Bundle of Holding - Rifts Plus...

Over at Bundle of Holding, we don't just have ONE Rifts Bundle, not TWO, but THREE Rifts Bundles.

Look at the screenshots to see the offerings.

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Bundle of Holding - Rifts

From the Summer of '94 until the Winter of '97, my gaming group played a shit ton of Rifts (when I wasn't running AD&D 2e). Sure, the system needed to be balanced, if not totally rewritten, but the setting lore was second to none. It simply oozed flavor and adventure hooks.

Currently, Bundle of Holding has two Bundles with Rifts material - one is the Rifts Core Megabundlecore:

Adventurer! This revived December 2022 Rifts® Core Megabundle once again gives you a gigantic array of .PDF rulebooks, supplements, and sourcebooks for Kevin Siembieda's Rifts tabletop roleplaying game from Palladium Books. You have a new chance to get everything you need to run a complete campaign of mind-blowing adventure across a future Earth shattered by countless otherworldly invasions.

For just US$19.95 you get all seven titles in this revived December 2022 offer's Corebook Collection (retail value $71) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Rifts Ultimate Edition core rulebook (plus the Rifts Primer); the Adventure Guide, Game Master Guide, and Game Master Kit; and Index and Adventures V1 and V2.

And if you pay more than this revival's threshold price of $40.60, you'll level up and also get this revived offer's entire Sourcebook Collection with eleven more titles worth an additional $129, including Sourcebook One, Book of Magic, the Bestiary, Black Market, the Bionics Sourcebook, all three Conversion books (Book One, Two: Pantheons of the Megaverse, Three: Dark Conversions), and three more sourcebooks: Vampires, The Mechanoids, and Mindwerks.

The other bundle is the Rifts Coalition Wars Bundle:

Look sharp, adventurer! This Rifts® Coalition Wars Bundle is the second of two offers in progress featuring .PDF ebooks for the Rifts tabletop roleplaying game from Palladium Books of a shattered Earth invaded by countless realities. If you're new to the game, start with our revived December 2022 Rifts Core Megabundle in progress. Then return here for this new companion bundle with sourcebooks and storylines that showcase one of the setting's dominant powers, the high-tech Coalition States.

For just US$17.95 you get all seven titles in our Coalition Collection (retail value $72) as DRM-free ebooks, including Coalition War Campaign, Coalition Navy, Secrets of the Coalition States, and four supplements about the soldiers-for-hire who fight this war: Mercenaries, MercOps, MercTown, and Mercenary Adventures.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $38.53, you'll level up and also get our entire Tolkeen Collection with eight more titles worth an additional $97, including the most recent Rifts supplement, Coalition Manhunters, and the entire seven-part Siege on Tolkeen campaign: Coalition Wars, Coalition Overkill, Sorcerer's Revenge, Cyber-Knights, Shadows of Evil, Final Siege, and Aftermath.

 

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Bundle of Holding - Rifts Core MEGA

I was a huge fan of Rifts in the 90's. I bought my core book at Gen Con and it's signed by both Kevins (writer/publisher and artist). Rifts was, and is, infamous for its endless array of sourcebooks. If nothing else, they were all a great read.

Over at Bundle of Holding, there is a Rifts Core MEGA Bundle up for sale. 20 bucks get you the Core Book Collection, and 41 bucks plus change get you the Core AND the Sourcebook Collection.

For just US$19.95 you get all seven titles in our Corebook Collection (retail value $71) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Rifts Ultimate Edition core rulebook (plus the Rifts Primer); the Adventure Guide, Game Master Guide, and Game Master Kit; and Index and Adventures V1 and V2.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $41.16, you'll level up and also get our entire Sourcebook Collection with eleven more titles worth an additional $129, including Sourcebook One, Book of Magic, the Bestiary, Black Market, the Bionics Sourcebook, all three Conversion books (Book One, Two: Pantheons of the Megaverse, Three: Dark Conversions), and three more sourcebooks: Vampires, The Mechanoids, and Mindwerks.

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Bundle of Holding - Savage Rifts

I backed the Savage Rifts Kickstarter a few years back and was very happy with the result. Great setting with a usable system. Go figure ;)

Well, Savage Rifts is currently available on Bundle of Holding. It's 13 bucks for the Starter Collection and a hair over 20 bucks for the Bonus Collection.

