Savage Cyberworks is on its way -- Rewards Complete!
7 months ago – Thu, Oct 05, 2023 at 05:30:51 PM

Savage Cyberworks FINISHED

Hello Rifters,

As I type this we are preparing to send out the Savage Cyberworks conversion document via DriveThruRPG. As you may remember, this is a bonus reward (we didn't quite hit the stretch goal) that we decided to award to everyone as a Christmas present FOR FREE! (please see Update #4).

This dense 36 page monstrosity covers the stats for virtually every Cyberworks associated adventure, piece of gear, or character from the new Rifts® Cyberworks Collection. To be clear, that's in addition to the 23 page Savage Titan Robotics conversion doc. That's roughly 60 pages of hard core rules conversions - no flavor text or character descriptions! It's enough gear and NPCs to form the backbone of at least two regular Savage Rifts books.

As an added bonus, the talented PK Levine went above and beyond the required to include rules for playing Aberrant Mechanoids using the Intelligent Construct rules I wrote for Rifts® North America: Empires of Humanity. It was a team effort, of course, with me doing the final editing and layout. Enjoy!

Titan Robotics Final Roundup

The delivery of the Savage Cyberworks conversion wraps up backer rewards! This final digital delivery is happening at the same time that our foreign backers are receiving their physical packages. We had a few challenges along the way, but never relented and are proud of this moment. We appreciate all of your positivity, help, and support as we worked to get here. We are also excited to hear how much you love everything from the books, to the poker cards, to the art prints and PDFs!

A Final Challenge

We are just receiving word that some backers in Canada are being charged an unexpected delivery fee. This seems to be some sort of SNAFU that may depend on the courier service being used by our foreign shipping partner Spiral Galaxy. We have notified them and they will investigate as soon as their main people return from a big game event in Germany. 

In the meantime, Palladium will not leave you high and dry - we have your back and will get you taken care of one way or another! 

TO OUR FRIENDS IN CANADA: If you experience overcharges please contact us via BackerKit and send clear photos showing the amount of billing charges for your package. Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve this final curve ball (apologies, I don't know a good hockey analogy).

The Rift Closes!

Thank you for backing the Titan Robotics Kickstarter. We hope you get many years of enjoyment out of your rewards. Have fun in your many adventures with friends and family, and stay tuned for more as we prepare for our next major release — you won't want to miss it!

Cheers,

Sean Owen Roberson

Intro Adventure and Savage Titan Robotics PDFs are OUT!
7 months ago – Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 01:29:58 PM

SURPRISE - You Already Have It!

Howdy Syntharoids,

Right before we left for the Alliance trade show, last Thursday September 7th, we stealth dropped the two remaining Kickstarter core rewards as downloadable PDFs via DriveThruRPG:

• Savage Titan Robotics Conversion Document
• Titan Courier Team Intro Adventure (with Pregenerated Characters!)

I finished it up so last minute, in fact, that I didn't have time to write an update and even missed a couple of corrections. Said errors have been fixed, and the updated version of both PDFs are being sent out as I type this.

Savage Cyberworks 

The last remaining item to finish up for yall is the Savage Cyberworks conversion document. This is a bonus reward (we didn't quite hit the dollar goal) that Kevin and I decided to award to everyone as a Christmas present FOR FREE! (please see Update #4)

To add bonus to bonus, the talented PK Levine went above and beyond the required to include rules for playing Aberrant Mechanoids using the Intelligent Construct rules I wrote for Rifts® North America: Empires of Humanity. 

While I am at it, I want to compliment John Stevens (Rifter® and Savage Rifts® contributor, amongst others) for his awesome work on the intro adventure, he made a good story out of my vague plot notes. Kudos to Aaron Burkett who spearheaded the work on the Savage Worlds conversions, and many thanks to Patrick Young who came in clutch as the Savage Rifts® development team realized the enormity of this undertaking. They all did solid work that I am polishing up, editing as I do the layout. ETA is the next few weeks, barring any mandatory insanity that comes my way.

Foreign Shipping Progress

To be clear, ALL foreign shipping is being handled by Spiral Galaxy from their hub in the UK (including Canada and Pacific regions) -  they have the hookups with international fulfillment. While that may not always seem to make "sense," that's just how it "works."

We will definitely continue to provide details as we have them, please see Update #19 for the latest details. Approximately now-ish (this week) all foreign packages should be finishing their transatlantic voyage and arriving at Spiral Galaxy's distribution hub. Once they've processed them, Spiral Galaxy will be emailing each of you a more detailed delivery schedule.

Game On

Well, I think that about sums it up. I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of our labor. Gaming with friends and making memories is what it is all about. To that end, please make good use of the introductory adventure and remember that the entirety of chapter 5 of Titan Robotics™ is dedicated to adventures and campaign material. With those adventures and the pregenerated Titan Courier team, players and GMs should be off to an easy start! 

