Savage Mondays – December 19, 2011

Each week we update you regarding everything Savage Worlds, including news from Pinnacle, the licensees, and the community, as well as the Forum Top Five.

It’s been a while

My apologies to our loyal readers who follow Savage Mondays. I had a 11 lb 5 oz “problem” by the name of Jack Hayes come up around the end of November, and that’s had me rather distracted. He has been rather demanding of our schedule.

Four New Deadlands Minis

Pinnacle and Reaper continue to push out minis for the Deadlands setting. Releasing this past couple of weeks has been Coot Jenkins, Automations, Undead Outlaws, and Mad Scientists. What more could an weird western need?

Coot Jenkins is a fine example of a man prospectin’ the Weird West, pullin’ the bounty from the earth. He might know a thing or two more than prospectin’, too, so he might be a handy friend for your posse to be makin’.

On the other side of that coin, though, are Hellstromme’s mighty Automatons. These fellas mean business, and they mean it with an actual iron fist! Don’t be gettin’ crossways of these creepy metal men, amigo, not if you know what’s good for you.

There ain’t no place safe left in Deadlands’ weird west, amigo. No place at all. The trails have always been infested with bandits, but now I hear there’s men too mean to die. That’s right, pard, undead outlaws are roamin’ the trails. If death won’t stop ‘em, what chance do you have?

Before you go thinkin’ studyin’s a safe route, I hear labs are fillin’ up with mad scientists! Who knows what darkness lies beneath them white coats? At least you know where you stand with an outlaw. I hear them science folks don’t even know they’re mad!

Streets of Bedlam: Kickstarter Project

I found this intriguing. I look over many Kickstarter projects and rarely find ones that I’m willing to shell out some cash for. This setting not only looked interesting but offered some great bonuses for chipping in. At the $25 level, you get a print copy of the book, a PDF, and at least two archetypes. If the project hits $8k, then the first of four adventures will be released to the backers. Not a bad deal.

Streets of Bedlam: A Savage World of Crime + Corruption is equal parts neo-noir, pulp detective fiction, and a bit of the ol’ ultraviolence thrown into a cement mixer and poured on top a heap of nameless bodies no one will ever miss.

It’s a modern urban setting full of despicable people doing awful things in the name of God, money, politics, or to pay off old debts. The stories shine light on the dark places of the human heart but it’s about finding diamonds in the rough, about good people in bad situations. The heroes may have questionable means but they have good intentions.

Of course, you know what they say about good intentions.

Kickstarter Video:

Iron Dynasty: Kesshi Tales #9

What Savage Monday would be complete without new guides from Reality Blurs or Triple Ace Games, and this week we get both! Reality Blurs release the 9th Kesshi Tales for Iron Dynasty.

Our kesshi journey to Karasu Rokku in search of a soul gem, but soon discover that mere gold cannot buy such a rare item, and are swept up in a quest to find something suitable to kill an immortal…

Hellfrost: Resource Miracles

We always need more ideas for how to run our characters right? Particularly divine characters? Well this should be right up your alley for all of your Savage magic games.

Clerics are well-known for invoking miracles, channeling the power of the gods into the mortal realm. For the most part, these are short-lived effects and of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. While a bolt may strike down a king, he is but one man. But there are more powerful miracles known to clerics, miracles whose workings can affect entire communities for as long as a year. These are known as resource miracles (and sometimes as community miracles), and form the focus of this supplement.

This supplement contains the full rules for casting resource miracles, and details over 20 miracles. In addition, a selection of local customs explores religious festivals carried out by single communities, allowing the GM to add more flavor to steads, villages, and towns.

Sundered Skies: Festival of Madness

Wrapping up a three part series in Sundered Skies, Triple Ace Games released Festival of Madness. This adventure shows Heroic rank heroes the ropes and may unleash something that could “…Change Everything In The Sundered Skies.” Sounds like a good Heroic level adventure to me.

An Unearthed Prophecy, Corruption In The Trade Council, and The Return of an Old Foe…

The heroes become aware of an age old prophecy which seems to be describing them. Not everyone wishes this prophecy to be fulfilled however, and soon they are dodging attempts upon their lives as they race to discover what it all means.

Divine Visitations, religious politics, cultist lairs, betrayal and worse await the heroes as they pursue their destiny until the bitter end.

