Will Herrmann, the creator, has been asking all of us licensees for permission to import our PDFs, and the support has been overwhelming. Of course, we agreed, but so have at least 14 others, including Triple Ace Games and Reality Blurs.

Now, I imagine you’re pretty sick of Kickstarter proposals at this point. Seems like there’s a new one in the RPG field every hour. But, honestly, Wild Card Creator strikes me as far too useful to ignore. I hope you’ll at least check it out and spread the word.

You can learn more about the project at the Kickstarter page, or at Journeyman Games.

Of course, that’s where the big slowdown is. We have limited playtesting capacity at the moment, so I can’t gauge how long this process will take. Then there’s art and layout.

Even so, I wanted to give you a heads up. Thank you for your patience.

Families

The year brought great joy to our lives.  In March, I found out my wife was pregnant with our first child, a baby boy, later born on November 30th. Jack Hayes is a joy in my life and a wonderful time-sink, as I’m sure most parents can understand.

In May, Jeff was wed to his wonderful bride.  They’ve been married most of the year and are a great couple.  It was a fantastic wedding filled with drinks and memories and some unexpected news about Paul. He was also to have a son, who was to be born at the end of the year (he was only a wee bit late).

The Blog

For the coming year, we’ve considered our new families and responsibilities and are reassessing our commitments to our company. We are 100% committed to releasing Acts 2 and 3 of TPA: To Predict and Serve. As such, we have decided to focus our efforts exclusively on those products.  Which means that we will be backing off the blog.

Our plan for the foreseeable future is to focus on Apathy news, and only occasionally post other content when we feel we have something interesting to say. This means we will no longer be providing Savage Mondays or regular advice posts. Sad but true.  However, in a good faith attempt to keep you informed, I shall now turn this over to Jeff, who will give us an update on the current status of TPA.

TPA

Hey. Sorry we’ve been quiet lately. I’ve been hearing from you, our fans, a lot lately, asking what’s up with TPA. It’s been a while, and you deserve to know what’s up.

To be honest, none of us have been happy with the pace of TPA development lately. Infants, jobs, and training have been an unexpected barrier to progress. So, where are we and what can you expect?

We have a complete draft of five of the seven adventures for Acts 2 and 3. Of the two remaining, we scrapped one and started over, and the other has been a constant writing challenge for myself personally.

So, most of the adventures are ready for playtesting and revision, but that’s where we’re facing the greatest roadblocks, as we simply don’t have the ability run games regularly.

Art is progressing in-house, and as we revise each adventure, art will be turned over our freelancers.

What this all means is that progress will be slow until we’re better able to arrange our new lifestyles to the needs of running a business. I honestly can’t say when that will happen. All I can do is apologize for your frustration and beg for your patience.

Other Games

If you’ve been following Jeff’s Google+ posts, you’ll know that he has begun development on a setting called City of the Sixth. By development, though, I mean that a lot of ideas have been thrown around and notes have been taken.

Other setting ideas have also been discussed, but just know that no serious work on these will begin until Acts 2 and 3 of To Predict and Serve are near release.

I thank you for your wonderful support through 2011, and hope you’ll continue to follow our work through 2012 and beyond.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.  We’re kicking off the new year like we always do with all the available Savage News.  Of course as was Christmas and all not much to report, but we’re sure the news will pick up steam soon.

Savage Licenses

A Merry Krampus Christmas

Nevermet Press ended the year by continuing with their Krampus series.  This year was a bit different in that they invited a blog carnival to help contribute to the stories.  You can find the round up here.

Each year during the holidays Nevermet Press features artwork focused on Krampus, a troll-like demon who serves as Santa’s “bad cop” to punish naughty children. You can learn more about Krampus at Wikipedia, but the short of it is that Krampus is a myth with a rich history that carries on in parts of Eastern Europe to this day. Unfortunately, he’s been trumped by Lumps of Coal and Naughty Kids Lists in the United States. Where’s the fun in that?

Savage Insider Issue 3

Mysitcal Throne released their third issue of the quarterly Savage Insider.  Focusing this time on all things horror.  Given the time of the year it’s a bit fitting to play something… Chilling.  Pick up the free ‘zine for the quickly becoming standard fare of comics, adventures, and previews.

