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 45

Your guide to the Palladium Megaverse®!

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First Printing – January 2009

Copyright 2009 Palladium Books® Inc.

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.

Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.

Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, RECON®, Nightbane®, Phase World®, Palladium

Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Splicers®, and Megaverse® are registered trademarks

owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.

The slogan “A Megaverse of adventure – limited only by your imagination,” and titles and names such as Dead Reign, Dyval, War-

path: Urban Jungle, Heroes of the Megaverse, Dimensional Outbreak, Armageddon Unlimited, Dark Woods, Wormwood, Minion

War, Mysteries of Magic, Hammer of the Forge, Beyond the Supernatural, BTS-2, HU2, Splicers, Chaos Earth, NEMA, MercTown,

Merc Ops, Tome Grotesque, Beyond Arcanum, Benford Group, Naruni, Mechanoid Space, Dinosaur Swamp, Arzno, Lazlo, Victor

Lazlo, Lazlo Agency, Lazlo Society, Heroes Unlimited, Powers Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Aliens Unlimited, Mutant Under-

ground, The Nursery, Hardware Unlimited, Gadgets Unlimited, Three Galaxies, Void Runners, Gramercy Island, Skraypers, Atorian

Empire, Land of the Damned, The Citadel, The Palladium of Desires, Wolfen Wars, Wolfen, Wulfen, Cosmo-Knight, Cyber-Knight,

Eylor, Eylor Imp, Gargoyle Empire, Free Quebec, Xiticix, Xiticix Invasion, Fadetown, Siege on Tolkeen, Psyscape, Dweomer,

ARCHIE-3, Morphus, Northern Gun, Coalition States, Erin Tarn, Emperor Prosek, Splugorth, Splynncryth, Splynn, Mega-Damage,

Mega-Hero, Skelebot, SAMAS, Glitter Boy, Dog Boy, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Bio-Wizardry,

Psi-Stalker, Brodkil, Juicer, Crazy, ‘Burbs, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, D-Bee, Chi-Town, Triax, NGR, and other names, titles, slogans, and the like-

nesses of characters are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.

Palladium Online www.palladiumbooks.com

The Rifter® #45 RPG sourcebook series is published by Palladium Books Inc., 39074 Webb Court, Westland, MI 48185. Printed

in the USA.

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Palladium Books® Presents:

#45

Sourcebook and Guide to the Palladium Megaverse®

Coordinator & Editor in Chief: Wayne Smith

Editor: Alex Marciniszyn

Contributing Writers:

James M.G. Cannon

Scott Gastineau

Travis Guerrero

Josh Hilden

Joshua Sanford

Ian Schroen

Kevin Siembieda

Brian Weber

Proofreader: Julius Rosenstein

Cover Illustration: E.M. Gist

Interior Artists:

Nick Bradshaw

Kent Burles

Mark Dudley

Stephen Fox

Apollo Okamura

Charles “Chuck” Walton

Cover Logo Design: Steve Edwards

Credits Page Logo: Niklas Brandt

Typesetting: Wayne Smith

Keylining: Kevin Siembieda

Based on the RPG rules, characters,

concepts and Megaverse® created by Kevin Siembieda.

Special Thanks to all our contributors, writers and artists – and a special welcome on board to the artists and

writers making their debut in this issue. Our apologies to anybody who got accidentally left out or their name

misspelled.

– Kevin Siembieda, 2009

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Contents – The Rifter® #45 – January, 2009

Page 6 – Art

I asked Mark Dudley to do a special illustration of “Baby

New Year” to ring in the New Year. Instead, Mark gave us a

“babe” and friends. I love the piece. It’s fun and funny, but it

also represents the coming New Year for Palladium Books won-

derfully.

The angel represents the good, the hope and the big plans we

have for a great New Year and getting Palladium completely on

its feet.

The devil represents some of the our fears about the econ-

omy (which are looking like they might be unfounded), our cur-

rent cash flow crunch, and the challenges ahead.

The wrapped gift symbolizes all the new books we want to

give you in the coming year. Boy oh boy do we have one great

sourcebook planned after another. We are very excited and we

think you will be too.

The hot babe represents, of course, the New Year, and since

she is hot, it means Palladium is going to sizzle with excitement

and new product all year long! Product and fun that will get the

hearts of gamers everywhere pumping with excitement.

The teddy bear is Palladium’s commitment to make 2009

the best year ever! (Or it could be that Mark Dudley has a thing

for teddy bears, but we aren’t brave enough to ask him. Maybe

you can ask him at the 2009 Palladium Open House this May

1-3, 2009.)

And may all of you enjoy a happy and prosperous New Year.

Page 7 – From the Desk of Kevin Siembieda

The Boss Man talks about our optimism and plans for 2009,

the people who helped get us this far, Erick Wujcik, the good,

the bad, and high hopes.

Page 8 – 2009 State of Palladium Books®

It has been no picnic since the Crisis of Treachery. We’ve

been working hard, dealing with whatever new problems came

our way, faced disappointments and new challenges, had many

small and spectacular triumphs, made great headway, and have

high hopes for the New Year. You can read all about it in these

pages.

We just hope you are as excited about 2009 and the future of

Palladium Books as we are. There are still issues and challenges

ahead of us, but we are pumped up and full of ideas for new

product.

Page 10 – News & Coming Attractions

As Kevin Siembieda states, we hope to make 2009 Palla-

dium’s year to shine. We’re going to do that with a multitude of

new product, many of which are already in some stage of devel-

opment.