This is updated to the latest Savage Worlds edition (the prior edition is also available currently on Bundle of Holding)

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Bundle of Holding - Rifts

Actually, the Rifts Bundle of Holding is TWO different bundles.

Rifts World Books has the following as its Starter Collection for $14.95:
Vampire Kingdom Revised
Lone Star
Federation of Magi Revised
Canada
D-Bees of North America

The Bonus Collection is currently $26.60 and includes the above plus:
Coalition War Campaign
Spirit West
Free Quebec
Coalition Navy
Vampires Sourcebook
The Black Vault

Then there is Rifts Essentials. The Starter Collection is $8.95 and includes:
Rifts® Ultimate Edition
Rifts® Sourcebook One

The Bonus Collection is currently $20.58 and includes the above plus:
Rifts Game Master Guide
Rifts Book of Magic
Rifts Game Master Kit

Personally, I think the Wolrd Books offer more, especially if you are going to yoke it for setting material over system.

Bundle of Holding - Rifts (Believe it or Not)

I did a double take when I noticed Rifts was one of the offers at Bundle of Holding. I don't see Kevin as one offering discounts that often. Then I saw the discount and I was less impressed.

$17.95 for the Starter Collection? It should be half that in my opinion. The idea is to bring people in with a nice discount and 18 bucks for the core rules a sourcebook and a fairly worthless GM kit doesn't quite do it in my eyes.

The Bonus Collection comes in at a hair under $27. While its a better value than just opting for the Starter Collection, I don't see it as all that great a value.

How the hell is "Sourcebook One" and "Ultimate Edition" trademarks? At least they aren't claiming a trademark for "Game Master Kit." Yet.

Ah well, Kevin is true to his usual self:

Follow Up #4 (Last?) - Kickstarter - Rifts® Board Game (Cancelled) - And Just Like that, It were Gone...

I thought I would be taking a break from follow up posts for the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter, and I will be, just not yet. You see, after this morning's update where we got to see some painted minis were were given this afternoon's update, which canceled the project.

Thank. Fucking. God.

Seriously, the Kickstarter was toxic BEFORE it even launched and it was just getting worse. Anything linked to Palladium, especially with miniatures, is going to get huge push back but there was more of that than even I expected, and I expected a shit ton.

Then there was the fact that the project simply wasn't ready for prime time. Carmen agrees with this assessment and is going to get stuff in order before relaunching. I suggest that he wait a good bit before doing so. Why? Because Carmen needs to make sure that he's ready for the pressure of running a Kickstarter of this size, with the inherit expectations and baggage attached to a Palladium property. I wish Carmen good health and success when this does launch in the future and it will. It has to. Carmen has too much money and time invested in this Kickstarter to not come back to it.

Here's the update announcing the cancelation:

Follow Up #3 - Kickstarter - Rifts® Board Game - In Carmen's Own Words

Today's update at the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter features Carmen answering questions and addressing issues in his own words. In the interest of keeping something that resembles a balance on the coverage of this wild ride, I'm going to quote some parts of the update. Note, not all of the update, as it is long. You can read today's update in full here.

Also, I'm going to address parts of the update where I have relevant info to expand or refine what Carmen posted.

As a side note, the next post will certainly NOT be about the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter - I promise gaming content! ;)

Not quite. From the Palladium website, March 2012.

The gestation period of this Kickstarter was 5 years. Or, at least, the idea is 5 years old. And it doesn't seem to be solely Carmen's idea, as Kevin was involved in the "feasibility" discussion. Now, 2 years may be the time period that Carmen said "Let's get 'er done!" but its not the time frame of the idea.

Makes perfect sense. To not use a license you paid for would be foolish.

I agree. Harassing backers of the project is simply wrong.

The LLC being in Michigan while Carmen is in Canada raised some flags. I'm glad this was addressed and answered.

Nothing earth shattering. It attempts to put some distance between Carmen and Palladium. Can't say I blame him.

I know there are folks that are backing the Rifts Board Game KS specifically to support Carmen and that is great. He's getting professional help and that is good. He's also in for 2 plus years of stress, frustration, angry backers, frustrated backers and worse. I don't envy the position Carmen has put himself in.

Alright, back to fun stuff with the next post.

