How is Palladium doing?

[papastebu]

I always thought Palladium had some great ideas that were hobbled by an awkward system, which seems to be the general consensus in this thread. Am I remembering wrong, or was it impossible to have a stat of 16 in Heroes Unlimited? (I seem to recall that you rolled 3d6, and if you got a 16, 17, or 18 you rolled another 1d6 and added it -- thus making the minimum 16+1, or 17.)

So while I actually have three different Palladium games (Heroes Unlimited 1st ed, Macross, and TMNT & Other Strangeness) I've never been able to bring myself to play them because of my misgivings about the system. A lot of their material might be great under different systems; the idea behind Rifts was certainly neat, and might make a fun GURPS game, for instance.

I am glad to see they're still alive and kicking, though -- it's no good to lose a company in this industry, especially to underhanded dirty deeds.

I am unfamiliar with the Palladium problem. What happened to them? I have been away from the internet for about five or six years, 'til middle of last year, and NOBODY in my area is a gamer, so I have been completely out of all loops.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I am unfamiliar with the Palladium problem. What happened to them? I have been away from the internet for about five or six years, 'til middle of last year, and NOBODY in my area is a gamer, so I have been completely out of all loops.

In brief, they wuz robbed by a former employee, had serious cash flow issues, and wound up asking the gaming community for help, which seemed to work.

Brad

 

[GreatLemur]

As a gamer who was a big fan of Palladium back in the '90s, but who realized even then that their mechanics were deeply flawed, I really wish they'd just bite the bullet and overhaul the whole system. They don't have to go to d20 or GURPS; they just have to either modernize what they've got or come up with something new. RPG mechanics have made so much progress in the past couple decades, and the Palladium system still feels like the 1980s. It's like those crazy bastards who are still doing animation on old Amiga computers because they don't believe more modern tools can do anything better, and are too lazy to learn them anyway.

I dig Rifts. I dig Nightbane. I dig Beyond the Supernatural. Hell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was pretty cool, too. But, these days, it'd be a lot less hassle to just run them with Mutants & Masterminds rules, and use my old Palladium books for flavor alone.

I'd hate to see Palladium fold, though. I keep holding out hope that they'll go through some awesome renaissance when Siembieda either retires or admits that his games need to evolve. It's gotta happen someday, right?

 

[JohnSnow]

As a gamer who was a big fan of Palladium back in the '90s, but who realized even then that their mechanics were deeply flawed, I really wish they'd just bite the bullet and overhaul the whole system. They don't have to go to d20 or GURPS; they just have to either modernize what they've got or come up with something new. RPG mechanics have made so much progress in the past couple decades, and the Palladium system still feels like the 1980s. It's like those crazy bastards who are still doing animation on old Amiga computers because they don't believe more modern tools can do anything better, and are too lazy to learn them anyway.

I dig Rifts. I dig Nightbane. I dig Beyond the Supernatural. Hell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was pretty cool, too. But, these days, it'd be a lot less hassle to just run them with Mutants & Masterminds rules, and use my old Palladium books for flavor alone.

I'd hate to see Palladium fold, though. I keep holding out hope that they'll go through some awesome renaissance when Siembieda either retires or admits that his games need to evolve. It's gotta happen someday, right?

I have fond memories of Palladium from back in the late '80s and early '90s. My late high school and early college games were mostly a combination of a system my friend wrote, WEG Star Wars, and Palladium's Robotech, Heroes Unlimited, & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I never got into Rifts), with a little AD&D thrown in for variety.

Those were fun days and fun games. Very fun. My first exposure to Palladium was the original Palladium Fantasy RPG, which was similar enough to AD&D to be recognizable, but with a few unique variants, including a complete skill system.

This is probably heretical to suggest, but how far off the OGL is Palladium really? Think about it...classes, levels, alignment, A.R., weapon damage, hit points, attributes...

A few minor tweaks to their system and they'd have some of the best OGL content around. Think about it...

P.S. (Physical Strength) becomes STR.
P.P. (Physical Prowess) becomes DEX.
P.E. (Physical Endurance) becomes CON.
I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) becomes INT.
M.E. (Mental Endurance) becomes WIS.
M.A. (Mental Affinity) becomes CHA.
P.B. (Physical Beauty) goes away (or becomes COM).
Spd. (Speed) stays or goes as desired.

The opposed Parry/Dodge roll remains as part of the variant "Defense Roll" category.
The classes remain.

The entire damage system is either rewritten to standard, or retained as yet another variant system for handling damage (c.f. Mutants & Masterminds, True 20, Iron Heroes, Star Wars Saga Edition, Vitality and Wounds, etc.).

The skill system is either rewritten to the Core Mechanic, adapted to one of the other OGL variants, or just left as is.

I mean, how different is it, really? Hell, they're probably close enough they could just stamp OGL on the cover and be done with it.

I imagine OGL versions of Rifts and Robotech would do a hell of a lot to solve their cashflow problems.

 

[Ender_rpm]

I always figured the OGL guys borrowed the multiplatform mechanic idea from palladium anyway. And GURPS, but I don't have any experience with that system. I kinda miss SDC/MDC whe I'm dealing with dragons and such

 

[kenobi65]

I imagine OGL versions of Rifts and Robotech would do a hell of a lot to solve their cashflow problems.

Very well might, but it has always sounded to me like Kevin has a serious case of Not Invented Here Syndrome, as well as maybe a bit of an "us against the world" thing going. I just don't see Palladium playing ball with any other game company's system.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Kevin has a serious case of Not Invented Here Syndrome, as well as maybe a bit of an "us against the world" thing going.

I've read some commentary by people who actually did work on RIFTS who have said exactly that.

Some also alleged some attribution/pay irregularities (as in, Sembieda may not have given them proper credit or payment for their work).

Be that as it may, the creative aspects of Palladium's fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, modern horror and sci-fant fusion games are as rich as can be found out there, and I think it would be a crime against the RPG hobby if it were allowed to fall out of publication for any real length of time due to KS's business practices. Some of RIFTS' sourcebooks are informationally dense enough to run entire campaigns in (in other systems). Personally, I'm adapting his Wolfen (from Palladium Fantasy) to 3.5Ed as Ffenris (a race of giants) for my next D&D campaign (Dremmen started it! http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=138099).

Were the right company to make noises about buying a license from or doing a partnership with Palladium to either overhaul the game or make an alternate system of it, I'd be among the first to respond "Do it and I'll buy it!"

 

[Vanuslux]

Very well might, but it has always sounded to me like Kevin has a serious case of Not Invented Here Syndrome, as well as maybe a bit of an "us against the world" thing going. I just don't see Palladium playing ball with any other game company's system.

I'd just be tickled pink if they'd clean up their own now ancient system a little bit. I used to be a huge Rifts fan because of the fluff, but after my books were stolen I decided to put my money into systems I was enjoying both the fluff and the mechanics of.

 

[kenobi65]

I'd just be tickled pink if they'd clean up their own now ancient system a little bit.

Just because Michelangelo's "David" is 500 years old, doesn't mean it needs to be updated. You don't mess with perfection.

I jest, but that's the attitude I pick up sometimes.

 

[Ottergame]

Just because Michelangelo's "David" is 500 years old, doesn't mean it needs to be updated. You don't mess with perfection.

I jest, but that's the attitude I pick up sometimes.

Hell, it's not the attitude, those are pretty much the exact words he uses to describe his system.