Savage Mondays – July 5, 2010

It’s a Savage World out there, and Apathy Games provides the tools to survive it. First, check out our Savage Worlds Primer. If you’re looking for more up to date news, here’s what’s happening now:

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Origins Wrap Up | Pinnacle Entertainment Group

While no new games or news was announced at Origins a good time was claimed to be had by all.  The most interesting tidbits is the annual Pinnacle Seminar was caught on tape, and we can expect to see it posted soon.

It also appears that none of the Savage Worlds nominees won awards this year, which I think is best summed up by PEGInc themselves:

In a bizarre turn of events that suggests an alien-influenced CIA conspiracy, the three Savage Worlds nominees didn’t sweep the awards. It was, of course, an honor to be nominated at all, much less three times (Deluge in the Game-Related Book category, Weird War II in the Roleplaying Game Supplement category, and Ken Hite’s Day After Ragnarok in the Roleplaying Game Supplement category). I’d like to heartily congratulate all of this year’s Origins Awards Winners.

Savage Licensees

Daring Entertainment Forms New Publish Partnership | Daring Entertainment

This week Daring Entertainment announced they had formed a new partnership with Cubicle 7.  What does this mean you might ask?  Well judging from the announcement it means we’ll be seeing some new material in print.  They quietly announce a couple of things as well.

War of the Dead Chapter 1: Week 6 | Daring Entertainment

Leave it to Daring Entertainment to help fill in the gaps of a slow news week.  For those of you who haven’t purchased the subscription you’ll be pleased to know that War of the Dead Chapter 1: Week 6 is now out.

Hellfrost Encounters Preview | Triple Ace Games

Triple Ace Games has released a preview of their new Hellfrost Encounters Book!  You can download the PDF here [PDF Link].

Designed with the busy GM in mind, this book contains 50 detailed encounters covering a variety of situations and locales.

Whether you’re after a random encounter that’s more than just a standup fight on featureless terrain, an exciting mini-adventure on the spur of the moment, something to break up the party’s travels, or a starting scene for an adventure of your own devising, this book has something for you.

To help speed up play, every encounter is designed to fit one or two pages containing all of its pertinent information, so there’s no need to flip between pages. Lavishly illustrated with maps, everything you need to play these encounters is within the covers of this fantastic book!

Although designed for the Hellfrost setting, each encounter contains the stats required for play, so it can be used in any Savage Worlds fantasy setting!

Hellfrost Region Guide’s 11 & 12 | Triple Ace Games

While #11 wasn’t announced on TAG’s front page it didn’t stop our news monkeys from picking up on the fact that it was released.

Hellfrost Guide #11 Ertha’s Realm

Skalds’ repertoires are full of stories concerning Ertha’s Realm, also known as the Underearth and Erthaheim. Tales of a subterranean realm of vast caverns all interlinked by countless miles of tunnels, warnings of a race of exiled elves who seek nothing more than total domination of the surface world, and yarns involving great cities with populations in the thousands, echo around inns and drinking halls the length and breadth of Rassilon.This supplement explores the truth and opens up underground exploration beyond the confines of the “dungeon.” As such, it is less a guide to specific locations than a survival manual for players and GMs alike.

This supplement contains rules for light and sound, movement, rope use, and tight squeezes while spelunking, details the minor god of underground exploration and the alien deity of the fungals, one new hazard, and 8 subterranean monsters.

Hellfrost Region Guide #12 Witchwood

Beyond the Icewall, the Hellfrost stretches to the top of the world. A land of temperatures cold enough to freeze blood in the veins and endless blizzards that tear flesh from bone, it is home to many fearsome creatures. Yet within the Low Winterlands lies Witchwood, a realm just as inhospitable. This is the domain of the Ice Queen, a creature both beautiful and terrible, whose powers extend far beyond mortal ken.

This product delves into some of the myths concerning the Ice Queen, details her army, explores six new locales, provides information on clerics of Thrym and the cult’s servants, details two new minor gods, and gives stats for 10 new creatures at home in the freezing wastes.

Savage Community

Savage Worlds IRC Chat

As we mentioned on Thursday, we now have an ongoing IRC chatroom.    You can simply click this pretty link and enter a username.  If you use a client, the server is irc.slashnet.org and the channel is #savageworlds.

Steam Community

Once the ball starts rolling, it’s impossible to stop.  If, like us, you’ve spent far too much money buying PC games through steam, you can now join the Savage Worlds steam community.

Smart People Live in the Forums | PEGInc Forums

It never fails to amaze me how much in depth conversation takes place in these forums.  This week, I’ve selected only the best for you to read.  There’s more to be found.

Spellcasting Tricks: Tricks are a very valuable action in Savage Worlds.  You either out-maneuver or outsmart your opponent to lower their defenses.  This thread asks, why not use a small amount of magic for the same effect?  What rules to use for this are discussed in detail, and Clint himself pops in for a word.

Filthy Rich and Drawing Money: How should your rich or filthy rich characters receive their money?  Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

The Value of Strength: The strength attribute doesn’t do very many things, but those things are important.  Still, some wonder if it should do more.

Small Groups: Golan 2072 wants to know if Savage Worlds plays well with small groups.  In my experience, the answer is yes, but this thread goes in to far more depths on the subject, including discussing what kinds of settings play well with one or two players.

Do you like Savage News but want it more than once a week? Subscribe to our Twitter. We won’t promise to drown you in a flood of news, but we won’t promise not to, either. Want to talk to us in real time?  Drop by the #savageworlds IRC Channel. As always, if we missed something, let our readers know in the comments.