The Bazaar #85: PB Style Handbook and Writer’s Guide
- Francois DesRochers
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
GENERAL
It’s been a while since I’ve had much of an update on things coming from Palladium Books that isn’t already posted in their weekly newsletters, a new release of a book, or something of note that the industry was going through that might have some impact. So, it was a pleasant surprise to get an invite from Sean Roberson to have a sneak-peek and an editorial sweep of something they have hinted at for some time. The infamous Style Handbook and Writer’s Guide. So, without further a-do, some discussion on the document, what I found, and how this may impact
STYLE HANDBOOK
Style Rules. Sometimes one of the most frustrating elements to editing a document is the change in font types and sizes to what is expected or the norm. In the world of submitting works to companies for consideration, the standard is based around Times New Roman, with certain specifications for paragraph indentation, spacing, spelling and grammar, and specification on American English for spell checking. We have all of that and more defined fairly clearly. They address the issues of tense and passive vs. active voice, something I have zero doubt will continue unabated, but that remains a function of the education system and literacy levels. If you don’t believe me, I took a look at things here: GM Field Guide #6: Literacy in Rifts Earth.
Formatting Changes. In something of a stark change to how PB will present things, several of the following will be a bit of a challenge to some as they transition to the new style:
Multiplication: Standard use of the letter ‘X’ (either in upper or lower case) will disappear, now replaced with the multiplication symbol (ALT 0215).
Acronyms. Something that took me some getting used to. Some of the common game-specific terms are now losing the periods when using an acronym (e.g. Structural Damage Capacity is now SDC instead of S.D.C., Physical Strength is now PS instead of P.S.)
Terminology Artefacts. There are a number of holdovers from adventures and publications from “back in the day” that still remains an influence. Several examples are provided to guide prospective writers on what to avoid in terms of reference to characters, NPC, third-person referent, and a number of other issues that no doubt crop up from time to time.
Entry Formatting. Possibly one of the best segments are the examples on how NPCs, creatures, weapons and armor should be portrayed. Basically, follow the format presented; don’t make this the friction point that Palladium Books staff have to overcome when looking over your work.
PB RPG WRITERS’ GUIDE
Types of RPG Writing. A succinct section that defines the types of writing they expect to receive. Be it narrative or rules, lore or an adventure, certain expectations run different for each type.
Outlines. Very much akin to the Formatting Changes mentioned earlier, this appears to be a marked step aside from precedent. We see PB now clearly defining the chapters expected in a “World Book” or Supplement to include the following:
Chapter 1 – Intro and Player Options
Chapter 2 – Purchaseable Equipment
Chapter 3 – Public World Information
Chapter 4 – GM World Information
Chapter 5 – Encounters, Adventures & Campaigns
Chapter 6 – NPCs and Faction Equipment
Baseline Google Docs. Not something to be overlooked, the inclusion of a link to a Google Document with the formatting already encoded therein provides a fresh start state. I doubt it would go so far to include the coloring or the specific formatting for the Headers, but it should provide the user with something worthwhile to work with. Link not public yet, but will be once it goes live.
Adventure Building. The crux of this section is really getting a writer to think about the tone and presentation of the adventure or material they wish to portray. A lot of this develops a holistic understanding for a writer to keep in mind when typing things out; more appropriately when they are scribbling notes to paper where great ideas typically flourish. Whatever system you choose to submit for (e.g. RIFTS, PFRPG, Nightbane, HU2), unless your material is purely prose (e.g. a short story), the writer must consider the choices, consequences and eventual skill rolls this leads to, typically resolved through one of three forms of conflict:
Social Interactions (e.g. role-playing, insert shocked gasp here)
Skill Checks
Combat Encounters
Note: As an addendum, I’d present The Bazaar #62: Adventure Design Methodology as another resource that prospective writers and GMs could leverage to better develop their works.
EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
One of the nightmares for any author is the editing process of your own works. For all your efforts, you simply glaze over things that for others are blindingly obvious errors. There were a few that I pointed out; syntax issues, prepositional text not starting the paragraph, a random correction here or there. There were also a few suggestions on the formatting/presentation of information in this guide in general, and specifically for how presented in future books. All told, I submitted a fairly comprehensive sweep. This isn’t a plea for credit, but cited as an example that no author should imagine themselves capable of submitting something with a 0% chance of revision. For all the editing and revision experience I have, I always get my staff work and projects vetted. If you haven’t considered a beta reader for your project, I’d strongly recommend you find one. Consider some of the following to ask for a Beta Reader, and understand what you are asking of them:
Palladium Books Message Boards: Normally I’d suggest the Rifter Sub-Forum, possibly mentioned in the game-specific board as well.
