Four Free Settings that You’re Not Using (and Should Be)

There are loads of settings out there for every game, but some of the best ones are labors of love by fans. The next time you’re looking to start a game with Savage Worlds, consider some of these to change up your game.

Savage Mushroom Kingdom

In what has to be one of the most loving conversions I’ve seen for any game, Theron “SlasherEpoch” Seckington of These Dice Look Funny has crafted a version of Super Mario World that has inspired me to love the Mario games all over again. Simply put, the players are members of her Majesty’s Agency for Reconnaissance and Intelligence Operations (MARIO), a special task force to the crown. Their job is to protect the kingdom at all costs.

The greatness of this setting is that Seckington side-steps the familiarity issue of using a popular game by crafting a reason for the players to not be the iconic characters. The game is not about trying to save the princess (that’s way above your pay grade) but trying to serve the kingdom in a more day-to-day way. By focusing lower on the totem pole, Seckington provides a world with more adventure to be had and a variation of enemies and dangers besides just trying to defeat Bowser and his kids.

Ghostbusters

While Ghostbusters games have been around since the movies came out, it’s hard to pass them up when they are written and illistrated as well as this one. The players’ guide is well layed out and details exactly how to play a ghostbuster in this setting. The author of the game has gone to great lengths to create item cards for all the various tools that you’ll need, and has provided ideas for making the game longer, including upgrade paths for your headquarters and ecto-mobile. The game is perfect for a quick ghost-busting huntor a long adventure, ultimately facing a creature that asks, “Are you a god?” Make sure you answer “Yes.”

Future Perfect

Although the site is far from perfect (blogger can be difficult to navigate), this series of posts thoroughly describes the rule changes and ships for an interesting space setting. Unfortunately, the author does not appear to have ever explained the primary concept of the game. Even so, reading through the posts provides a solid selection of resources that may be an interesting addition to anyfuturistic setting.

Clockworks

Clockworks bills itself as “a steampunk/fantasy game, set in the world of Vheld. A world of high flying adventure, heroic action, mad science, ancient mysteries, and occasionally, cosmic horror.” Although not a full blown setting yet, The Gentlemen Caller adventure hints at a much larger and deeper setting to come, which is currently brewing in the mind of Shawn Gaston. The adventure spins a tale of murder that ties into an urban myth of a killer in the lower city. Can your players find the killer before he strikes again?

Should more adventures be demanded in this world, check out the Clockworks Comic or the wiki page for more ideas.

Have we missed any awesome fan works that should be highlighted?