gaming through History, G.M., and more), The Rifter® #78 (the Modern Necromancer, Palladium Fantasy®, Rifts®, Splicers®, more); Rifts® Heroes of Humanity™, the Coalition’s response to the escalating Minion War™ crisis, Psi-Battalion, CS Demon Hunter, special training and more).

Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Three: Zombies, Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume Two: Civilians and Dead Reign® Paper Miniatures Volume One: Survivors. There are also paper miniatures for Heroes Unlimited™, Palladium Fantasy® and Rifts®. A new, up-to-date, PDF Palladium Books Catalog. Nightbane® Dark Designs™ sourcebook with 60 new Common Talents, 38 new Elite Talents, 18 new Morphus Tables, all other Morphus Tables collected and more. Systems Failure™ RPG, a 160 page RPG that deals with alien invasion and a post-apocalypse setting that is fun and dynamic. Civilization is on the verge of collapse when the so-called “bugs” invade and turn humans into zombie-like slaves. Monsters, heroes and fun. A complete RPG and setting. Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two: 256 pages of technology and fun. 30+ power armors, 30+ body armors, 15 combat vehicles, 45 vehicles (hovercycles, etc.), 10 robot haulers, the Robodome and more. Bizantium and the Northern Islands™: the northernmost part of the Known World, the Cold Born, Necromancy ships made from dead sea serpents, 15 creatures, Random Sea Monster Generator, and more. Rifts® Northern Gun™ One. This fan favorite might be thought of as the big book of giant robots – an in-depth look at Northern Gun, 70+ weapons, 27 robots, NG O.C.C.s, key people and places, and much more. Mysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic™ with Wizards, their Apprentices, nearly 60 new magic spells and remember, magic and monsters in the Fantasy RPG are easily adapted to Rifts®, Chaos Earth®, HU2 and other settings. Wolfen Empire™ Fantasy sourcebook, the Great Northern Wilderness and Killer Winters, 12 Wolfen Tribes, Wolfen military and society, 15+ creatures, 5 full adventures, 101 adventure ideas, random encounter tables, notable people, places, plus FREE Sneak Previews of The Rifter® #80, The Rifter® #81, The Rifter® #82, and more on DriveThruRPG.com.

Read more: Palladium Books® Weekly Update – May 23, 2019

Adventures in Middle-Earth 5e Play Review – The First Journey

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The point of this series – a play review for Cubicle 7’s Adventures in Middle-earth for 5e – has been covered here, making my character, a Hobbit Scholar, has been discussed here, the character backstories ran here, and John McGuire shares the backstory for his character, Finn of Gondor, here, so with this column let’s get into the first meeting, the first job, and the first Journey where I discuss some of the Journey mechanics that AiME adds to the existing Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition system (labeled “FIRST JOURNEY” if you wish to skip ahead).

Our Loremaster is Mike and our fellowship consists of:

  • Gwynnestri of Mirkwood (often shortened to Gwynn). An elven Treasure Hunter (read, Rogue). Player: Rebecca
  • Kort, the Hushed, son of Korith, son of Hoin. A mute dwarven Slayer (read, Barbarian). Player: Stephen
  • Finn of Gondor. A 17-year-old human Wanderer (read, Ranger) with several possible backstories. Player: John McGuire (Tessera Guild)
  • Robgud Clarfield (often shortened to Rob). A Hobbit Scholar (read, Cleric). Player: Egg Embry (Tessera Guild)

Despite using this image, the journey we’re on is from the mind of our Loremaster, Mike, and not taken from Cubicle 7’s work.

 

***

FIRST MEETING

The story opens five years after the Battle of the Five Armies with our characters, largely unknown to each other, arrived in Esgaroth (Lake-town) for various reasons when Mike (Loremaster/DM) has Gwynn enter the inn. The cliche start to any campaign.

To understand the dynamic of this scene let me share that we’re playing online via Google Hangouts. Upon entering the busy serving room, Gwynnestri spots Kort, the mute dwarf that saved her life. She goes over to “speak” to him when the challenge of playing a mute character online comes up. If you’ve ever had a speech delayed, or mute, individual in your life, you know that communication is paying attention to subtle, and not so subtle, body language. To Stephen’s credit, he worked to create Kort in that space. However, what would be easy to bounce off of and react to if we were playing around a table becomes a concentration challenge online. Until you click on his window at the bottom of the screen, Hangouts cycles around to whoever is talking, which is not the mute character. If you don’t have his screen up, you lose the nuance of his performance and small moments when his character is “speaking”. However, keeping his window up all of the time means you lose out on the visuals of the other players and, especially, the Loremaster who screen shares maps to help with visualizing the settings. It’s a minor issue, but an impact to our play.

If you’ve roleplayed or written a novel/script before, you know that first scene, that first interaction, really sets the tone of your character. Rebecca decided to play Gwynnestri like no elf in Tolkien’s world, instead playing a take-no-guff heavy in the vain of a non-evil version of Marton Csokas’ Quinn from Into the Badlands (a show she’s never seen), or Stephen Amell’s season one Green Arrow from Arrow (not the Oliver character, but the violence-is-solution Arrow). Why did she go that route? Stick with me on this, my dice rolls for D&D combat can be summed up in the term, “apocalyptic”. As I’ve hinted, if my character had an oar, he’d miss water in the ocean. Prior to this campaign, every time Rebecca played a D&D character, it was a butcher. Lowest result? 19 with max damage. You know that player, they don’t participate in group combat, instead they lead the slaughter of wings of great wyrms while the rest of the party stays out of their way. My rolls are bad, but her rolls are the counter, they’re amazing. As such, she can play the violent hero because the dice let her stand tall.

