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| - That's right, Palladium was the very first (to our knowledge) to actively and intentionally implement the working fundamentals of "one" game system. Certainly, we've done if for the longest number of years, with a string of hit role-playing games. It all started in 1979 when every gamer I (Kevin Siembieda) knew, complained about having to adapt new games and/or supplements from one system or another. Even games from the same company had different rules and this frustrated them to no end. I said to myself, "Hmm, if I ever did roleplaying games I'd create 'one' basic set of rules that could be used in every possible genre." At the time, everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY, said you couldn't mix science fiction and fantasy, let alone create a game system that could satisfy both and other settings too. The funny thing was that I was doing just that in my Palladium campaign. By 1980 I had decided to publish the Palladium Fantasy system and began to make plans. I wanted to publish the game as one, big softbound book, but lacked the financial resources. My pal, Erick Wujcik, suggested I produce some smaller games and put the Palladium RPG on the back burner until I could do it right. This seemed to be my only recourse. After great thought, and with 3000 dollars in hand, I decided to pull various aspects from my Palladium Fantasy campaign (the Defilers) namely the character generation and combat rules, along with elements from my notorious "Level Five: TechnoLevel". You see, we had played science fiction, cyborgs, robots, modern weapons, and all kinds of mixed genre stuff in the campaign for years, so that part was a snap. Star Wars® (the movies) had made SF hot and I was pretty excited about doing a science fiction RPG. 1981, The Mechanoid Invasion®. As Palladium fans already know, this was my first game, publishing the basic Palladium character and combat system. 1982, Journey™ and Homeworld™, the other two parts of the Mechanoid Trilogy®. Journey introduced minor magic and some psionics. Homeworld published the full Palladium psionic system and powers extracted from the yet unpublished fantasy system. 1982 also saw the development of the Palladium Weapons and Armour series. which presented tons of data on historical weapons, armour and castles compatible with ALL game systems, not just our own. Seven books would complete that series and later be reworked into the Compendium of Weapons, Armour, and Castles™. 1983, still years away from the hype of GURPS, Palladium releases the Palladium RolePlaying Game® (fantasy). The one universal, dare I say, "Megaversal" game system is presented in all its glory. 1984, the release of Heroes Unlimited™ and the same basic game system, but extrapolated to include superheroes of all kinds. And still two years away from GURPS, the game generally acknowledged as the father of the "one" universal game system. 1985, see the publication of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®. This was a risky project for us because we had to press 10,000 copies (a lot back then) and sell 6000 copies before we would break even. A great deal of time and money was spent on design, art and packaging. The trick was to design an RPG that would break Palladium into the (then comics only) comic book shop market. As everyone knows, TMNT was a massive success and Palladium's first megahit. We kept that license for 16 years, running through the end of 2000, before we decided to let it go. 1986 saw us release After the Bomb®, a series of books that took the idea of mutant animals to the limit by making them the masters of a post apocalyptic Earth "after the bomb" hit -- i.e. nuclear holocaust. Generations after nuclear armaggedon, humans teetered on the brink of extinction and mutant animals -- some human-like, others more animalistic or monstrous -- have "inherited the Earth!" Thousands of clans, tribes, city-states and kingdoms of mutant animals begin appear around the world, many with diverse cultures and goals, many clashing with one another or the last remaining humans. The After the Bomb® was originally a series of 48-112 page sourcebooks that required the Heroes Unlimited™ or Ninja Turtle RPG rule book to play. This series was nearly as popular as the TMNT role-playing game and continues to this day. In fact, the series gets new life Winter 2001 when its original creator, Erick Wujcik, returns to create the After the Bomb® Role-Playing Game, blending a ton of exciting, new material with the old to create a unique stand-alone role-playing game about genetic science and mutation gone wild in the aftermath of nuclear holocaust. Of course, the TMNT RPG and After the Bomb® used the same basic rules as our other books (along with new ones and ideas). Likewise Robotech® (which made is debut Fall 1986), Beyond the Supernatural™, Ninjas & Superspies™, Rifts®, Systems Failure™ and just about everything we have ever done ALL use the same, "one," basic RPG system. All the games can be combined and interchanged to create a truly infinite Megaverse of possibilities and adventure. 1986, Steve Jackson Games® releases GURPS®, the Generic Universal Role Playing System. Not take anything away from Steve Jackson, 'cuz he is one of the great game designers or our industry, but the idea of a "universal" game system wasn't new. Palladium Books had been doing for six years, starting with our first publication back in 1981. Today, those same basic rule and concept of play are still the foundation of our role-playing game, have spawned mega-hit RPG after hit, and is more popular than ever. Okay, we're back in time its 1983 and the Palladium RolePlaying Game® will hit the shelves that summer. A kind and caring distributor begs me not to publish the game as a "perfect bound trade paperback," because the standard (in those days) is boxed games or hardbound books. Any departure from those two formats will flop. He fears that the soft cover format we plan to use, will kill the game and do irreparable damage to Palladium ("A nice little game company just starting to go places," he says). I greatly appreciate his concern, but this is what I have waited years to publish, and in the softbound format. The game and the format are a success. The same distributor calls me back to congratulate me on a fine product and order more. He's so impressed he actually insist that some of his retail clients take the game on speculation at "his" own risk, something that is rarely done by the RPG "direct market" distributor. (God rest his soul, that was the