Day After Ragnarok | Apathy Games

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In the Land of Minis

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/07/20 – 00:00 -

Figures, flats, minis, dice, tokens, we’ve used all of them. Sometimes, to mark where enemies are on the map, I’ve gone so far as to actually draw them on, in pen, because it’s all I had. Although I’d have to say that using LEGOs with custom made weapons is a new one on me, but that’s exactly what one Savage chatter has done. Andrew Linstrom aka entonfire was discussing in #savageworlds this week that he actually uses a combination of LEGOs and BrickArms weapons packs to up the ante on his games and bring a more hands on approach to the minis.

“We were running Day After Ragnarok, so players dressed up and armed their minis appropriately. When they defeated enemies with different or better guns, they had a tangible piece that they could take and arm their mini with. We also used the vehicles that came with the Indiana Jones sets, so I built ambush encounters around the jeep, truck, and tanker that their convoy consisted of.”

He said that he found that the players just seem more engaged when they could actually pull the weapons off the enemy’s corpses and put them on their characters. “[It] was cool being able to watch your character evolve directly from session to session or even scene to scene, switching a gun or a sword or a hat or hands or something; [e]ven swapping to a head with a different expression. I like being able to evolve your mini as you evolve your character.”

LEGOs and BrickArms weren’t the only props he brought to the game table. “Oh! And I commissioned little plush, coiled snakes from one of our friends who does plush monsters. About the size of your palm, but sized against Lego minifigs, perfect scale for a Day After Ragnarok giant snake.”

The ideas of swapping out guns and weapons to your figs just sounds like a great way of really connecting with your character. Often times I feel removed from them because I can’t hold the weapon in my hand or have much of a sensation of it beyond the stats on paper. I think swapping out parts on a figure might bring back the joy of finding a new shiny.

What props do you use on your game board? Anything different than the normal mini fare? Or do you have some extra special minis you want to share?

Tags: andrew linstorm, brickarms, day after ragnarok, figurines, indiana jones, legos, minis, tyson j. hayes
Categories: Game Masters, Roleplaying Tools |
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Savage Mondays – July 19, 2010

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/07/19 – 00:00 -

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

So everyone is abuzz about the Ennie Awards coming up, and while we have provided a voting guide we thought we’d highlight again all of the Savage Worlds related items on the voting block. Let’s make sure we get out their and show them what this community can do! We borrowed the following from Pinnacle’s site.

12 to Midnight’s bone-tingling horror anthology Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas (including a stories from our own Shane Hensley, Ed Wetterman, and Preston DuBose) was nominated in the Best Regalia category.
Atomic Overmind Press got more acclaim for Day After Ragnarok with a Best Setting nomination and a nomination in Best Regalia for Cthulhu 101.
Savage Mojo took an Honorable Mention for Savage Suzerain as Product of the Year!
Triple Ace Games’ Hellfrost fantasy series continues it track record with the Hellfrost Bestiary being nominated in the Best Monster/Adversary category.

Remember ENnies voting is open now!

Deadlands: One Shot Comic | Pinnacle Entertainment Group

This seems to have been released quietly as we don’t see any announcement on the main page from Pinnacle about it. Our news monkeys managed to dig this one up while snooping around the various news sites and DriveThruComics.com pages. So check out the 50 pages of Weird West goodness written by Matt Forbeck and drawn by veteran Deadlands artists Kevin Sharpe and Richard “Rico” Pollard.

Matt Forbeck says:

“The book’s been out of print forever, but that all happened long before the latest e-book revolution. Now you can download and read it in glorious full color for only $2.99. That less than half what it cost in game and comic shops when it debuted 11 years ago. As far as I know, it’s the only Deadlands comic available to date. If you like your Westerns a little weird — or you just appreciate a beautiful book with a ripping yarn — be sure to check it out.”

Savage Licensees

The Kerberos Club Now Released | Arc Dream

After being nominated for the Product of the Year Award for their non-savage worlds edition they’ve finally released an edition for the rest of us! You can of course pick up your copy on RPGNow!

Play the heroes and villains of a Strange century! Doctor Archibald Monroe, the erudite chemist and physician-chimpanzee . . . “Stony” Joe Smithson, the honest London boxer, transformed into living rock . . . Maeve O’Connel, Queen of the Mudlarks, the eternal child touched by Faerie . . . the Lady Mirabel, who by darkness defends Whitechapel as the terrifying Night Hag. . . . When the victims and enthusiasts of magic and bizarre science meet in an infamous club for “the Strange,” thrilling action is sure to follow!

The Kerberos Club (Savage Worlds Edition) is a sourcebook for superheroic roleplaying in Victorian London. It includes a detailed history and thorough treatment of Victorian society in its every particular, especially the incredible and sometimes awful changes that “the Strangeness” comes to wreak upon Queen and Country alike. It requires Savage Worlds and the Savage Worlds Superpowers Companion to play.