Savage Insider Issue 3: What Lurks in the Shadows is a dark, gritty-themed issue with a look at the more horrific side of games. The pillar article Happily Scared is a lengthy discussion about what makes horror so appealing while Dangerous Magic introduces a grittier theme to your game’s magic mechanics.

What Lurks in the Shadows is a cross-genre horror issue with content covering modern, action, fantasy, and sci-fi horror. There are four, fully-developed Savage Worlds adventures to support all these horrific themes.

What Lurks in the Shadowsincludes:

• 4 fleshed out adventures
• 2 sets of alternate rules for incorporating horror
• 2 general interest articles about horror
• A preview of the upcoming Savage Worlds edition of Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.
• Part 3 of the Crypt of the Crystal Lich fiction series
• Part 3 of the Deadlands comic series The Kid

Keep up with us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We’ve also discovered a home on Google+ where you’ll also readily connect with other designers, roleplayers, and bloggers.

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.

Keep up with us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We’ve also discovered a home on Google+ where you’ll also readily connect with other designers, roleplayers, and bloggers.

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

50 Fathoms Explorer’s Edition

What will surely become the most feared book in the high seas Pinnacle has released the Explorer’s Edition of 50 Fathoms.  This has been our stable of settings to try for some time now, we keep eye balling it in a way one does when they have a stack of other games to try.  As we’ve been cycling in more games and it is… On sale…

The world is drowning. The natives say three witches in Ograpog were sentenced to death by King Amemnus and drowned by the rising tide. With their dying breath, they cursed Caribdus to drown as they were, to drown in fifty fathoms of cold dark sea.

Crab-like scurillians, massive grael, lonely doreen, mysterious kraken, cruel kehana, and the nigh-human masaquani now sail the seas beside the new visitors—humans from the age of piracy, dashing corsairs, bloodthirsty bucaneers, and savage sea dogs drawn from earth. Many believe these visitors to be destined to defeat the Sea Hags and save Caribdus from a watery grave, but most seem interested only in the plunder of forgotten treasures in a drowning world.

Be the hero you were meant to be. Sail the seas. Buckle your swashes. Fight the good fight. Save the world. Come to Caribdus.

Savage Licenses

Savage Suzerain Pocket Universe

Still haven’t picked up the Savage World Deluxe yet?  Are you looking for an incentive to do so?  Well you can get the Deluxe Edition and Pocket Universe in a two for one combo pack!

Suzerain is an Origins Award Nominee from the Savage Mojo design house (who brought you Shaintar and Gamescapes, and are Origins Award winners for Deadlands Reloaded). This edition of Suzerain is written for the Savage Worlds rule system (SW rulebook required), expanding the core rules in a number of key ways – a new approach to races is just the beginning.

Suzerain takes characters from one world to another or even to another time. History and fantasy, past present and future – they are all your playground now. Gaming groups just became…

…a pantheon in the making.

Skinner of Syranthia

Adventures help us get through the long dark winter.  GRAmel is familiar with long winters and is doing its best to help us through them.  A new scenario for Beasts and Barbarians has been unleashed into the wild, will your heroes survive?

No Hero Lives By His Sword Alone!

In the best tradition of sword and sorcery, Gramel is proud to present a new investigative scenario set in the world of Beasts and Barbarians!

What evil lurks in the alleys of Syranthia, preying upon young pretty girls? This new module for Beasts and Barbarians leads you through a dangerous labyrinth of investigation and deceit, breakneck chases, strange foreign deities, and a villain older than the Great Library itself.

But fear not, you won’t be alone for this dangerous mission. Your hero has the chance to ally themselves with one of most famous personalities of the Dominions. Only by working together can this pall over the great city be stopped!

Pick up your sword and sharpen you wits. You’ll need both to unravel the mystery surrounding the diabolical Skinner of Syranthia!

Iron Dynasty: Guidebook #9

Reality Blurs continues the monumental pace that they’ve set for themselves continuing to release new material almost every week.  Checking in with the ninth guide book to Iron Dynasty this week we explore Karasu Rokku.

Iron Dynasty Guidebook #9 introduces Karasu Rokku to your game table. Find out the secrets of the Witch-King and let your game take wing as your kesshi brave the dangers awaiting them in this treacherous land of death and lost honor!

Keep up with us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We’ve also discovered a home on Google+, where you’ll also readily connect with other designers, roleplayers, and bloggers.