Follow Up #2 - Kickstarter - Rifts® Board Game - They Snuck in Their Own "Terms and Conditions" - You Can Forfeit Your Reward For Not Answering the Survey in a Timely Fashion

Holy shit! I've never seen a Kickstarter with its own "Terms and Conditions", especially one that basically says "If you don't confirm your pledge within 8 weeks of us emailing you, you have effectively forfeited your reward. We MAY ship to you if you miss the date or we MAY refund you, but it is just as likely we'll tell you to go screw."

They KNOW your basic order. They KNOW what you pledged for. They most certainly can fulfill that, but they have just stated they may choose not to. Because.

Customer service seems to be a foreign concept with these people. If this was a brick and mortar store would you buy anything from them with this warm and engaging attitude that they have towards their customers?

Yep, the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter. The gift that keeps on giving...

Thanks to Impact Miniatures for pointing this out with a comment to the prior post.

PS - I still need to look at todays comments on the KS...

Followup - Kickstarter - Rifts® Board Game - How NOT to Respond to Your Backers' Questions

Yep, from about 2 hours ago as I type this. I'm literally STUNNED that anyone associated with a Kickstarter project would post this, but as I said with the previous post on the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter, this one is going to have drama and more.

Guess what Andrew, those $1 backers are the ones that are interested but aren't sold yet. Those are leads you should be working to convert, not dismiss.

Now, is the $1 backer in question trolling? I'd say so, but Andrew's comment dismisses ALL $1 backers out of hand.

Someone really should take over their customer interaction on this project. I'm sure Kevin S is waiting in the wings ;)

Don't worry, I'm sure this is more drama forthcoming. Now, about those Glitterboys...

Kickstarter - Rifts® Board Game (100 buck buy in, but the drama is free)

Wow. Simply wow. The Kickstarter is live for less than 12 hours and already there are over 350 comments. Its also 46% to its $100k funding goal.

What am I talking about? Quite simply the Rifts® Board Game (don't forget to use the ®)

Now, you might be saying "didn't this happen already?" and the answer is "no". What DID happen is a whole lot of drama, a suicide attempt and lots mudslinging by Kevin and those frustrated with the the Robotech Tactics KS. You can read THAT post here. Too much to repost but very useful for those looking to do some "due diligence" on the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter.

Let's cover the basics (its your cheat sheet):

• Palladium does not have a good record with its prior Kickstarter.
• Technically, this Kickstarter is not being run by Palladium.
• There are those questioning who really is calling the shots on the Rifts® Board Game Kickstarter.
• Carmen, the one who is producing this Kickstarter, attempted suicide less than 3 months ago.
• We know this because Kevin told us so.
• The suicide attempt was blamed on angry backers of the Robotech Tactics KS. We know this because Kevin told us so. Backers who refused to back the board game because they are stil waiting for full fulfillment of Robotech Tactics.
• The Rifts® Board Game has train wreck capacity right from launch.

Personally, I would be wary of backing a project being run by someone that attempted suicide because of this very Kickstarter less then 3 months prior to launching this Kickstarter with this much drama and baggage attached to it. I am sympathetic of all that the creator has gone through, but that doesn't mean I'd back this.

That being said, I'm backing for a buck to get the backers only updates, as I expect this will be an interesting ride. Its just not a ride I'm willing to gamble 100 bucks on. It has a two year stretch before fulfillment and there is just too much potential for something to go wrong.

When Palladium Books Starts Licensing its IP (Along with a 3 years late Kickstarter) You have to Worry About the Cash Flow

First things first - I had no idea that there was a Rifts board game in the works, let along being developed and soon to be kickstarted by a third party until it was brought to my attention earlier today.

First we get Savage Worlds Rifts licensed to Pinnacle and now we are getting a Rifts board game, licensed to a Palladium freelancer (don't call him an employee - I guess that's a black mark or something)

Why would Kevin give up some of his IP control? He's infamous for holding that close to his chest.

Could it be Robotech RPG Tactics, the Kickstarter that over $1.4 million and still isn't fulfilled? Sure, some have their product but many don't and boy, are they angry. Seriously, the comment section is alive and well even of the Kickstarter isn't. 98,000 comments and popping another every few minutes. I guess over 5,300 angry backers can do that to ya.

