Savage Status Report: Slipstream

Each week we take a look at one setting or genre in the Savage Universe and see how it’s doing and what the developers have been up to. This is not a review, but a guide to what’s available today. Updates to each Savage Status Report will occur more or less twice a year.

This week we look at a some first-party pulpy space fiction: Slipstream

What is it?

Buck Rogers. Flash Gordon. Rayguns and rocketships. Slipstream brings back the 1930′s serial science fiction. It’s campy. It’s silly, and it’s a ridiculous amount of fun.

The basic premise is that your rocketship got sucked into a black hole, and was spit out into a small micro-universe called Slipstream. Here, whole fragments of planets swirl around the slipstream wave. They are home to all kinds of strange aliens: Lion Men, Bird Men, Robot Men, and dozens of others, also obviously named.

Hard science is pretty much out the window. You can breath in space. All ships and planet fragments have standard Earth gravity. Everyone speaks English. The basic lesson is, “don’t worry about it. Just play.”

Core Products

Slipstream

160 page Hardcover: $34.99.

160 page PDF: $22.99.

From the Studio 2 page:

Ruling over Slipstream is the diabolical queen Anathraxa and her horde of Hand Maidens, Primals, and Minions. All bow before her, paying tribute to avoid destruction. None have had the courage to stand against her forces, at least not until now. For this is the role your heroes will take-bastions of light against a dark foe! Strap on your rocket pack, charge your ray gun, and prepare to blast off on wild and exotic adventures!

Adventures

As far as support goes, Slipstream has been rather lackluster. Aside from the included plot point campaign, only the following two adventures have been published.

One Sheet – The Hunt

2 page PDF: Free

Exerpt:

Stranded on an alien planet with nothing but their wits and the will to survive, a group of desperate heroes must play the most dangerous game with a voracious pack of proud hunters.

Heart of Steel

24 page PDF: $7.99

From the Studio 2 Page:

When your intrepid band of Streamers comes across the floating shell of a spaceship, how involved could it get? From that one simple discovery comes a parade of adventure—love and betrayal, secret police and hidden gardens, endless night and technophobia, robots and fungus—fit for any spacefaring crew.

Accessories

Here, slipstream does a little better. Pinnacle has provided an insert for the Customizable GM’s Screen, and a number of free aids on their downloads page, including a Map of Slipstream, a couple of rocketship maps, and even a set of adventure cards to be inserted into the full deck.

Slipstream Customizable GM Screen Inserts

PDF: $3.99.

These inserts are designed for the Customizable GM Screen.

Slipstream Character and Ship Sheet

2 page PDF: Free

This sheet may be the coolest looking character sheet ever made. That alone makes it worth your time.

Community Support

Here is where Sliptream really shines. The fans love it, and have put a lot of time into trying to create the ultimate experience. They’ve uncovered props, including these Invisible Playing Cards that look very spacey.

There are many discussions about finding the right miniatures, including answers for Lion Men and a couple on rocket ships. Here are a few threads about generic sci-fi miniatures that should work.

After finding miniatures, you’ll want maps. Check out this thread, as well as this one on map tiles.

If you’re looking for inspiration, you have to check out Retropolis. Everything there is absolutely stunning.

Lastly, one of the best parts of Slipstream is the race generator. This thread is chock full of great user created races ready for your game.

What’s In Development?

To be perfectly honest, we don’t know. No news regarding Slipstream has been announced in a long time. While it probably isn’t dead, don’t expect it to ever have a consistent product cycle. Fortunately, the material that has been provided should be enough to keep you going for a long time.