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Deadlands Trail Guide: Weird White North

The bitter cold of winter is upon us.  While Deadlands is not the best tool to keep us warm, the trail guide will keep us from dying.  This week Pinnacle released Weird White North, treading into places close to home (for me). Will your players survive the long winter?

Trail Guide: Weird White North is your guide to terror in the tundra! With additional setting rules for the bitterest cold, a mini-Plot Point Campaign stretching back to the 1600s, a frozen boatload of Savage Tales, and the coldest, creepiest critters Canada can conjure, Weird White North has everything you need to take your Deadlands game farther north than ever before, well beyond where saner men would stop.

Discover what lies buried beneath the ice of ages in Alaska and British Columbia. Witness Canada’s fantastic Winterline hold the most frigid force of Mother Nature at bay. Become embroiled in a struggle as old as the cold itself.

So, how about it, hombre? You got what it takes to survive in a place where distances start at “vast” and temperatures top out at “deadly”? There’s only one way to find out-get your copy of Trail Guide: Weird White North today!

Savage Licensees

Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition

Golden Edition! The name alone sparks ideas of something new and fancy. GRAmel has “re-released” the Players Guide in the new golden edition, containing some changes and loads of new bits for people to enjoy.  They’ve indicated that people who have purchased the previous edition should get this new edition at a discount.  Click the link for more details.

Beasts and Barbarians Golden Edition is a bigger and more savage version of the B&B; Player`s Guide. Packed with a lot of Game Master stuff, it has 208 pages full of Savage Goodness. New things we have put into it: 51 non player characters, 10 new monsters, new rules, adventure generator and an adventure!

Daring Tales Guide to Elite Nazi Units

What does every Daring Tale need more of? Nazis.  Plain and simple.  Triple Ace Games answers the call with a handful of new units, complete with back story, ready to drop in your pulp covered game.

A staple of the pulp genre, Nazis are foes characters love to hate. This Savage Worlds supplement details three unusual Nazi units: SS-Sturmbataillon Fenrir, an all-female SS unit better known as the Valkyries; the high-flying Zeppelintruppen, protectors of Hitler’s airship fleet; and the collection of psychotics that form Stahl-Mask’s Doom Squad.

Each unit has its history, uniform, purpose, and favored weapons described, along with complete stats to allow you to drop these bad boys and girls straight into your high-octane pulp game.

RunePunk: Guidebook #6

RunePunk continues their efforts to document every region of the game.  Will their efforts succeed?  Will we ever learn the grand unified theory of every secret in the game? Only one way to find out.

HawkHaven is the most barren region of the Bleakness, so what drives people there? Discover the mysteries of what lies below the surface as you learn of the struggles between rival factions for control of this section of the ZU. Learn the secret origin of the malakars and why Zerinar is called the Undying and much, much more!

Keep up with us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We’ve also discovered a home on Google+, where you’ll also readily connect with other designers, roleplayers, and bloggers.

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Savage Worlds Horror Companion

The time of long dark winter is upon us. Images of warm fires and ghost stories abound.  What better way to celebrate the oncoming winter then by gathering around with friends telling stories using the new Horror Companion rules?

Take your Savage Worlds games to new depths of darkness with the Horror Companion. Inside are new rules for playing monsters, signs and portents, buckets o’ blood, ritual casting, new spells, sanity, gear, new Edges & Hindrances, Setting Rules, over 100 new monsters, advice on creating and maintaining atmosphere, and MORE!

This tome of terror is essential for anyone running a dark or horrific setting.

Savage Licensees

Halloween Freebies

Halloween is the best time for free things.  Candy, entertainment, and beer are some of the best things to get for free.  While we unfortunately can’t deliver free beer on the Internet (though, we have research trolls on it!), we can give you some free entertainment, no costume required.

Deadlands Devil’s Night

Devil’s Night is a 12-page adventure for use with Deadlands and the new Horror Companion. As the hooves of doom beat down upon your posse, it will be up to you to decide if the tale is one of bitter vengeance or just retribution, assuming you survive. After all, Devil’s Night was written by Savage Worlds creator Shane Lacy Hensley himself and one of the system’s bloodiest GMs.

The Black Coach

The Black Coach is a papercraft model of a black stagecoach complete with horses and optional boot made by Jordan Peacock. If you’re a Figure Flat fan and plan on running Devil’s Night, this is definitely a must-have!

