Anybody play RIFTS? If so, sad news on the horizon :(

[Ilander]

Palladium Books may be going under.

For those of you who don't know, Palladium books is one of the finest tabletop RPG publishers on the market. They produce a myriad of seperate games, some science fiction, some contemporary, some fantasy, and some of their games are near indescribable in genre and scope.

They make RIFTS, Ninjas & Superspies, Heroes Unlimited (a DC-based superhero RPG), Beyond the Supernatural (which was the precursor to the Call of Cthulu rpg), Systems Failure, Robotech, Macross II, and Palladium Fantasy (a DnD-esque game), amongst many, many others, and I don't know a single person who's played a game they've produced that hasn't genuinely enjoyed them, myself included.

Another unique aspect of Palladium rpg's is that they're virtually all compatible with one another, easily allowing your "Dedicated Martial Artist" character to play in the same campaign as your friend's "Temporal Mage," or your other friend's Giant Robot.

Speaking as a GM, if they go under as a company, the roleplaying community will have lost something very real, and almost as valuable as Wizards of the Coast...if not more valuable in some ways.

[robertthebard]

That's just sad. I've never really played any of their games, at least knowingly, but I've probably read some of the books over the years.

[Sir Krustin]

WotC is a blight upon the land.

[Seraph]

the roleplaying community will have lost something very real, and almost as valuable as Wizards of the Coast...

Wizards of the Coast is about as valuable as a case of Syphilis.

[Ilander]

...But they publish games. WotC PUBLISHES games. Sure, they latch onto things and suck out that which is right and beautiful, and then make a third edition out of it, but, without them, well, what'd be left? White Wolf? They REALLY suck. REALLY REALLY REALLY suck.

[Morgeruat]

The entire industry has been hit pretty hard lately, with MMORPG's and online sales helping gaming stores go under and several other companies either closing down, or severely reducing staff (Green Ronin and AEG for example). WotC fired their brand manager for D&D, Magic the Gathering sales are down enormously, etc. The D20 bubble is bursting and the entire industry is going through some pretty heavy housecleaning.
'
Some links from Kenzerco's forums (where I get industry info thanks to internet filters blocking most other gaming sites' content)

http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21120
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21549
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19459
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16924
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15522

[Morgeruat]

Ilander, if you're a fan of 1st or 2nd ed AD&D I would suggest Hackmaster, 1st ed feel, improved skill system, alot of the "good" stuff from 2nd ed, and a bunch of new things or things refined from 1st ed (social status, honor from oriental adventures, etc)

Here's an adventure log from over at RPG.net: linkee

[ 04-21-2006, 10:51 AM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

[Ilander]

To be honest, sword-and-spell fantasy style rpgs aren't a very big percentage of my roleplaying any more...most of it is in contemporary or scifi settings...but I'll check it out.