And we plan to support as many game lines as we can, with

books for Rifts®, Robotech®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®,

Dead Reign™, Minion War™ series, Nightbane®, Heroes

Unlimited™, and much more on the schedule. Oh yeah, and the

new modern combat RPG, Warpath™: Urban Jungle™ too.

Get your first glimpse right here.

Page 15 – 2009 Palladium Open House

It’s fun. It’s intimate. It’s three days of role-playing games.

And it is your chance to game with and chat with Kevin

Siembieda, Jason Marker, Julius Rosenstein, Carmen Bellaire,

Carl Gleba, and a host of other Palladium creators ONE-ON-

ONE!

Yep, you get to meet Kevin, the Palladium staff and dozens

of Palladium writers and artists. Best of all, you get to game

with them. The entire event is ALL Palladium role-playing

games and you are treated like a long-time friend. Oh yeah, it is

held at the Palladium warehouse!

You should think about attending. How to do so is all on this

page.

Page 16 – The Rifter® Special Subscription Offer

We encourage people to buy The Rifter® and other Palla-

dium products at their favorite retail stores. However, if you

have trouble finding The Rifter® in stores, or want the conve-

nience of having it delivered right to your door, then you’ll want

to check this out.

Page 17 – Another World of Zombies

Optional alternative setting for the Dead Reign™ RPG

The Dead Reign™ RPG that saw publication is very different

from what Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford had envisioned. The

sneak peek of the game in progress back in The Rifter® #40

with secret cults, conspiracy, betrayal of the human race, an

Alien Intelligence who uses the risen dead and demons were all

part of their storyline. Kevin Siembieda explains why he de-

cided to take Dead Reign™ in a different direction, and pres-

ents some of Josh and Josh’s original material as an alternative

time-line setting. This can be easily combined with the material

in The Rifter #40 and the Dead Reign™ RPG to play a differ-

ent kind of Zombie Apocalypse. The monsters could also be

used in BTS™, Heroes Unlimited™ and Palladium Fan-

tasy®. Enjoy.

Introduction – Page 18

Brulyx Invasion Time Line – Page 20

Cult of Brulyx & The Benford Group – Page 22

The Supernatural – Page 25

Art by newcomer Stephen Fox, who knocked the illustrations

out of the park on this job. Nice work.

Page 32 – Of Bows & Arrows

Optional source material for Palladium Fantasy RPG®

Newcomer Travis Guerrero takes an in-depth look at the art

of Archery in the Fantasy setting as well as three new Archer

O.C.C.s: the Psi-Archer, Demon Archer, and Circus Bowman,

each with special abilities and/or bows and arrows. Plus Hand to

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Hand: Performance Archery, Hand to Hand: Bow Combat, Ar-

chery Proficiencies Table, and Archery Combat. Easily adapted

to Rifts® or Heroes unlimited™.

Art by the irrepressible Chuck Walton.

Page 45 – The Order of the Mystic Knights™

Optional source material for Rifts®

Ian Schroen and Brian Weber present a tour de force about

Mystic Knights, their history, their hierarchy, ranks, houses of

the order, off-shoot groups and their plans of villainy. There is

also an expanded and revised take on the Mystic Knight O.C.C.

House Sigil – Page 55

House Brujo – Page 57

House Bregdan – Page 59

House Hiredmann – Page 60

House Isen – Page 62

House Isceald – Page 63

House Despeiren – Page 65

Wandering House – Page 67

Forbidden House – Page 68

Mystic Knight O.C.C. Revised – Page 69

Art by the indomitable Kent Burles.

Page 72 – The Court of Tarot

Optional material for Beyond the Supernatural™

First time contributor Scott Gastineau presents a very inter-

esting group of investigators into the unknown, the Court of

Tarot. More than that, they are rivals and competitors of the

Lazlo Society. The organization, notable NPCs, and history are

all here for your enjoyment.

Art by Nick “the Brick” Bradshaw – cooler than a love child

between Elvis and Fonzie conceived during an ice storm!

Page 93 – The Hammer of the Forge™

Chapter 45: Montage – the latest installment of James M.G.

Cannon’s epic tale set in the Three Galaxies.

Art by Apollo Okamura.

The Theme for Issue 45

This issue the theme is one of secret organizations, secrets

and villainy. You have the orders and houses of the Mystic

Knights for Rifts®; the Cult of Brulyx and the Benford Group

for the alternative Dead Reign™ world setting and time-line;

and though they aren’t really villains, you have the secretive

Court of Tarot for BTS-2. Heck, you even get a glimpse at the

secret plans Palladium Books has for 2009!

We think this is another fun-filled issue that provokes your

imagination and inspires you to try new ideas and expand your

gaming Megaverse®.

Fledgling writers and long-time gamers who think they are

decent writers should think about sending in your own ideas for

articles, adventures and source material to submit to The

Rifter®.

The Cover

The cover is by artist E.M. Gist, and presents a Crawler zom-

bie unleashing its moan to summon other zombies. We love the

twisted artistry of E.M. Gist and you can expect to see more his

work on Dead Reign™ sourcebooks.

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 sim-

ply 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 inap-

propriate for your game, modify them or ignore them com-

pletely.

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

The Rifter® #46

More great source material, adventures and ideas

for Palladium role-playing games of many different

settings. Fun and excitement for every taste.

� Material for Rifts®.

� Material for Palladium Fantasy RPG®

� Material for Dead Reign™ (tentative).

� Additional source material not yet determined.

� The next, epic chapter of The Hammer of the

Forge™.

� The latest on the 2009 Palladium Open House.

� Latest news, coming attractions and fun.

Palladium Books® role-playing

games … infinite possibilities,

limited only by your imagination™

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