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Hello Palladium Books Community,



I don't know why life has to be bittersweet. We have some very sad news.

Amidst all the excitement of the holiday and the Titan Robotics Kickstarter, crushing tragedy has struck the Palladium family. It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that Julius Rosenstein is in a coma. He suffered an accident that deprived his brain of oxygen for what was probably hours. His family will be taking him off life support and let him go any day now. Our hearts go out to them because we share their pain and sorrow. Julius has been my dear friend since I was 21 years old, and he was a vital part of the Palladium Family since the inception of Palladium Books.

If you want to share any fond memories you have of Julius - the care he took in shipping out packages each week, games he ran, and other memorable moments - please feel free to share them here. We will keep this thread as a memorial to him.

- posted on behalf of Kevin Siembieda and the rest of the Palladium Books team

Read more about Julius here

Julius was a generous and kind man. During my short stint with Palladium, Julius was always there to chat, make me laugh, and treat me as an equal, despite our age difference. He was a good person and a kind man. Even though I haven't seen him in more than a decade, I will miss him in my heart.

Rest in peace, Julius!

I wish I had more to say. He was always so kind to me, and always had a story to tell about some great gaming escapade that occurred at his table. He’s definitely going to be missed. My heart has joined the thousand.

~ Josh

Man... hard to find words. I saw and talked to the guy at the last OH. And seen him at all the previous ones I had been to. He will be greatly missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and Palladium for this great loss.

I too only knew Julius from the Open Houses but was fortunate enough to have had a few brief conversations with him. He was always generous with his time and his knowledge, especially about being a Game Master. I imagine there are many of us who regret never getting the chance to game with him.

Rest in Peace Julius and my sympathies to his family and friends

Palladium Books games have shaped my entire life; I told my story in the Rifter tribute to Erick, but what I didn't mention is that in all those years before there were Open Houses, I never got to play, only GM.

The first time I actually got to play a Palladium Game without being the GM? At the first Open House, sitting next to Josh and his wife, playing heroes trying to capture a villain who was possessing military personnel in an attempt to launch a nuke...

..in a game written and run by Julius. He was my first GM, and I looked forward to playing in his games at each Open House.

When I started coming early to help set up, I would always go over to his work station to give him a hug, ask how he was doing and see if there was anything he needed.

I will miss him...

Damn… this one hits hard.

I can’t claim to know Julius very well, yet at the same time, his involvement with Palladium Books has made him an indirect part of my life for over two decades. He has had a hand in influencing many of the games I love, as well as the people who make those games. If I recall correctly, it was Julius who first got Kevin to try role-playing, so it’s not inaccurate to say that, without Julius, many of my favorite RPGs literally wouldn’t exist.

I’ve been to every Open House, and each time I looked forward to catching up with Julius and listening to one of his stories. Whenever I had a question, he consistently gave me his utmost attention and was diligent in helping me out. He was always nothing but kind, warm, and friendly. Future Open Houses won’t ever feel the same.

My heart goes out to his family, friends, and the Palladium Books crew.

I didn’t know Julius as well as I would have liked, but I did have a number of opportunities to speak with him, and game with him at the Open House events that I’ve been able to attend over the years. He was very sweet, generous with everyone he met, and just a great guy.

The Palladium Books community is like an extended family for many, and Julius was that wacky, but big-hearted uncle we all loved.

We’ll miss him.

Sending warm thoughts to Julius' family, friends, and the Palladium Books crew who will feel the loss of his presence the greatest.
Peace and strength.

My condolences to Julius Rosenstein's family and friends, and the entire Palladium family. Julius is one of the great ones.

Ever since Kevin informed me about Julius, I’ve been contemplating what I wanted to say about this extraordinary man. First of all, what an incredible
storyteller. During one of the Open Houses, I was fortunate enough to be in one of Julius’ Beyond the Supernatural Games. What made this particular
adventure unique all our characters we’re all fictional literacy people as done in the tradition of the comic book League of Extraordinary Gentleman. I played
the Scarlet Pimpernel, and somewhere I still have the character sheet. Now as is so often, my Dr. Sam Beckett memory doesn’t allow me to remember
anything about the adventure. In this case I think the reason is I was so awe-struck in how Julius ran the adventure. You could see the twinkle in his eye
when our characters figured out the clues he laid out for us, the joy on his face when we got caught in his preplanned traps and the thrill when our characters
did something he didn’t anticipate yet the ease he could improvise on the fly. At that time, I only G.M. for my friends, which I had been doing since 1989, so
the whole time I was playing my character not as a player but as a G.M. learning the tricks of the trade from a living legend. The sheer joy I got out of his
Game Mastering made me want to do it again, but not with my group of friends but as I did back in 1985 in Middle School, with total strangers. I needed to
know if I was any good at this. So when I became a published freelancer with Palladium Books with Bizanitum and the Northern Islands (2015) I
committed myself to that role. And to this very day I loved every minute of it. Running games at the Palladium Open House, Gen Con, and the rare chance I
get to run anything at other conventions. All of it I owe to Julius for making me love storytelling in a way similar to writing novels, creating an adventure and
watching it play out among strangers. And like Julius I get that twinkle that grin and experience that sheer euphoria of watching it all come together.

Second, what a legacy. Julius was one of the founding pillars of Palladium Books. He’s left his contribution throughout the company’s various
titles. Too many to name right now, but the one that left the biggest impression on me is the Wayfarers (Rifter #80). I absolutely love these “official”
Palladium Fantasy versions of the Romani people (Gypsies). I find them so rich and diverse, just oozing with story development. At the Open House, my fellow
Fantasy freelancer John Klinkel and I debated which of us should get these NPCs in our next fantasy manuscript. At the 2022 Open House and Gen Con
I ran an adventure in which 6+1D6 caravans of Wayfarers play a unique role in the adventure. However, my Sam Beckett memory cannot recall if I told Julius
how much I loved these cannon NPCs, the source material, or anything about them. And now…I don’t get that chance. Comedian Buddy Hackett once said,
“The best of times is now. Do that thing you’ve been waiting to do.” “Take that chance.” “Say that thing you want to say.” In other words, Don’t wait because
there is no guarantee that life will let you have a second chance.