Jolly Blackburn (Kenzer & Co) and Kevin Siembieda (Palladium Books) have *the* character talk. Used with permission from Jolly.

 

INTERLUDE

Rebecca and I played a D&D Adventure League game at Momo Con 2018. We were both 1st level but half of the group (8ish players) were 4th level and the encounters were a bit heavier for us. I, of course, missed everything. Rebecca was playing a 1st level halfling rogue. Her rogue killed… half or three-quarters of the monsters we encountered by herself. The 4th level characters had to defer to her. My session was: “Hey, this is my third CRIT failure in a row… I’m out of weapons to break or drop…” Her session was: “… and you rolled *another* NAT 20! With max damage! That’s another dead lizardfolk! There’s only a dozen left, do you want to charge by yourself or wait for the other players to join the fight? You’ll charge on ahead? Ok. Oh, another NAT 20. Should we just roll damage for fun?”

END INTERLUDE (Hopefully the relevance of the above Jolly/Kevin meme is clear.)

 

Back to surly Gwynnestri meeting mute Kort. It was the first scene of the campaign and one character is meant to be angry, the other quiet, and the scene was dying like casting Tyler Mane’s Sabertooth as Hamlet talking to Teller (of Penn &…) as Yorick. To save it, Mike interjected Robgud Clarfield, Hobbit, who I’d decided to assign a terrible English drawl. The accent I’m affecting is like someone based their English-English on the early punk singing voice of Billie Joe Armstrong when he was influenced by Brit punk but still from California. Shortest individual in the room, I play Rob as the sun rising in the morning on a world of good possibilities. While my counterparts… do not. So there’s a third Shakespearean character and it’s like English Pee Wee Herman. It turns out, that combination of characters was not meant to have deep philosophical talks so the deus ex machina… er, nobleman’s agent enters to offer us a chance to apply for a job.

 

NOTE: I should have stated this earlier, this is an original campaign and NOT a pre-made module. This is all from the head of our Loremaster, Mike. So, despite using the Mirkwood Campaign image above, this is not taken from that (so far as I know. I haven’t read the campaign book so I can approach this fresh).

 

FIRST JOB

We arrive at the noble home of Lord Haldeer. During the job offer we meet, and are paired with, Finn of Gondor, John’s character, a quiet 17-year-old done up in armor. The lord asks us to travel to Sadaphsan to search his ancestral family castle for heirlooms so he might learn more of his family’s history and why they moved from there to Lake-town hundreds of years gone by. We’re offered 1,000 silver pennies (is that a lot in AiME? I cannot say… yet) each for a trek of 150 to 175 miles. In terms of hooks, it’s not as hokey as finding a map leading to a dungeon and treasure, but it’s close. We pack a month-and-a-half’s worth of supplies and head out from Esgaroth along the river into Mirkwood.

FIRST JOURNEY

Our first Journey is from Lake-town to the Hall of the Elven King of Mirkwood to gain said King’s permission to travel through the whole of said realm to the foothills to the north. If you’ve read the Adventures in Middle-earth rules, you’ll know that a big difference between Dungeons & Dragons 5e and AiME is the Journey System. Unlike 5e, AiME has a specific set of phases for travel. These phases, and a change to the Long Rest system that we’ll cover in another post, create a palatable difference between 5e and AiME. In a Journey, there are four jobs that must be done during travel – Guide, Hunter, Look-out, and Scout – that have to be filled and rolled for at different points during the trip. We assigned the roles as follows:

  • Kort, the Hushed, a Slayer, was assigned the Hunter position.
  • Gwynnestri of Mirkwood, Treasure Hunter, ended up as our Scout.
  • Robgud Clarfield, a Hobbit Scholar, ended up as the Guide.
  • Finn of Gondor, a 17-year-old human, took the Look-out assignment.

Thus begins the first Journey. The Loremaster determines the Journey’s Peril Rating based on how difficult the terrain should be. Then the Guide (my character) rolls a d12 plus modifiers against the Embarkation Table. I rolled the maximum, which was a red letter day for me! We got Auspicious Beginnings, which made the journey easy. As well, we received a bonus on our next roll for the Journey Events Table, and Advantage on our first roll once we encountered something related to said table.

For the Journey Events Table, the Loremaster rolls a d12 and adds modifiers. In this case, we reached the middle result, The Wonders of Middle-earth, which gave us a chance to remove a level or Exhaustion or gain one. However, since the journey had been light, this had no impact on us. That said, we rolled well and gained a +1 to our Guide’s Arrival Roll.

For our encounter, we ran into an elven guard. Gwynn, being the elf, was put forward to talk to him. She did and then rolled her Persuasion with Advantage. The result was high and the elven guard turned out to be Adabeuond, who was Gwynnestri’s friend, and he guided us right in where we saw the majesty of the elven realm. No exhaustion, no problems.

For the Arrival Roll… well, we did not get to the Arrival Roll. Why did we skip the Arrival Roll? Learning a new system can cause that kind of challenge, you just miss certain rules.

Regardless, our first Journey was complete. Using AiME’s Journey rules was a smashing success to the point that we had no idea what we were in for with the second Journey. Just none at all… [Next Friday]

 

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Cubicle 7 is taking pre-orders for Adventures in Middle-earth – Bree-land Region Guide + PDF on there site (here). As soon as you order, you get the PDF.

Logo taken from Bundle of Holding’s Adventures in Middle-Earth for D&D 5e offering.

 

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Read my anti-clickbait clickbait article: “Everything We Know About the LORD OF THE RINGS Prequel So Far“! Guaranteed to be clickbait-tastic!

 

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