The Kerberos Club gives players every tool they need to create new heroes and villains in a world that is at the same time familiar and alien—a world made more of both by the Strangeness that grips it and the dangers that threaten it.

There is, after all, every good reason for the club’s motto: “MALUM NECESSARIUM.”

The Kerberos Club is written by Benjamin Baugh, with Savage Worlds conversions by Dave Blewer and Shane Ivey.

War of the Dead: Week 8 | Daring Entertainment

Nothing can stop the freight train that is the War of the Dead now with Week 8 on sale we’re quickly coming to the first stop in 52 week journey.

The world is descending into chaos as the Living Dead consume all major population centers.

Barely surviving the outbreak aboard the Pinnacle cruise ship, you were lost at sea before making your way back to the coast of North Carolina. After encountering a friendly, elderly couple that offered them shelter, food, and information, a biker gang calling themselves the Ghost Riders soon took you captive. Forced to act as live bait in the infected town of Fairport, you managed to escape-making mortal enemies of the bike gang in the process.

Following a daring escape, you’ve finally made it to the military Rescue Station.

But is the Rescue Station the safe haven it was promised to be, or is more horror and tragedy awaiting you?

Released: Noir Knights | Savage Mojo

Hot off the press Savage Mojo has released this new Savage realm of Suzerian. Noir Knights is everything you need to kick start a 1930′s supernatural game. We also found that if you go to the SavageMojo wiki and use code NKr42Smj you’ll save 25%.

This Savage realm of Suzerain is the tale of the 1930s Great Depression as you’ve never experienced it. For Heroic rank characters who are feeling particularly heroic, Noir Knights is part of our American Grit realm, where government agents investigate paranormal activity across a hard boiled film noir America.

Whether it’s a supernatural swampland encounter in Florida or otherworldly conspiracies in the corridors of power, the truth is out there – just waiting for your characters to find it. Industry and legend clash in a time of folk heroes, hobo mages, and secret societies.

America is a nation of dust and determination.
Ride the rails and prove your mettle.

Product contains: A full color 148 page PDF including…

* Everything you’ll need to run games in a supernatural 1930s.
* Many new character options including new Edges, Hindrances and Powers.
* Weather-manipulating wizards, taxidermist reanimating priests, and railwalker hobo magic users – all as playable options!
* All the possibilities of the X-Files with femmes fatales and four-color G-men thrown in.
* 30 scenarios including a full plot-point campaign taking characters from Heroic rank to the brink of becoming demigods.

This is a high art product and a large download. When you buy this PDF you also get a print friendly version at no extra cost.

It Came From Facebook | Savage Mojo

Lifted straight from Suzerain Facebook Page we found this nifty little news item.

Wondering what the next products are coming from Savage Mojo? Caladon Falls, for Savage Suzerain, is nearing completion. Ready to see how your characters would handle being uprooted from their homes and plunged into a civillian war against invaders? Play Caladon Falls to find out! Wondering why it’s been quiet for our own system, Suzerain? It’s being retooled and will come out as Suzerain Adventurer.

The rules in Suzerain Adventurer are now known as Mojo Rules! and will be ready in the next few months. And for those of you who’ve been waiting for Hero level rules for Suzerain, in the coming months you’ll see a fine-tuned book to offer you everything you need for your characters to really take things to the next level. Suzerain Hero has a whole team making it happen right now.

Keep an eye on forums at www.savagemojo.com for details and to chime in on those things Savage Mojo.

Hellfrost Region Guide #15: Crystalflow Confederacy | Triple Ace Games

Again the news monkeys are worth their weight in bananas. While TAG didn’t make an announcement on their website our monkeys managed to find this little gem that was released this week.

The mighty waters of the Crystalflow cut through the central Hearthlands. At each end stand great cities, testament to the wealth trade can bring, while numerous settlements, bound together into a loose confederacy by trade agreements, line its banks. Yet the settlements are not clones of each other, and together they create a melting pot of ideas, cultures, languages, and beliefs.

Explore the Crystaflow Confederacy in more detail! Learn about the cult of the Unknowable One and its unusual festivals, discover the military might of the Confederacy’s Grand Army, explore 8 new locales, study the mysteries of three new minor gods, and battle two new creatures.

Savage Freeport on Sale | Green Ronin

We don’t hear much from Green Ronin because the only Savage Worlds product they have is the Savage Worlds Freeport Companion. But since it has gone on sale for $8, we felt compelled to tell you.

Savage Community

Interview with Clint Black | Troll in the Corner

Clint Black is the Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager. If you want to know about the rules, you ask him. Troll in the Corner has a nice interview with him including fan questions.

The Forum Whisperer | PEGInc Forums

As always, the forums are the best way to interact with your fellow savages and to find new ideas. This week the content has been rather rules heavy. Here’s the best stuff.

Martial Arts Edges: There have been several takes on martial arts, from a simple edge in Day after Ragnarok, to the complex Arcane Background (Martial Arts) from Deadlands. The thread is great, but the best tidbit is this unofficial Modern Martial Arts (pdf) supplement by Clint Black.