Festival of Madness is a scenario for heroic rank characters and is the third and final installment of the Songs of Regret Plot Point Campaign.

…This Could Change Everything In The Sundered Skies.

Judgment Day

The new mini-setting from Mystical Throne Entertainment was released. This seems to be part of an overall investigative theme that’s been occurring in the the licensee community these past couple of weeks (likely unintentional). This setting builds on the protagonists hunting mystical creatures. Should be easy to drop into any modern setting and tune to your desire, be it “secret organization” or “world-renowned, celebrated group.”

Judgment Day is a universal setting where characters join the ranks of the Inquisition and their fight against the supernatural beings that threaten mankind.

The Inquisition has been protecting the world for centuries. While many feel solitude within their homes, inquisitors of all types are hunting the denizens that terrorize and kill. In Judgment Day, players take on the role of inquisitors hunting down and purging the likes of werebeasts, demons, aliens, ghosts, vampires, and more. Whether used as a stand-alone setting or secret society within existing settings, the Inquisition is ready to protect.

Judgment Day is a mini-setting, designed to be placed within existing settings to create specialized inquisitors while still being usable as a stand-alone setting focused on hunting horrific beings. To coincide with the stand-alone aspect, Judgment Day contains aspects of a modern fantasy, action horror setting.

A Peculiar Pentad – Savaged!

This book intrigued me a bit. It’s a collection of shops meant to be dropped into any investigation game. Each shop has it’s own flavor and use, and is designed to be dropped into any game of need. I’ve seen shops like this used with great effect in some of the games I’ve played, and they typically become memorable locations talked about for many a game session later.

It’s a lonely life investigating grisly affairs and confronting unnamable horrors, and it requires all sorts of materials that can’t be bought at the corner store as well as information that isn’t found in mass-market publications. Sometimes it seems like an investigator is all on his or her own, with no one to turn to for advice, assistance, or just fairly-priced goods of a specific nature. But if you wander down the right back alley, you may be surprised what you find.

A Peculiar Pentad presents five shops that every investigator may want, or need, to visit-a rare book store where the proprietor quotes from texts that were supposedly lost to the ages; a repair shop whose owner can get any mechanical device, no matter where or when it was made, functioning as good as new-probably better; a private social club that caters to those who have seen things no human ever should, and more.

Citadel of the Winged Gods

GRAmel released a new adventure this week for the Beasts and Barbarians setting. So sharpen your ax, mount your steed and brace yourself for a Savage ride.

Kyros, the fabled gateway to the East, a country of mighty elephants, ancient traditions. But also a troubled land, cursed by a mad king, and constantly at war with the savage Ivory Savannah Tribes.

As if this weren’t enough, the southern provinces have rebelled, dragging the whole country into civil war!
What better place for a mercenary looking for gold?
Clashes of armies, pillaging, fights, and ancient secrets ready to be unraveled await you in the second adventure of the Beasts and Barbarians series!

Forum Top Five

Jeff Carlsen here. Hi. It’s been a while. Tyson has a new baby, so he has an excuse for not posting. What about me? Nope. Nada. I’ve just let myself get distracted. To make it up to you, I’ve assembled a double edition of the Forum Top Five.

GM Screen Inserts: With a new edition of Savage Worlds, the old inserts are out of date. Nothing official has been seen yet, bu forum member Decalod85 has solved that problem for you.
Play as Giant Ants: I know it’s been your dream for years, so you’ll be excited to know that member Kakaze has assembled Savage Swarm.
Second Rate Supers: This game is all about street level satirical super heroes.
Spear Variants: Historically, spears were very important, and they came in many forms with many accessories. This thread covers that.
Melee vs Ranges: This thread is an in depth discussion of the balance difference between melee and ranged combat and how to play both effectively.
Random Character Creation: Some people like randomness. This thread is for them.
Post SWD House Rules: Many of peoples favorite house rules are now a part of Savage Worlds Deluxe. This thread is about what’s left, and what modifies the new subsystems.
Party Based Character Creation: This system is entirely about building characters as part of a party. It’s really worth a look.
SWD No Power Points: So, SWD now includes a variant for powers without the points. This thread discusses how to use it.
Fallout Bestiary: This is an attempt to give stats to every creature in Fallout for use in your post apocalyptic games. So, you know, it’s cool.

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