It is a total fucking train wreck. A few years ago, a trusted business partner embezzled money from Palladium and the company almost went under. This time it may be the influx of $1.4 million that puts the nail in coffin.

Maybe this comment sums it up the best:

Any of my readers have pics of the horrible models from wave one?

Oh, and one update in 5 months:

So, if wave one was such shit, are they going to get new shipments with wave two?

Kickstarter - Rifts® for Savage Worlds - $85k in 3 hours

Yep, Rifts® for Savage Worlds is set to break some records. It's at over $85k in less than 3 hours of funding.

My old group in college had a blast playing Rifts (yes, I'm omitting the "®", fucking sue me Kevin). Heck, my copy of Rifts was signed by the Palladium crew. Great setting. Broken system.

And now we have it for the Savage Worlds system, oh so many years later.

I guess I need to learn me some Savage Worlds ;)

Really, what else can I say? This is an awesome setting and a strong system. Its like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Perfect together.

This shit sells itself.

The only question is, how much pain do I inflict on the wallet...

It's Official - Pinnacle will be pubishing Rifts for Savage Worlds - "Savage Rifts" in Time for Christmas

+Sean Patrick Fannon hinted at this overnight, but Pinnacle made the official announcement today:

Rifts is Coming for Savage Worlds! 

News from Pinnacle Entertainment Group 

For Immediate Release--April 21, 2015 

Pinnacle Entertainment Group announced today the development of Rifts for Savage Worlds, their award-winning tabletop roleplaying game system. 

Pinnacle released a mock cover, using art from Palladium’s 2005 Rifts Ultimate Edition with permission. The cover artist for the book was Scott Johnson. 

“We are thrilled to follow up Kevin’s post with this announcement that we do, indeed, have the license to develop Rifts for Savage Worlds,” said Savage Worlds creator Shane Hensley. “We are early in the process, but anticipate having a core rulebook for the setting released in time for Christmas.” 

The Palladium Books Weekly Update--April 19, 2015, written by Kevin Siembieda, recently made mention of a new roleplaying game system for the beloved setting:
“In an effort to truly expand Rifts® across the Megaverse®, in cooperation with Palladium Books, another role-playing game company is currently adapting the Rifts® Earth setting to that company’s RPG system of rules, as well as producing adventure sourcebooks.” 

Rifts is an exciting multi-genre post-apocalypse game that began publishing in 1990. Featuring elements of everything from cyberpunk and fantasy to mecha and mythology, Rifts has always been Siembieda's vision of a game with everything for everyone, tied together with a strong narrative. 

"I'm really excited to see what Rifts will look like in the Savage Worlds system," said Siembieda. "The Savage fans are great folks, and I think Rifts is going to be an amazing amount of fun for them, letting them explore all the possibilities of both the system and the setting." 

Savage Worlds was created by Shane Lacy Hensley. Savage Worlds and the Pinnacle logo are all trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. For more information, visit www.peginc.com or contact Jodi Black, Marketing Manager for Pinnacle, at PEGJodi@gmail.com. More about Palladium and the Rifts setting can be found on their website here: http://www.palladiumbooks.com/. 

Rifts Setting to be Published Under License by a (as of now) Unannounced Third Party and a Different Game Engine

On thing I've wanted for a long time is to see the Rifts setting detached from it's Palladium RPG Engine. The system is a mess (IMHO) but the setting itself has a lot going for it. Now, Kevin is letting someone else play with his baby. Huzzah!

Rifts® is heating up 

There has been a flurry of interest in Rifts® by third parties these past few months. Nothing big like a Walt Disney movie yet (waaahh, are they ever going to make a Rifts® movie?!), but a few things we think you’ll find fun and exciting. 

Something new and exciting. In an effort to truly expand Rifts® across the Megaverse®, in cooperation with Palladium Books, another role-playing game company is currently adapting the Rifts® Earth setting to that company’s RPG system of rules, as well as producing adventure sourcebooks. This is only the second time in Palladium’s history that an outside company will create new game material under a different set of rules. 

