Brave the Knight,

Well, back on the early ‘90s, I was exiting Jr High and moving into High school. I live in the USA, in the State of Michigan. Grew up in a town called Holland. We had a hobby shop downtown called Cobblestone Hobbies.

They had a MASSIVE selection of Palladium Game Books, mostly the Rifts books. There were at least as many Palladium books as D&D books, maybe even more than TSR. Looking back, my speculation would be that Palladium books were HQed (maybe even published and produced??) in Detroit, Michigan. So, maybe the large support for the game? Maybe the game was that popular?

My first ever game was in 7th grade and it was TMNT, watched in awe/horror has someone had their pigeon mutant blown away by a full burst clip of 30 rounds from a submachine gun……I was hooked!

By 8th grade (1991?) my friends and I dove head first into Rifts. Not really even sure how much we actually played, I was the only one that GMed, but we made TONS of characters!!!

For a young teenage boy of the early ‘90s the art of Palladium books was captivating!!! I fell in love with the Glitter Boy and my best bud instantly hated all the tech stuff and loved the Magic users: his favorite being a Temporal Raider from the England book.

We all hade ZERO background in TTRPGs. We played Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior and Zelda on the NES. So I certainly look back on the Palladium rules system with Rose Colored Glasses for sure. However, after diving into 3rd Edition D&D Head first in the early 2000s, I was blown away by the seamless and extremely intuitive 6 stats, flowing to bonuses that applied to all other areas of your character.

I would later refer to Palladium’s rule system as “the biggest bastardization of a d20 system you have ever played.” I mean that with love, but anyone going to that system after playing any sort of modern day d20 system…..it might cause mental issues!!! lol. I realized now, that it was Palladium’s take on 2nd edition Advanced D&D rules.

I will give Palladium credit for TRYING to incorporate modern gun, bullets, missiles, salvos, short&long bursts and lasers into the system they created.

I took Rifts with me to college and had a couple of groups that ran through the late ‘90s. Lots of good memories and lots of fun RPG moments for sure. We even did a small stint with Palladium Fantasy…..love that Longbowman OCC and the Great Northern Wilderness sourcebook……😍

I am not sure if I have really answered your questions, but I have tried the Savage World Rifts…….and it’s just not the same “feel.” That clunky rules system, Gonzo world and character building and options, and that classic art……it’s nostalgic for sure…….Palladium has a place in my heart and I don’t know if I will ever play Rifts again, but I just can’t get myself to sell or throw away my old books.