Bat Swarm Templates

Bat Swarm Templates, also by Jordan Peacock, give you some more options for your Small, Medium, and Large Burst Templates just in time for Halloween. Nothing beats trapping your buddies in a big swarm of bats for the holidays, unless it’s using a big swarm of bats to deliver up to 4d6 damage with the right trappings on a well-cast Blast…

Wolves in the Borderland

The story is simple: Fort Vanguard, a small but sturdy fortification, stands on the very border of Black Forest. The lord of the Fort, Commander Voorhess, has a beautiful daughter named Kara, who was captured by Caled raiders three nights ago while on her way to visit her father. Her retinue of three soldiers and a slave girl were also captured. The raiders took their captives back into Black Forest, beyond the Godaxe.

Being short of men, Commander Voorhess has ordered you, the Border Wolves, to pursue the raiders and rescue his daughter. You know the truth: you have been chosen because any other man in the small garrison would have refused such a dangerous mission.

Black Forest is dark and silent and, although you constantly feel you are being watched, nothing hinders your advance. After pursuing them for two days, you have now located the raiders in a small Caled village…

Agents of Oblivion: Mini-Mission #1: The Bad Seed

A Halloween Mini-Mission for Agents of Oblivion, the agents are sent to the wilds of Boise, Idaho to find out why children are disappearing in the midst of The Pumpkin Festival. Can they stop the horrors which await them?

Midnight Harvest – Savaged!

From what appears to be a new line of releases, Reality Blurs has partnered with Super Genius Games for the new adventure Midnight Harvest. Playable with Realms of Cuthulu, and of course Savage Worlds, Midnight Harvest is an adventure fit for the old god himself.

The Autumnal Costume Fete fills sleepy Five Lanterns, RI with outlandish garb sewn by the country’s best costumers. This year, some of the outfits seem a little too real… and their designer will go to any length to keep his identity secret. A rash of missing children, the discovery of unholy texts, and gibbering lunatics wandering the streets, hide the true menace as it reaches for its blasphemous goal. Can the investigators solve these disparate clues in time to stop the Midnight Harvest?

Midnight Harvest contains everything a group needs for an evening’s worth of Savaged Mythos-inspired fun, including pregenerated characters and Sanity rules for towns! It is the first in an innovative new series of Cthulhoid Savage Worlds scenarios and supplements from Super Genius Games.

Iron Dynasty: Kesshi Tales #8

One of the few non-Halloween related items, Realty Blurs released Kesshi Tales #8 for Iron Dynasty, marking another entry into the ever expanding series.

The kesshi set sail for Doragon Mizu and get caught up in the excitement and intrigues of the Dragon Princes. Will they find fortune among the waves or shall they crash upon the ragged shores of destiny?

Savage Community

Forum Top Five

Each week we delve into the Pinnacle forums so you don’t have to. I have found five threads worthy of your consideration, and I now present them to you in this nicely formatted list:

• Proactive Bennie Use: This thread attempts to come up with ways to use bennies before you act, as opposed to using them to reroll after you act.
• Elemental Balance: This is an attempt to create an elemental magic system with a rock, paper, scissors style immunity system.
• Coded Messages: Puzzles can be fun. Cryptology can be fun. It can also be a drag. This thread discusses when and how to use it.
• Online Play: When you can’t get together in person, online can be the next best thing. Here are some tips and tricks for making it work.
• Future Guns: Always an interesting topic. What will guns look like in the far future? What are their stats?

Keep up with us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook. We’ve also discovered a home on Google+, where you’ll also readily connect with other designers, roleplayers, and bloggers.

Agents of Oblivion

I will admit this setting intrigues me a bit. Mostly in the fact that you can swap skills between missions and the sheer amount of tech that is likely to come with it. I’m planning on listening to Episode 93 of the Game’s The Thing to learn more about it. Has anyone had a chance to check it out? Let us know in the comments. From RPGNow:

Agents of Oblivion is the highly anticipated Savage Worlds setting book we like to call The Perfect Cocktail of Horror and Espionage. Within these pages grace everything you need to play the style of spy game you want to play from “The Company Line” where every nightmare and conspiracy you can imagine is real and you can wield the powers you need to drive back the darkness to “Spy versus Spy” where you can take things on in a gritty brutal fashion.