Facebook Groups. With several groups to choose from, the following each boast 2k+ members:
Rifts and the Palladium Megaverse
Discord Communities. Some weblinks to start your Discord journey. Much better in the app.
Glitterbois (Podcast) with a separate stack for TTRPGs-Palladium
Unofficial Palladium Discord Community (All Things Palladium)
Legion of Myth with section devoted to Palladium Books Megaverse
Reddit Communities (Palladium Books and Palladium-adjacent). A few considerations:
BUNDLES OF HOLDING
General. For anyone who is looking to expand their collection, or for the beginner GM/Player Group, the current offering provided by Palladium Books through the Bag of Holding offers are on for Rifts! If you've never seen what's on offer, the Bundle of Holding (play on word from the Bag of Holding from D&D) is a bundle of PDFs offered at significant discount. This provides a fantastic method of collecting massive ranges of the Palladium Books collections - albeit in PDF format, not everyone needs to have the physical copy.
Bundle Offer - Rifts Core Mega. You get just about all the primary books needed to play any aspects of the game (technology, magic, psionics, monsters), along with a boatload of supporting documents for s literal steal. This is a must have for any Rifts aficionado. [Link to Bundle Deal - Rifts Mega Core]
Bundle Offer - Worlds 1 Bundle. Here we're talking mostly about the World Books supporting North America. You get a lot of the heavy hitters and classics that allow a GM and Players to really branch out and start adventuring along what I would consider Humanity's corridor, from Mexico up towards the Great Lakes and into Free Quebec. [Link to Bundle Deal - Words 1]
Bundle Offer - World 2 Bundle. Rounding out North America, we start getting into the Asia and European continents with some of the more hard-hitting and classic books; Xiticix, Dinosaur Swamp 1 and 2, Northern Gun 1 and 2, just for a start! [Link to Bundle Deal - World 2]
Bundle Offer - Land and Sea Bundle. We get all the remainder of the World Books, each of which have a stake in the coastlines and protecting the safety of their shipping lanes. All the Atlantis-related books, and a hodge-podge of others from around the globe. [Link to Bundle Deal - Land and Sea]
Bundle Offer - Coalition Wars. The bad guy everyone loves to hate! Starting with the seminal Coalition War Campaign, we get access to all the Mercenary Books, Coalition Navy and the Secrets of the CS. Upgrade the experience for the complete Siege of Tolkeen series and Aftermath, with the bonus of the Psi-Ops: Psychic War (formerly Coalition Manhunters). [Link to Bundle Deal - Coalition Wars]
Evaluation. The deals denoted above all require an upgrade from the baseline price, which is typically about 50% more from the baseline (e.g. from $20 to $30-ish). For five complete bundles this can wrack up to a pretty penny, for sure. But for that amount of money, you are getting a PDF copy of EVERY book for the Rifts library. Considering the retail price and the cost of shipping, ESPECIALLY cross-border or overseas, this entire collection could be the same as three or four physical books! It's not for everybody, but it sure is a sweet deal for those on the lookout. Deals expire at the end of September 2025!
CONCLUSION
So, there we have it. Palladium Books has started laying the foundation and the governance requirements for future development of their products. The new sneak peek we’ve had in terms of the TMNT Redux provides a preview on things like headers, formatting, and the fact that Palladium appears to be breaking away from their long tradition of monochrome print for the interior text and imagery, less some colour inserts like those found in RUE.
It also provides expectations for formatting, syntax, and prose, for anyone looking to submit articles. These are laid out plainly, with reference to a convenient baseline Google-docs document that prospective writers can leverage to better boost chances of their submission being considered. I’m personally not a huge fan of pre-formatted documents, preferring to simply type my text into a Word Doc with minimal formatting, with some exception for headers. I’ll reserve judgement on it until I can start playing around with it and see what the fuss is about.
Is this a snazzy, sexy, game-changing release that will reap Palladium Books huge financial rewards? Well, no. But I do believe that for the size of the company, development of these kinds of governance documents presents a keystone reference allowing them to better position themselves in dealing with prospective writers and editing submissions. At roughly ten pages, it presents requisite information with the brevity. Whether or not you like or agree with everything is neither here nor there. We now definitively know what format-related issues they want addressed before you hit the Send button on that email. The hope and the dream is that a good base of prospective writers are looking to get in and exploit this resource to format their submissions into Palladium Books and hopefully see their name in print. I know when I saw Free Quebec come out, that was a nice little ego boost.
In terms of the Bundles of Holding, one of the great features is the automatic updates to the Bundles. If Palladium Books updates any of the Bundles with new versions, or includes additional titles into the Bundle, you can log back into you "Wizard's Chest" and go fetch your new PDF, no extra charge! It's one of the best deals running for Palladium Books products, so get in on them before they disappear. They may be a while before they return!
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