The Road to the Glitter Boy Codex Takes a Darker Turn.
Not every Glitter Boy legend is a hero.
Not every pilot sees the legendary USA-G10 as a sacred relic, and not every chapter believes its incredible power comes with a duty to protect others. For some, the Glitter Boy is something else entirely – a weapon, a way of life, and a symbol of strength earned on the battlefield.
This week we leave the workshops of the Riggers behind and ride with the Boomers – warriors with a very different relationship with the legendary Chrome war machine. And among their ranks waits one of the strangest and most disturbing Glitter Boys ever to walk Rifts Earth: The Cannibal.
And if that wasn't dangerous enough, something else has returned.
The Mechanoids are coming.
The Boomers Insignia - Art by Steven Cummings
The Boomers
There is nothing subtle about a Boom Gun.
Its thunder announces itself across the battlefield. Its impact can turn the tide of a fight in an instant. And for some Glitter Boy pilots, that raw power is exactly the point.
The Boomers represent a louder, rougher, and more dangerous edge of the Glitter Boy legacy.
These are pilots who embrace the awesome destructive power of the USA-G10 and the reputation that comes with piloting one. They are warriors and survivors who understand that when a Glitter Boy walks onto the battlefield, people notice.
And some Boomers make sure they are never forgotten.
In Progress - Art and Inks by Steven Cummings - Colors by Mike Majestic
Where the Minutemen may see a responsibility to protect and the Riggers see a machine to maintain, rebuild, and improve, the Boomers remind us that putting incredible power into human hands does not guarantee what those hands will choose to do with it.
Because not every Glitter Boy story is heroic.
Some become legends for very different reasons.
And few have earned a darker reputation than...
The Cannibal
The Cannibal - Art & Inks by Steven Cummings - Colors by Mike Majestic
Even among Glitter Boy pilots, The Cannibal is a name spoken with a mixture of dread and fascination.
This infamous Boomer Glitter Boy has passed through the hands of exceptionally skilled pilots and earned a reputation for being incredibly difficult to put down. But that alone is not what gave the machine its name. The Cannibal is infamous for something much more disturbing:
It consumes other war machines.
Get close enough to The Cannibal and the battle can become something altogether different. Armor, machinery, and M.D.C. metal can become more than wreckage left behind on the battlefield.
They can become food.
And somehow, this ancient Glitter Boy keeps going.
Its pilots come and go.
The machine survives.
Some say there is something inside. Something trapped within the machine. Something that may explain its unnatural ability to survive punishment that should cripple another Glitter Boy. Are the stories true?
For now, we’ll let you wonder.
The Darker Side of the Legend
The Cannibal represents another side of what we want to explore in the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex.
The Glitter Boy has survived for centuries on Rifts Earth, and over that time these machines have become much more than suits of power armor.
They have become heirlooms, symbols, weapons, obsession, and legends.
Some inspire hope.
Some inspire awe.
And some inspire fear.
The Codex explores that full spectrum through the factions, pilots, personalities, legendary suits, history, weapons, gear, modifications, ready to play adventures, and mysteries that have grown around one of the most iconic war machines in the Palladium Megaverse.
And with the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex launching October 20, we still have more Chrome to reveal.
And Speaking of Legends From Palladium’s Past...
Last week, we revealed something else coming as part of the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder.
And judging by the response, a lot of you are as excited as we are.
The Mechanoids® Redux Edition!
Before The Terminator. Before The Matrix. Before Rifts, Phase World, or Aliens Unlimited. There was The Mechanoids.
The Mechanoids® Redux Edition: The Complete RPG Collection is coming as part of the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder and commemorates Palladium’s 45th Anniversary!
This massive 320+ page deluxe, full-color hardcover brings together decades of Mechanoids® history, including:
The Mechanoid Invasion® (1981)
The Journey (1982)
Homeworld (1983)
The new generation of Mechanoids from Rifts® Sourcebook Two: The Mechanoids® (1992)
And the long-forgotten The Mechanoids® RPG (1985), with over 100 pages of additional source material, artwork, characters, vehicles, weapons, gear, and more – out of print for over 35 years, most fans didn't even know all this extra content even existed!
Sean Owen Roberson has called the 1985 Mechanoids® RPG a “lost and forgotten gem,” and The Mechanoids themselves a dark science-fiction setting and cast of characters that were ahead of their time.
Now Kevin and Sean are going back to the beginning to collect and remaster it all in one big Redux Edition with new layout, content updates, modernized Redux rules, and full-color artwork.
The Mechanoids® Redux Edition Highlights:
Written by Kevin Siembieda, with an adventure series by Erick Wujcik.
Redux design, layout, and updatesby Sean Owen Roberson.
Rules Upgrade. The original Mechanoids, Palladium’s first RPG, was a rough prototype of what was to come. Now the popular Redux edition rules upgrade the Mechanoids experience to the classic Palladium Megaversal RPG system – revised and clarified for modern sensibilities.
Expanded vehicle combat rules, including the comprehensive Redux rules for land, sea, and aerospace combat (first featured in TMNT Transdimensional Adventures).
Artwork remastered for modern printing, scanned from the original production boards, this is a huge visual upgrade over what was possible in the early 1980s.
Approximately 80% of the artwork is by Kevin Siembieda, including material many fans have never seen from the 1985 RPG and additional never-before-seen artwork Kevin created back in the day.
Additional artwork by William Messner-Loebs, Newton Ewell, Kevin Long, Mike Gustovich, and James A. Osten.
And for the first time, this classic artwork is being brought to life in color by Luis Antonio Delgado, renowned colorist of the New York Times bestselling graphic novel The Last Ronin, among many other books.
320+ pages. Deluxe hardcover. Full color.
Another dream project for Kevin and Sean – and another piece of Palladium history coming to the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex crowdfunder.
October 20 Is Getting Closer
The Boomers.
The Cannibal.
The Mechanoids® Redux Edition.
And we still have more to reveal.
The Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex launches Tuesday, October 20 on BackerKit, and you can reserve your place right now.
Each Rifts Surprise Bundle will be hand-curated by the Palladium team with Rifts goodies and surprises.
Follow the campaign. Reserve your spot. Keep watching as we open the vault.
The road to the Rifts® Glitter Boy Codex continues.
We use essential cookies and our own first-party analytics to run BackerKit. With your consent, we also use cookies to measure our marketing and share data with advertising partners to show you relevant ads. Accept to allow all cookies, or reject to turn off the optional ones.
Read our cookie policy.