Let’s break things down a bit more: Agent generation is designed with flexibility in mind and expands the Savage Worlds base rules while remaining true to them. Within are options to even modify your agent’s abilities between missions. Add to that resources and you have a setting which truly shines-spytech, special training, SUDs (single use devices), and a multitude of ways to trick out your loadouts and options to grab!

Haunted: Ghostly Horror PDF

A ghastly month is upon us. 11 new tales to chill your bones. With a cast of authors, mysteries and so much horror. All set in the epic center itself, Pinebox Texas. From Pinnacle:

Long-time 12 to Midnight writer Preston DuBose has penned a ghostly tale set in everyone’s favorite epicenter of rural horror—Pinebox, Texas. The Angry Stick—Preston’s short story of a seasoned ghost hunter struggling to conceal his curse while helping a pretty amateur investigate a dangerous spirit—and ten other ghostly tales are collected in the new anthology Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror.

The ghosts gathering around you in the cool, autumn air are learning everything about you they could possibly want. Doesn’t it only make sense to learn about them—before it’s too late?

Camp Wicakini: Part II

Silver Gryphon Games follows the general holiday release pattern in kicking off some more horror style adventure. The adventure takes place a couple of hours after Part 1, if you survived of course. From RPGNow:

Something’s gone wrong at a summer camp deep in the woods. Very, very wrong. If it had been just punk kids screwing around, that would be one thing, but the report came in from the State Patrol’s office, and it was a confused, scared report…almost nervous to be turning in a report on…zombies?

They dispatched an officer, but he turned back and wants immediate backup from the FBI. It just so happens that a special team is in Denver and you’re a member of that team. It’s a quick 6 hour trip to the camp from Denver, and you’re briefed on what to expect. Zombies, man…what is the world coming to?

Hellfrost Region Guide #47: Isles of the Seareavers

Another week bring us #47 of the Hellfrost Region guides.

Avast and beware, for the Seareavers have set sail!

Pirates have gone by many names over the centuries, but their goals and motives remain the same. The greatest threat to maritime trade in the modern age is the Seareavers, a motley brotherhood of sea-raiders bound by a loose code and common faith. They are greatly feared, and rightfully so, for they are true wolves of the sea.

This latest Hellfrost Region Guide looks at the culture of the much-feared Seareavers, and provides stats from typical Seareavers, their clerics, and their bloodthirsty captains.

Operation Winter Kill

A mission to Antarctica with 24 hours on the clock to get in and get out? Sounds like a Savage adventure to me! Kick off a white knuckled adventure as a member of Strike Force 7.

As this adventure begins, an experimental U.S. aircraft has gone down over Antarctica. Was the plane shot down by Skorpion, or did the weather cause the crash? Only once you brave the Winter Kill can you find out!

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I wanted to befriend him; travel around with him. Maybe he could introduce me to this new species called Girl that I’d heard about. I knew he wasn’t real, and that the adventures he and I would have together would only last the 60 minutes minus commercial breaks, but I still wanted to befriend him.

I first met Wil Wheaton (which my wife still pronounces like Stewie) at his 2007 PAX Keynote address. He spoke about why games matter, how he grew up in the 80’s with arcades, played D&D with his friends, and bonded with his sons over games. I was immediately transported back to when I first watched The Next Generation. I saw a guy I wanted to hang out with. I wanted to play games and drink beer with this guy. He was one of us!

Now, I’m not a person who worships celebrity; I try to keep my distance. So I smiled, cheered, and applauded my way through the keynote. When I got home from an exhausting weekend, I found myself navigating to his blog. I found his writing style to be like his speaking: brilliant. I was immediately a fan … again.

The next year at PAX, I found myself near the booths for the VIPs. At the time it was in this huge open space with giant windows spanning the length of two floors. It was a Sunday, and I had been working 20 hours a day enforcing (volunteering to help run the show) and sleeping next to nothing.

I spotted Wil behind his booth chowing down on a sandwich. “Brilliant,” I thought. “I can say something that’s been on my mind since last year and no matter how awkward I am he can just nod his way through it, ’cause he’s eating.” To this day I have no idea why my sleep-addled brain thought this was a good idea.

I stood up, strode over to his booth, and looked him right in the eye and said, “OMFG I’M A HUGE FANBOY LISTEN TO ME BE AWKWARD!!!1! *SQUEEEEEE*” Or at least, I’m pretty sure that’s what he heard it as.