Rumor Squashing: No, Palladium is NOT going to stop publishing Rifts®, nor change to a completely different set of rules. Far from it. In fact, Palladium expects to release six new Rifts® titles in 2015 and 98% of all Rifts® titles are in stock and available for purchase right now! The idea is that by offering Rifts® via another game company’s set of popular rules it creates a parallel dimension of gaming enjoyment. An expanding Megaverse®, if you will. This is a bit of an experiment, but we are excited to see how it all unfolds. 

A few steps toward Rifts® comic books? First, there is Imaginos Plus #1 created by Palladium artist and pal, Mark Dudley. It is a full color, 32 page, anthology comic book that features four 8 page “teasers” for different comic book titles created by Dudley and the Imaginos crew — including Rifts®: The Adventures of Young Erin Tarn™. I was impressed by the work in Imaginos Plus #1 and the Erin Tarn story is just a glimpse at a potential 12 issue comic book series. All 12 issues are completely plotted out and the first six issues are completely scripted. By the way, Imaginos Plus #1 is available from Palladium Books for $3.99 plus shipping. 

Second, Palladium Books has recently agreed to a one-shot deal with a notable independent comic book company to publish Ramon K. Perez’s Rifts® Machinations of Doom as a full color graphic novel. If the graphic novel does well . . . who knows what might follow? 

I apologize that I cannot reveal who these partners are or when you can expect their products, at least not yet. These other companies will make the big, full announcements when they are ready; probably sometime over the next 4-10 months. When they do, I’ll be sure to let you know and provide more details.

So, who is the mysterious company? What is the system that's going to be used?

Here's my guesses and non-guesses:

- It's not D20 OGL, D6 OGL, FATE, Traveller, Legend or any other "open license" system. See all those "®" above? Kevin does not like open. Kevin is serious about his trademarks.

- I doubt it is MWP and any flavor of Cortex. They license media properties, not other RPGs.

- HERO? I don't see it and it's not known for licensing properties (even if it did license back Champions.)

- GURPS? Probably the most likely of the bunch. SJG has licensed everything from Conan, The Horseclans, Discworld, Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf, Traveler, Prime Directive and others I'm sure I've missed. Yep, SJG does conversions. The thing they haven't done much of recently is GURPS in print. I'm surprised they haven't found a POD provider to fill that gap for them and keep all of their products in print.

Savage Worlds? It's a possibility. Pinnacle has done licensed products (Solomon Kane comes directly to mind.)

It will be interesting to find out who got the license.

Big Purple has a discussion thread here.

You can read the announcement on the Palladium site here.

Breachworld (most certainly NOT a Rifts Clone) Kickstarter Preview (Free)

I've talked about Breachworld previously. It's based off of MiniSix, which in and of itself is based on OpenD6 which is an open version of the core system behind old West End Games Star Wars RPG. So, in a way, it's coming full circle.

I'm really excited with the Breachworld Kickstarter, as it should be easy to import many of the trappings of Rifts into the Breachworld setting and system. That being said, Breachworld is it's own creature, and now you can peek at that yourself.

The Breachworld RPG Kickstarter Preview doesn't just show there is an actual product that has been written up for the Kickstarter, but it actually gives you enough to start playing. It includes a lot in it's 75 pages along with some decent art.

Grab the free Breachworld preview if you liked Rifts, hate Rifts, like OpenD6, are interested in a D6 powered setting - hell, grab it because it's free. The cost is nothing, and you might find enough there to decide to support the Kickstarter ;)

A Kickstarter That Takes Rifts, Rubs Off the Serial Numbers, Uses Open D6 and Has Kevin's Blessing - Breachworld

I saw this at the RPG Corner blog. Breachworld is a Kickstarter by Jason Richards that sounds a lot like Rifts without the clunk of the SDC / MDC Palladium system. Actually, it uses Mini Six, which is a striped down version of Open 6, and happens to be OGL.

Heck, it even has an endorsement by Kevin Siembieda:

I'm in at $30 for the Hardcover version of the book.

I was interested in reworking Rifts to strip the system away from the setting, and it appears that Breachworld might have done so without the fear of a lawsuit from Palladium Books ;)

From the project's blurb:

Welcome to the Breachworld RPG, a post-apocalyptic anything-goes sandbox world in desperate need of exploration or exploitation by you, the intrepid tabletop gamer. By backing this Kickstarter, you will help bring this world to life. In appreciation for your help, you'll have the opportunity to join in the adventure, and at a bargain.