This week, Vince opens RIFTS Sourcebook One to a seemingly ordinary page and uncovers one of the biggest mysteries in early RIFTS. Before Triax had its own World Book, it was just a name, a company in Europe producing incredible military technology, and a hint that there was a much bigger world waiting to be explored.

Join us as we look back at how a single page of lore sparked the imagination of RIFTS fans, changed the way we viewed the Coalition States, and teased a future that wouldn’t be revealed for years. Sometimes the smallest pieces of world-building leave the biggest impression.

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In this episode, I look back at the impact RIFTS had on the tabletop hobby in the early 1990s. We’ll talk about its massive world, iconic artwork, unforgettable character classes, over the top power scale, and why so many players still have a soft spot for it decades later. We’ll also discuss the parts of the game that frustrated players, especially the rules, and why people kept coming back anyway.

Website: https://railgunsanddragons.com

This podcast is alive and ready to go! This new season will focus on RIFTS! We will look at what made RIFTS one of the craziest and gonzo RPGs of the '90s. Each episode will be roughly 10 to 20 minutes.

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Episode 9 drops you straight into the core of Palladium Fantasy 2nd Edition and shows you how the game actually works at the table. This is not a rules breakdown. This is how to read the system, how to approach it, and how to get playing fast without getting lost in the book.

We cover character creation, core mechanics, skills, combat flow, and what really matters when you sit down to run or play. You will hear where new players get stuck, how to avoid common mistakes, and how to focus on what Palladium does best. A dangerous world, meaningful choices, and survival that actually matters. As the books make clear, this is a setting built on magic, monsters, and real risk, not just heroics

If you are new, this gives you a clear starting point. If you have played before, this will tighten how you run the game.

n Episode 8, we sit down and talk about six ready-to-run adventure hooks that can kickstart a Palladium Fantasy campaign tonight. No long prep. No giant plot outline. Just six situations that drop characters straight into danger.You will hear about missing caravans, strange ruins, cursed villages, and places where something old is starting to wake up. Each idea is designed to give Game Masters a strong starting point and plenty of room to build the story at the table.If you run Palladium Fantasy Second Edition, or you have been thinking about starting a campaign, this episode gives you a handful of adventure sparks you can use right away.Grab your dice, gather your players, and step into the circle.

Book Two: Old Ones is one of the most misunderstood books in Palladium Fantasy Second Edition. It looks like a monster book, but it isn’t. In this episode of The Summoner’s Circle Podcast, Vince digs into what the Old Ones really are, not bosses to be fought, but consequences that shape regions, magic, cults, and entire campaigns.

This episode focuses on how to use Old Ones without turning your game into hopeless cosmic doom. How their influence creeps into the world. How cults form around half-understood truths. How seals weaken, magic bends, and reality starts to feel wrong. Most importantly, how players can confront these threats indirectly through choices, containment, and survival, rather than combat.

If you’ve ever flipped through Book Two and thought, “I’ll never use this,” this episode shows why it might be one of the most valuable tools on your shelf.

Your players think the Summoner is the boss. The Summoner thinks the demon is. They're both wrong. Learn how to create Summoner villain encounters that players remember for years.... not because they're deadly, but because they're different.

Got a wild story or a cursed character build? Send it our way at ⁠⁠Railgunsanddragons.com⁠⁠ or email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠. Your madness could shape a future episode.

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Today, we are talking about why moving your characters from point A to point B in Palladium Fantasy should never be boring. I used to treat travel as filler, but the books tell a different story. If you look at sourcebooks like Northern Hinterlands or Baalgor Wastelands, you see that the world itself is a threat. We are talking about mechanics for exhaustion, freezing cold, and blistering heat that make every journey a struggle for survival. Stop ignoring the weather and start making your players respect the road.

Got a wild story or a cursed character build? Send it our way at ⁠Railgunsanddragons.com⁠ or email ⁠[email protected]⁠. Your madness could shape a future episode.

Next Episode drops on 1/28!

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The Summoner’s Circle Podcast trailer. A Palladium Fantasy 2e show about hostile worlds, summoners as threats, and running magic with consequences.

Step away from the standard spellbook and enter the Palladium World, where magic is a science, a negotiation, and a trap waiting to be sprung. Join a Vince as he dusts off the Second Edition rules and talks "Lost Arts"... the forbidden magic that survived the purge of the Elf-Dwarf War.

In this episode, I talk about the Diabolist and the Summoner...two classes that trade instant gratification for ultimate strategic power. We discuss the lethal geometry of Ward phrases , the high-stakes gamble of the Battle of Wills , and why knowing a True Name is deadlier than any sword. If you are ready to master the runes and command the darkness, welcome to the table. The Old Ones may be sleeping, but we are just getting started.

Website: https://RailgunsandDragons.com