Vampire Kingdoms: World Book One (Rifts, Palladium, 1991) | Retro RPG

For centuries, Mexico has been considered the realm of monsters best left alone. A land dominated by packs of Wild Vampires and rumored to be the home of Vampire Kingdoms in the south. Most of the northern civilizations have stayed away, but over the last 20 years, a growing number of heroes, vampire slayers and adventurers have been waging something of a secret war against the undead. As that battle escalates, stories of heroes, vampires and entire human populations enslaved by the undead or penned, raised and slaughtered like cattle, are starting to leak out. Come see for yourself if the rumors are true and join the battle for humanity in Mexico.
Rifts vampires, how they think, behave, fight and kill.
Different types of vampires, their Master, and the Vampire Intelligence (the deific creator of the undead).
40+ vampire abilities, vampire weaknesses and combat notes.
Hero Vampire and Deluded Vampire optional player characters.
Chupacabras, Mind Slaves, henchmen and other vampire protectors.
Vampire Hunter O.C.C., Reid’s Ranger O.C.C., and other heroes.
Vampire combat and the weapons and techniques of vampire slayers.
Vampire slaying weapons and gear, riding animals and monsters.
The city-states of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez described.
The Vampire Kingdoms, vampire society, human cattle and servants.
Town creation rules and tables, and the hold vampires may have over them.
Ideas for adventure, combat and much more throughout.
224 pages, written by Kevin Siembieda.
#rpg #rifts
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[@shallendor]

Even if you don't run Rifts, it is great for ideas that can be used in other games!

[@TheMyrmo]

Rifts sourcebooks were always that for me. That and GURPS sourcebooks made for an interesting reference library.

[@RPGGamer]

Absolutely, for various Cyberpunk games I used loads of the Rifts images over the years for custom power armour, etc. But as time has gone on, I've really started to appreciate the quality and imagination of the writing as well.

[@dubuyajay9964]

Thank you for calling out the latest con that so many big KZbinrs have signed onto.

[@RPGGamer]

Many thanks for the kind comment, very much appreciated.

[@dubuyajay9964]

Are Palladium Fantasy Vampires a hive mind too or not?

[@RPGGamer]

Sorry but it's been 30+ years since I last read or played Palladium Fantasy, so I really can't say 100%. But given that it's part of the Palladium multiverse, I'd guess so, as you could use the same vampires in Palladium Fantasy.

[@dubuyajay9964]

I find interesting that there's a "Trog" gang in this book, but that troglodytes are a playable race in Palladium Fantasy.

[@RPGGamer]

The joys of the Multiverse, maybe they're part of a crossover between the two worlds.

[@matthewhattingh3651]

I always wanted this book as a kid.

[@RPGGamer]

It's a very cool book, and quite different to what I expected when I bought it as I really couldn't see the purpose of it before I read it.

[@chuck_jotsugaming6755]

I had this in middle school plus so many world books, all my babysitting, housesitting, and lawnmowing money went to those world books and source books

[@RPGGamer]

And do you regret it at all? I'd gamble on that being a nope as they were so full of amazing ideas.

[@JJbm4233]

As far as I’m concerned Rifts was best with Kevin Long!

[@RPGGamer]

His art style definitely defined much of the Rifts universe. Great stuff.

[@godofzombi]

If the copies circulating are false then why doesn't WOTC say so?

[@RPGGamer]

Time has caught up with my statement, and now WotC are saying it was an unfinished proof copy, and everyone is saying they're lying. Sp guess it doesn't matter what they say, people will just assume their own version of reality.

[@richmcgee434]

Always wondered if this one was so anomalously thin because Palladium wasn't confident that Rifts was going to take off and was playing it safe, or if Rifts *had* taken off and this was the result of a scramble to put something more out to sell ASAP. Guess it comes down to when they started work on it, exactly. It could very easily have been a section of material that got cut from the core book (which was quite chunky for its day) for space reasons and was ready to finish up fast and get out the door.

[@RPGGamer]

Not sure if it's anything to do with when it was released, as the length of Rifts sourcebooks was pretty variable. Looking at my shelf, Xicitix Invasion, The Mechanoids and Phase World all appear to be around the same thickness as Vampire Kingdoms. But it does look suspiciously like they lacked confidence in whether the books would sell.

[@richmcgee434]

@@RPGGamer True, it's not the only skimpy book - Wormwood was also pretty thin IIRC, but that was mostly written by other creators than Palladium's usual crew. Mechanoids had its own separate RPG, although I think it was well OOP by the time the Rifts book for them dropped. And Phase World wound up with multiple books in the long run, growing into what amounts to a whole other setting attached to Rifts - by far the most popular Rifts spinoff AFAIK. If Vampire Kingdoms was a chunk of the core book that got excised for space, Xiticix Invasion might be another case of that. They get briefly mentioned in the core book, but maybe there was more material finished that they couldn't find room for so they expanded it into its own book later on. Who doesn't like alien bug monsters, right?

[@RPGGamer]

@@richmcgee434 Very true,