Lastly, I want to say as a Palladium Books fan since 1988, a frequent visitor over the last 20 years to the Palladium Warehouse, and “official” Palladium
freelancer since 2013, I feel the impact of his loss. I have three close life-long friends that I’ve known for more than three-quarters of my life. My best friend
Miles and I have known each other since kindergarten. He’s the godfather to my daughter. His mom treated me like a third son and was there for me during
some very desperate moments in my life. My friend Tom introduced me to Palladium Books in high school and took me to my first sci-fi/comic book
convention. He showed me that I wasn’t alone in my geek life and nerd beliefs. My friend Eric, we both did some stupid and foolish things in our teens and
early 20s that could have made us have very different lives than we have now. Luckily, we found a way to not let our past mistakes define us and we forged a
path toward responsible adulthood. However, the impact these three men had on me pales in comparison to the lifelong friendship between Kevin and Julius.
Those three friends hold a very special place in my heart, but I can’t imagine having to spend nearly every single day with them at a job in which I was their
boss. What an unusual power dynamic and what a testament to the character of both men that they made it work for 33 years? One of the things I told Kevin
in a sympathy card is in this day and age people claim to have 100+friends, people whose name/pictures appears on their various social media platforms. Yet
in truth how many of these humans beings are REAL friends, individuals you can count on to be physically present for you like a family member or spouse
during a crisis when we are at our lowest point in life? Too many people in our lives are nothing more than texts, pictures, or words in a thought bubble on a
smartphones. What we need is more people like Julius in our lives, men and women who are not perfect but because they are a part of our existence, they
make our lives richer and better. Their influence turns us into successful parents, business owners, and graduates from college. Because of them we get the
opportunity to enrich the lives of our fellow Earthlings and we leave a permanent footprint behind for the whole world to remember us by after we’re gone.
This legacy is made possible because you and this special person read comic books together or studied the same subject in school or participated in the same
sport or whatever. Later on, you both sit around a table with pens, pencils, paper, and dice pretending to fight monsters. Then years later you start a business
together and help repeat the cycle again in other nerds and geeks, and more recently ordinary people.

I therefore bid you a tearful goodbye Julius Rosenstein. You lived the ultimate gamer life that many of us can only envy. You will be missed but you left a
legacy that many of us will endeavor to carry on.

Glen Evans

Well said, Glen, as always.

Someone mentioned that Julius was like the Uncle in the Palladium family. Honestly though, I want to take it a step further. Julius was the man who got Kevin in to gaming. Without him, Palladium Books likely would not exist. Julius is responsible for motivating Kevin, kindling the love of gaming in him and, without that...well, I'm sure we've all seen "It's A Wonderful Life". Julius is, in essence, the grandfather of Palladium Books' family.

I loved chatting with him at the POHs. Like others, I only had interactions with him at the POH, but I always ended up spending at least a good half hour or longer just chatting about anything and everything with him. We had several really good conversations about history, particularly the second world war...not sure how, but we alwys ended up there.

As a GM, he was undeniably one of my favorites. A great storyteller, able to loop everyone in to the story, and even guide new gamers; had a couple of kids in a couple of his games- younger kids- at one POH and he drew them out and engaged them in the story masterfully. His joy and enthusiasm was contagious, and we all got swept up in it.

To Kevin and those who worked with him most, I have no words strong enough to express my condolences to you all. We will ALL miss him. He impacted all of us, in the end.

I was shocked to see this in the weekly update yesterday.

I only met Julius at the Open Houses and I think I managed to play in one of his games at every one of them. Julius had a really kind and soft spoken manner about him. He had interesting and fun ways of rolling for different random events or reactions that made his excellent games even more fun.

While I didn't know him well, I will always have fond memories of him and will miss seeing him in future POHs.

My condolences to his family and friends.

I know of a few people in Pally, Julius R. I had no real contact with.....That being said, like everyone who has contacted Pally
directly, Alex, & Crystal I know......I am an old pally fan, playing the FRPG back in '90.....I read the horrid swimsuit Rifter-the 1 with grown
men in it.....& Appreciated the grand sense of humour/humanity in it. I got to know u guys The thing I remember about Julius is he had
a certain class, that alot of the others didn't-JK...... He was wearing his hakama, & had his Katana OUT!! from what I've read in this forum-
he was hilarryious-thats my brother, larry......I'm gnna miss him.......
The Dr. is in X-Ray Tedster

There's no other way to really put it than, it sucks to hear about this. Julius was a solid dude. The veteran gamer who would always love to swap "war stories" or talk oddball character designs, viewpoints, mindsets, etc. I only had the opportunity to interact with him on the few off chances I found myself at the warehouse (a number I can count on one hand really), but if he was there, it was easy to get lost in conversation.

Thank you Julius for the fun and the enlightenment.

I just read the news about Julian and wanted to add my comments. The first time I went to a Palladium Open House, I played a game Julian was running called Hacienda from Hell. He was warm and genuine and so much fun to talk to. I really liked his style of running a game and made it a point to make my take of his game the starting point in my own Minion War campaign. I liked that he shared his ideas of running and playing a game with us and gave encouragement to our gaming ideas. I'm so sorry to read this sad news and my condolences go out to his family, close friends and the Palladium Community who got the chance to know Mr. Rosenstein.