Pyramid Pick: The Rifter

Pyramid Pick

The Rifter

Published by Palladium Books

Multiple Authors

$7.95 per issue

What is The Rifter? The short answer is on the spine of every issue: "Sourcebook Series." The Rifter is a quarterly something that is a little like a magazine and a little like a sourcebook, while also being a showcase where fans, prospective writers, and already-published writers of Palladium books can show their stuff. Unlike almost all of Palladium's other products, The Rifter has been on time consistently. It's perfect bound, has full color covers, and a wide variety of material.

A typical issue of The Rifter has an editorial which gives us some insight into the mind of Kevin Siembieda. Next up, a section on the Coming Attractions, as well as news. This is a sad section sometimes, because looking at The Rifter #1, I see books that still haven't seen print. Some of the Coming Attractions read a little too much like advertisements though, and can get annoying after a while. Many fans of RPG comedy will be pleased to know that Jolly R. Blackburn's infamous Knights of the Dinner Table have a two page spread in The Rifter. There are currently two serialized fiction series running in the magazine, "The Hammer of the Forge" by James M. G. Cannon, and "The Siege Against Tolkeen" by David Haendler. The former is often better then the latter. Another new strip is Rifts Lone Star by Ramon Perez. It's a non-humorous carton that does an excellent job of giving the Rifts player a visual reference . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: June 11, 1999

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