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Villains Unlimited
Villains Unlimited boasts page after page of distinctive villains, anti-heroes, and secret organizations. Unlike other books, it avoids generic, knock-off characters. Each character possesses a unique origin, history, personality, powers, and perspective.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Kevin Siembieda
206 books52 followersKevin Siembieda (born April 2, 1956) is an American artist, writer, designer, and publisher of role-playing games, as well as being the founder and president of Palladium Books.
Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.
Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).
Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).
Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.
Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).
Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 15, 2021
It's kind of funny how I found this book - first, I remembered getting it for my birthday when I was 15, though I later donated it. Then, more than 10 years after the event, I randomly remembered the book, and took a look online, hoping to remember the title. By chance, I found the cover for the book, confirming both that the book existed and that I wasn't the only one who remembered it. So I decided to have a look at the book, and here are my thoughts.
First off, it's an RPG, so that's always fun. I didn't play those growing up (when I played with my friends, it was stories based on the movies and shows kids watched), but I enjoy reading about them every now and then - an RPG is a minor part of my own series that I've been working on lately.
With that in mind, it's easy to see the influences mainstream comics have had - none of the characters would look out of place in a Marvel or DC comic. Even so, there's at least some effort by the creator to keep them decently original, which I always appreciate. I've been a comic book fan since I was 12, so that's something else the book has going for it. The illustrations are also well-done and have a '90s look to them, which I, being a sucker for '90s pop culture, enjoy.
With that in mind, there's still something most young readers probably won't notice, but I did: with the section on specifics for each character, we get their height listed in both feet and centimeters. This is an interesting detail, but at times, the conversion rate is laughably inaccurate. For example, one character is listed as being 6'3" or 1.6 m, which is a rather egregious mistake (in case you're curious, 1.6 m is 5'3", well short - no pun intended -of 6'3"), plus several characters are listed as being the same height in feet and inches, but different heights in centimeters. Again, it's doubtful many if any players from the work's target audience would even catch the error, especially since it was produced for American audiences (which uses feet and inches, not centimeters), but it's still noticeable to those with a keen eye, and makes you wonder how such a mistake got through.
At the end of the day, the book isn't outright bad - it's fun to enjoy these different villain designs that aren't from Marvel or DC, and if you're big on RPG, may be great to act out.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
First off, it's an RPG, so that's always fun. I didn't play those growing up (when I played with my friends, it was stories based on the movies and shows kids watched), but I enjoy reading about them every now and then - an RPG is a minor part of my own series that I've been working on lately.
With that in mind, it's easy to see the influences mainstream comics have had - none of the characters would look out of place in a Marvel or DC comic. Even so, there's at least some effort by the creator to keep them decently original, which I always appreciate. I've been a comic book fan since I was 12, so that's something else the book has going for it. The illustrations are also well-done and have a '90s look to them, which I, being a sucker for '90s pop culture, enjoy.
With that in mind, there's still something most young readers probably won't notice, but I did: with the section on specifics for each character, we get their height listed in both feet and centimeters. This is an interesting detail, but at times, the conversion rate is laughably inaccurate. For example, one character is listed as being 6'3" or 1.6 m, which is a rather egregious mistake (in case you're curious, 1.6 m is 5'3", well short - no pun intended -of 6'3"), plus several characters are listed as being the same height in feet and inches, but different heights in centimeters. Again, it's doubtful many if any players from the work's target audience would even catch the error, especially since it was produced for American audiences (which uses feet and inches, not centimeters), but it's still noticeable to those with a keen eye, and makes you wonder how such a mistake got through.
At the end of the day, the book isn't outright bad - it's fun to enjoy these different villain designs that aren't from Marvel or DC, and if you're big on RPG, may be great to act out.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
February 13, 2016
Even though the Palladium role-playing system is not the one I use in my games the source books are fantastic. Tons of great ideas and characters are scattered throughout the books. Very recommended for any gamer.
July 1, 2012
good book for those that want to develop villains for rifts games
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews