Palladium Books Presents: Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game [Paperback]

Kevin Siembieda (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Palladium Books; 2 edition (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916211916
• ISBN-13: 978-0916211912
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #704,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Fantasy RPG's then you need to buy this book., January 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Palladium Books Presents: Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (Paperback)

The Palladium Fantasy RPG is one of the best fantasy-based RPG's ever written. The combat system is more realistic than most yet is still easy to learn and fast in actual play. The many races and character occupations combined with the excellent skill system allows one to be more creative when creating a character. The only drawback this system has is that the books are not organized as well as those by other companies. You may end up spending more time looking through the books to find that piece of information you are looking for. This shortcoming shouldn't be enough to keep you from buying the book though. You won't regret your purchase.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New and Not-So-Improved, August 7, 2006

By 

B. Crist (LA, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palladium Books Presents: Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (Paperback)

If you started out playing D&D in the '70s and '80s and then got tired of how bloated and nit-picky the rules were getting, the original Palladium Fantasy RPG was like a breath of fresh air. Sure, it wasn't the work of smart-alecky college kids who constantly used obscure latin abbreviations like e.g. and q.v., but that was why it was so nice. No fancy words, no cumbersome encumbrance rules. Just dwarves and elves and dragons. And you only had to buy maybe two books. Sweet.
But this is not the original Palladium Fantasy RPG. It is a version (awkwardly) designed to be compatible with Palladium's far more successful Rifts game. So there are lots of rewritten elements that end up unbalancing the oringinal system. Not that the original system was flawless, but its flaws were just part of what made it attractive--the kinds of things you might mess up if you created a game system.
The new version just feels more slick and less charming. Perhaps this is more noticeable if you played the original version for a decade; there are certainly people who seem to like 2nd edition. As for me, I'll stick with my tattered old black and red 1st edition, thanks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, June 23, 2007

By 

Plotinus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palladium Books Presents: Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (Paperback)

Palladium is simple, easy and fun to play, which allows for the world, overtly based on Greco-Roman and Dark Age culture (maybe a rough 6th Century AD date would suit its cultural construct) to be very detailed and interesting. You only need one book and one set of RPG dice (4,6,8,10 and 20 sided) to play, although you would be best buying books two, "Old Ones" and three, "Adventures on the High Seas" as well, so as to have several years of ready-made adventures for you. Probably at some point people are going to realize that real RPGs are better for you than video games: since you actually have to read, talk, create and calculate. Palladium started me off as a teen on the road to academic success. A Master's degree in Classical studies is the result. I see the Palladium game as an excellent way to keep the mind sharp and to keep life skills in shape. The only drawback of the game is that you have to actually get people together to play it. RPGs are really interactive stories and as such are a brilliant modern twist on the traditional art and science of storytelling. Strangely, there is a lot of fun to be had in exploring the world of Palladium even on your own, as a prospective Game Master or as a lone adventurer, since the fantasy world, based as it is on ancient civilizations, is fascinating in and of itself. The writers are clearly widely read in the classics and in fantasy novels. It's really brilliant, fun, interesting and mind-improving stuff!