Cheers,

Sean Owen Roberson

Overseas Shipping via Spiral Galaxy update
8 months ago – Mon, Aug 21, 2023 at 12:08:13 PM

Shipping Underway!

As noted in the last update, immediately after we processed shipping and associated fees via BackerKit, all Titan Robotics physical rewards were shipped. That process took a few weeks, with the last packages leaving the Palladium warehouse at the end of July, including those bound for our foreign backers.

If you are a domestic USA backer you should have received your package. In fact, many of you have posted or messaged us saying how delighted you are with the quality of packing and the condition of items within. We're glad you are so pleased!

If you are a foreign backer (including Canada) your items are currently on a boat heading to our fulfillment partners at Spiral Galaxy in the UK. To clarify things for our Canadian fans, in order to match our quoted shipping prices we shipped your packages through Spiral Galaxy -- it takes a little longer, but is a fraction of the cost of traditional shipping. 

On A Boat

I need to report a delay, as we just received word from Spiral Galaxy that:

"...the vehicle that came to collect this container to take to port broke down and by the time a replacement vehicle came we had lost our slot on the sailing. I've been waiting for confirmation of collection, loading and sailing before coming back to you. I can now confirm that your shipment is on a vessel that has sailed and is expected to dock into the UK on 30/08/2023. That puts delivery to us sometime around the 2nd week of September, assuming no delays."

To be clear, this is one of those weird delays with an intermediate shipping contractor that is outside of our direct control, or the direct control of Spiral Galaxy in the UK. Updates like this can be frustrating, so I wanted to let yall know as soon as we had concrete information for you. Also, please keep in mind that low-cost shipping comes with the trade-off of waiting for boats to cross the seven seas -- that is the nature of the beast.

So for foreign backers, once Spiral Galaxy has received and processed your orders in the next few weeks, you will be receiving an email from them with shipping and tracking details for the final leg of your package's journey. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via BackerKit, or Spiral Galaxy once they email you.

Gen Con and Beyond 

As soon as we finished shipping out rewards, everyone at Palladium then packed up our huge truck and went to Gen Con, including me. It was a great experience, and I really appreciated getting to personally meet and talk to so many of you who came by our booth. After driving back and unloading last week, we had a number of employees fully succumb to the sickness known as "con crud" -- but I'm happy to report everyone is back at work now.

Savage Worlds Conversions

I'm currently doing final editing and layout of the Titan Robotics and Cyberworks Collection conversion documents for Savage Worlds. I'd hoped to finish before Gen Con, but wasn't able to. Compared to just converting Titan Robotics, the scope of the combined documents (four books!) covers a massive amount of gear, robots, and characters with bonus content like playable Aberrant Mechanoids, so I appreciate your patience as I finish the task and make sure it is done right.

Thanks again for all the glowing feedback on Titan Robotics, the Cyberworks card deck, and the Cyberworks Collection which is definitely a hidden gem with lots of updated material for old-school fans - especially those who never got Sourcebook One Revised and Expanded or Rifts Aftermath - plus some small extras I slipped in.

— Sean Owen Roberson

Charges for Shipping and VAT processing via BackerKit today!
10 months ago – Sat, Jul 01, 2023 at 11:30:01 AM

Shipping Charged Today!

Howdy Rifters,

Backers and those with pre-orders will be charged shipping and associate fees through BackerKit today, July 1st 2023. If you have any issues, please message us through BackerKit!

As you may have noticed, we originally planned to process shipping earlier in the month. Well, I have bad news and good news. As I have mentioned in previous updates, shipping fulfillment is one of those things Kevin and I have been nervous about with the volatile worldwide logistics situation.

After coordinating closely with our shipping partners Quartermaster Logistics since November 2022, providing them with rock-solid shipping projections and details, then sharing their quoted prices with you, it turns out they cannot fulfill shipping for you at anywhere near those rates. They made no effort to help fix the situation. That is the bad news, and trust me, as unhappy as you may be to hear this, you are not as unhappy as Kevin and I are.

The good news! It took some scrambling and long hours on our part, but we have arranged to provide you shipping at comparable rates and fulfillment is only being shortly delayed. We are working with Spiral Galaxy to fulfill all overseas shipping. As you know, we have received all physical rewards at the Palladium Books warehouse and are a good way through boxing everything up. It's a LOT of books and items and they look great. Once associated charges have processed through BackerKit we will IMMEDIATELY ship everything out.

More Good News!