kind of guy, Joe at Windmill Hobbies was. He is sorely missed.) All of Palladium's books from that year onward are published as perfectbound trade paperbacks, even our 48 page books. To insure that the pages don't fall out, we take the extra time and pay the extra expense of having the pages sewn and glued, making them far much more durable. The product is slick, colorful, and practical. We can hold down printing costs and keep the selling price low. The consumer can look inside and see exactly what he or she is getting. A winning combination for everybody! Surprisingly, it is a few years later (1985 or 1986) that other roleplaying game companies begin to use the trade paperback format. I believe Mechwarrior, by FASA was the first. Today, it is an industry standard. We didn't invent the trade paperback, but Palladium's awareness of the (then) new technology gave us and edge, and in the end transformed the look of the entire RPG industry. I personally feel that Palladium has never done a classic cyberpunk game, not even Rifts®. However, today, the term "cyberpunk" seems to connote any RPG that includes cybernetics, mechanical implants/augmentation, and/or bionics. If that is true, then Palladium published the FIRST cyberpunk RPG back in 1984!!! And depending on how one looks at it, 1981 with The Mechanoid Invasion®. 1984, Heroes Unlimited™, was released. The game boasted that players could play every type of superhuman hero conceivable. That included, cyborgs and robots. In fact, the cybernetics and bionics found in Rifts® are largely inspired by and derivative of Heroes Unlimited™, with bits and pieces from Ninjas & Superspies™ (1988). Other superpowered characters included mutants, mutant animals, aliens, robots, experiments, super-geniuses, stage magicians, physical training, spies, weapon masters, etc. For some dumb reason, I was against having magic in a "modern" world of superheroes, so you couldn't be a "wizard" or magically empowered in the original version of Heroes UnlimitedTM. The ideas were great, but the rule book was clumsy and plagued by poor layout and many typing mistakes. It did boast a Jim Steranko cover and interior art by Mike Gustovich. In the end, new ideas, bold concept and great artwork won out and the RPG sold like crazy. 1987, I did a major rewrite of the rules and changed the layout/presentation of Heroes Unlimited™. I included magic, magic characters and crazy heroes, added about 100 pages, and produced a far superior game than its predecessor. That was Revised Heroes Unlimited™. 1998, the world of comic books, gaming and the real world had changed, and it was time for Heroes Unlimited™, Second Edition. I spent nearly a year thinking about how to retool, clarify, improve, and expand the game before diving into the Second Editon. I solicited input from fellow Palladium game designers, freelancers and fans. The end result was a gigantic, 352 page Heroes Unlimited™, Second Edition with better descriptions, the Mega-Hero, more super abilities, and dynamic comic book artwork, including a new cover by Steranko. 1999, you would think with a 350 page rule book one could get every possible rule into the darn thing, but we couldn't, so Wayne Breaux Jr. and I whipped up the Heroes Unlimited™ G.M.'s Guide. It offers optional rules for superhuman rampages, brawling, quick roll villains, playing vigilantes and anti-heroes, tips on building an adventure, alignment guidelines, the law and new magic, along with 10 full adventures and ideas for more. It was an instant hit. Today, sales of Heroes Unlimited™, Second Edition continue to climb as new gamers discover this vast world of superheroes for themselves. HU2 allows players to create any type of superhuman and hero he or she can imagine, or recreate their favorites from television, film, books and comics. Supported by a series of new adventure sourcebooks like Century Station, Gramercy Island™, Mutant Ungerground™, The Nursery™, Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide™, Hardware Unlimited™, and more, Heroes Unlimited™ is becoming a comic book style sf world in its own right, and as exciting as any comic book series on the market. Cybernetic implants, disguises, and bionics also appear in Ninjas & Superspies™ (1988), Rifts® (1990), Triax & the NGR™ (1992), and Skraypers™ (1998), all of which are compatible with Heroes UnlimitedTM. To my thinking, however, these books all have a superhero feel. If any of these RPGs have a "cyberpunk" flavor, it's Ninjas & Superspies™, written by Erick Wujcik.
- The company was founded in Michigan in 1981 by Kevin Siembieda and started producing its fantasy RPG series. Palladium Books acquired the Robotech RPG license but eventually let it expire after publishing 14 books, along with several from the Macross II series. In 2006, the company suffered a financial disaster, but was able to recover. They re-acquired the Robotech license in 2007, but could not publish the first book until 2008.
- Palladium Books — компания-разработчик и издатель настольных ролевых игр, наиболее известная по Rifts. Все книги Palladium Books используют единую Megaversal System, различающуюся диалектами в зависимости от мира и жанра. Благодаря этому все книги Palladium Books совместимы, начиная с первой редакции «The Mechanoid Invasion», вышедшей в 1981 году, до сегодняшних новинок. Все миры Palladium Books входят в мультивселенную Megaverse.
- Palladium Books (sometimes called "Palladium Games") is a role-playing game publisher founded by Kevin Siembieda and Erick Wujcik, best known for their popular, genre-crossing Rifts gaming series (1990-present). Although not created to be a universal system, they were one of the first companies to have success creating role-playing games in multiple genres. This is why Palladium Books' house system is sometimes called "Megaversal" - "not universal, but more than just one world." Palladium Books is based in Taylor, Michigan.
- Palladium Books is a publisher of role-playing games (RPGs) perhaps best known for its popular, expansive Rifts series (1990–present). Palladium was founded April 1981 in Detroit, Michigan by current president and lead game designer Kevin Siembieda, and is now based in Westland, Michigan. The company enjoys the support of a small but dedicated fanbase who praise its various game series for their innovative settings and ease of adaptability to various personal preferences, play styles, and power levels. Palladium published the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985) RPG and its supplements.
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