What I tried to say was, “Your keynote touched me personally. I’ve been a gamer for a long time and I identified deeply with your topic. I love your blog, your writing style, and just wanted to thank you for what you do.”

He covered his mouth and spoke through his sandwich and thanked me in the politest way a person can while chowing down. Of course what I heard was, “Dude, you couldn’t have waited until I finished chewing?” I looked at him sheepishly; I needed to fix this quickly. Inspiration came in the form of a $20 dollar bill and the chapbook that he had brought with him that year; he graciously signed it. I ran away embarrassed. I didn’t attempt to talk to him again for years.

This year, I was asked to assist with the VIPs. I had worked a bit with the VIP team last year and helped Paul and Storm make their video Water. Though I hadn’t told the VIP Manager, I was a bit scared to help out. I was a scared of meeting Wil again. I wanted to talk to him and tell him, slowly this time, that I really respected him as an actor, writer, and father.

My chance came sooner than I thought. Wil needed a person to handle his cash, and — diving in head first — I volunteered. We introduced ourselves, I quickly relaxed into the job, and Wil began to include me in his games.

“Tyson, what’s our target number for AWESOME!?”

Coming from Wil, awesome always is in all caps and with an exclamation point, regardless of context. We will call this Wheaton’s Second Law: Thou shalt be AWESOME! at all times.

“12 Wil, but remember you get a +5 for being awesome.”

“AWESOME!” he cheerfully exclaimed, rolling his dice. It would be the first of many checks he’d fail while testing his theory of being able to have “too many dice.” (The dice hated him that weekend.)

After a couple of hours, I needed to get Wil to his first panel where he would receive his cape of dicks. Quick side note: even the tassels are crocheted penises. That cloak is epic. We finished the line, and I took a deep breath.“ Wil I was hoping you would humor me while I had an awkward fan moment with you.”

“Sure.”

“I’ve been a fan of you for years, and recently your blog has really touched me. I’m going to be a new father in December.”

“CONGRATULATIONS!”

I beamed. “Thanks! It’s a boy! And we’re naming him Jack Napier Hayes!”

“AWEOSME!” he said all caps, in the way only Wil can.

“Anyway I wanted to say that your stories with your son and brewing beer have really touched me. I worry a bit about being a good father and it’s nice to have places to draw some inspiration from someone being a good father. I just wanted to thank you for that. Also, could you sign my Kindle? I love your writing, and I thought it would be the most appropriate thing you could sign.”

“I’d love to, and that wasn’t an awkward fan moment. That was an AWESOME! dad moment.”

I blushed. “Thanks, Wil.”

The rest of the weekend was spent being AWESOME! with Wil. Getting him from panel to panel, meeting some of the coolest fans, and having one of the best weekends ever.

Until Sunday. Sunday is a muted day at PAX. It was also sad, as I knew Wil and I would be parting ways soon. When we began packing up Wil’s things, he accurately summed it up as “This moment gives me sad face.” He pulled me aside and said, “Tyson, you’ve been awesome this weekend. I was a little worried at first when I wasn’t in [the VIP Manager’s] hands but you fucking brought it.” He then picked an item up from his booth that I’d been eying all weekend but couldn’t justify the purchase for, signed it, and gave it to me.

“To Tyson,” it read, “Thank you for taking care of me @ PAX,” and was signed, “Wil Wheaton.”

I beamed at him. He then gave me another gift, for my wife, “For letting me keep you from her this weekend,” he said. I was so touched I about started crying. I wanted to hug him for his kindness, but I remembered his “no touching” policy (he got Swine Flu two years ago). So I pulled myself together and asked simply, “May I shake your hand?” He consented with a warm smile on his face. I thanked him for giving me the best PAX ever. We then parted ways, and I waved goodbye to a man I hope to one day call my friend: Wil Wheaton.

I originally wrote this about a week after PAX.  I waited until I got Wil’s approval to post it, as I did spend the better part of a weekend with him; it just felt like it was the right thing to do.  When I met up with him again during during his reading of Ready Player One (in which he performed the audio book. Print or audio, the story is fucking amazing), he conceded to let me post the story. He also introduced me to number of awesome people as his “friend.” My inner 13 year old about wet himself.