•  Titan Robotics has 32 pages of additional content at no extra charge for backers — the book's announced 160 pages grew to 192 pages during my final edit. Enjoy :)
•  We added a “Bonus” Color Art Print of the Revised Sourcebook 1 cover included for everyone who backed at a level that gets art prints. I feel like this really rounds out the color print set.
•  Digital Book Rewards have been sent out to all backers, including the remastered titles (new page linked Table of Contents, rear Index, proofreading updates, revised layout, etc.): Rifts® Sourcebook: Titan Robotics, Rifts® Sourcebook One – Revised & Expanded, Rifts® Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids®, Rifts® Sourcebook: Shemarrian Nation 

Other Digital Rewards are in final review and layout, and they should be delivered in the coming weeks around the time overseas customers are receiving their physical rewards. I know many of you are chomping at the bit for these conversion docs! They were written by members of the Savage Rifts writing team and are being reviewed by the whole team to make them the best conversions possible. They cover many books worth of conversion content, and the recent shipping conundrums have occupied a LOT of my time, so we appreciate your patience as we get these important rewards done right. 

• Titan Courier Team Introductory Adventure PDF
• Savage Titan Robotics Conversion PDF
• Savage Cyberworks Conversion PDF - As a "Bonus" includes info for playing Aberrant Mechanoids using the Intelligent Construct rules that I created for Rifts for Savage Worlds: Empires of Humanity.

At a small company like Palladium Books, it has required "all hands on deck" and lots of extra hours to push forward through this fulfillment challenge. While I can't promise that the future won't have hidden challenges and delays, I can promise to always keep you as informed and up to date as possible. Sometimes that means taking a few days to investigate seemingly impossible obstacles and assess true facts, as opposed to posting hasty updates that lack perspective and concrete information. I hope these updates are striking the right balance.

While this bump in the road has delayed shipping – which is very frustrating as we were on track with our June 2023 projections – the delay is very short. A special shout out to Wayne Smith who has gone above and beyond the call of duty, our friend Frank at Studio 2, and the great folks at Spiral Galaxy. We also have lessons learned for future projects. Most of all, the physical rewards look amazing. We are very proud of the quality and can't wait for you to see everything yourself. I want to thank all of you for your faith and support in this entire endeavor.

– Sean Owen Roberson

Last Call — BackerKit Closing Today!
11 months ago – Mon, Jun 05, 2023 at 01:34:20 PM

FINAL HOURS – Titan Robotics™ BackerKit CLOSES end of today, June 5th

LAST CHANCE – If you are planning to change or add to your Titan Robotics backer order or pre-order, these are the final hours to do so! BackerKit closes today, June 5th. 

Remember, if you backed the Kickstarter—at any level—you can upgrade your pledge in BackerKit to ANY of the higher Kickstarter pledge levels to get those superior deals.

Available only thru BackerKit Pre-Order

For those who didn't back this Kickstarter and want to get in on the action, this is a limited time offer until the end of JUNE 5th, today. If you have any friends who might be interested, please share this link to the pre-order page!

The Titan Robotics™ Pre-Order Bundle ($45)

• Rifts® Titan Robotics Sourcebook (print, softcover)
• Rifts® Titan Robotics Sourcebook (PDF)
• Savage Titan Robotics™ Conversion (PDF)

The Cyberworks™ Pre-Order Bundle ($120)

• Rifts® Titan Robotics Sourcebook (print, softcover)
• Rifts® Titan Robotics Sourcebook (PDF)
• Savage Titan Robotics™ Conversion (PDF)
• Rifts® Cyberworks Collection (print, hardcover)
• Rifts® Sourcebook 1, SB2 The Mechanoids®, Shemarrian Nation™,
• Aftermath (PDF)
• Savage Cyberworks™ Conversion (PDF)

UPDATE: Titan Robotics™ Kickstarter Fulfills in June. 

Everything is scheduled to be received in, packed up, and sent to Quartermaster Logistics for shipping in a few weeks!

• Titan Robotics™ and The Cyberworks™ Collection print books are on schedule for June release.
• Titan Robotics Poker Deck is likewise at the printer and we should receive them mid-June.
• Titan Robotics art prints are at the printer and will be ready this week.
• Rifts® Miniatures have been restocked to make sure we have enough to fulfill your orders.
• Remaining Digital Rewards (including the Savage Rifts conversions) are getting the last touches and entering final review and layout. They should be delivered around the time Backers receive their physical rewards.

LAST CHANCE to do your BackerKit Survey – Closes Today!

If you are one of the small handful of backers who have not yet submitted their survey, please do so immediately — the Titan Robotics BACKERKIT CLOSES TODAY, Monday, June 5th! DO IT NOW – enter your Kickstarter email to begin here: https://titanrobotics.backerkit.com

Thanks again for all of your support!

Cheers,

Sean Owen Roberson