Arcane Background (Shaman): There’s a lot of depth and rules discussion to this thread, so be forewarned, but this arcane background has a lot of potential and is worth looking into. Clint also took the time to weigh in on it.

Working with Knowledge Skills: Knowledge skills are tricky. They cost points, so you want them to be useful. This thread discusses how to choose knowledge skills for your setting that will find use and how to implement them, including exampled from official and licensed settings.

It’s a Trap!: A discussion of using traps in Savage Worlds.

Foreign Languages: Here is an in depth house rule for dealing with foreign languages and linguistics that might find a home in your game.

How to Play a Spy Game: There isn’t an official setting that emulates Spycraft or similar games. This thread discusses how to run just such a game.

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.

Tags: 12 to midnight, arc dream, atomic overmind press, cthulhu 101, daring entertainment, day after ragnarok, Deadlands, hellfrost, hellfrost region guide, kerberos club, noir knights, pinebox, savage mojo, savage suzerian, triple ace games, tyson j. hayes, war of the dead
Categories: Savage Mondays, Savage Worlds |
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ENnie Award Opinions

Written by Jeff Carlsen on 2010/07/15 – 00:00 -

Gen Con Indy is on the way, which means it’s time for the ENnie awards. Sure, everyone does a post expressing their thoughts on the nominees, but I think the Internet has room for mine as well. If you’re interested in other people’s take, you can read similar discussions on RPG Blog II and Critical Hits.

If you’re into gaming enough to be reading a blog dedicated to roleplaying, which I can safely assume you are, then you probably already know about the Ennies, but on the off chance you don’t, I’ll explain.

The ENnies are a fan based awards given to roleplaying games. They were started in 2001 on the EN World forums and have grown into one of the most respective awards in the industry. More information is available on the ENnie Awards Blog, including this year’s nominations. I recommend reading over the nominations before continuing.

And Now For My Opinions

Now I shall tell you who I think deserves to win each category. Obviously, I can’t have a fully informed opinion on every product. I haven’t read them all, or even heard of everything on the list. Chances are, you haven’t either. For that reason, I’ll try to be fairly thorough in my reasoning, but if you disagree with something, yell at me in the comments. Flame wars are good for business.

Best Adventure: Stolen Land

I can’t really be fair here. The only product in this category I’ve read is Pathfinder AP #31: Stolen Land. But I did read it rather thoroughly. The Pathfinder Adventure Paths have some of the greatest talent behind them and the best production values in the industry. This one, though is a bit of an experiment. It’s a sandbox world-building campaign where the Player Characters are supposed to become kings, which may be why the Adventure Path is called Kingmaker.

The appeal here is seeing how Paizo takes on what is essentially a Plot Point campaign. After reading it, I’m excited to find the right group to run it for. As such, I proudly choose it to win.

Best Aid or Accessory: Campaign Coins

I’m sorely tempted to give this to the Battlegraph Dry Erase Boards. I want those badly, but I probably wouldn’t really use them. The Campaign Coins, though, fulfill my love of props. And my love of metal things. It’s a win/win all around, really. I saw them in my local game store recently, but held off on buying them. They’re not cheap. But the website lets you buy them in smaller packs, and I may have to do that.

As a side note, I don’t understand Gaming Paper. It’s just a roll of large graph paper that I have to cut myself. I’d be far more interested if it was sold like an easel pad.

Best Art, Cover: Eclipse Phase

All of the nominations here have fantasic cover art, but I’ve seen enough Monsters and Fantasy covers that they no longer engage me. I haven’t seen very many tentacles ripping out of a space ship before. The whole Eclipse Phase cover fills me with a sense of loneliness. It’s breathtaking, in many ways, not all of them happy.

Best Art, Interior: Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed

I adore Shadowrun, so I may be biased, but the amount of and quality of the art in this book really brings the setting to life. It’s not just quality, it’s evocative. Sure, the other contenders have great art, but again, I’ve seen fantasy. Lots of it, and it doesn’t enrapture me anymore.

Best Blog: NewbieDM.com

I read all but one of the nominations, and they’re all great works, but Newbie DM is working towards being a big name in gaming. The quality and usefulness of posts is consistent and high. Plus, NewbieDM practically lives on Twitter, so we hear from him a lot.

Best Cartography: Pathfinder City Map Folio

This packet comes with some beautiful city maps, which I simply like the look of more. Even if you’re playing your own city, you can use the maps in this pack. Each is distinct, with a unique feel and deisgn. That said, nobody does encounter maps as well as Wizards of the Coast, so I’ll give a solid nod toward Revenge of the Giants.

Best Electronic Book: Unknown

I’ve never even heard of any of these products, which probably speaks poorly of me. Sorry.

Best Free Product: Advanced Players Guide Playtest

It feels cheap to give this to Pathfinder. It was just a public beta test of the rules changes to what was already freely available in the SRD. Still, it was a very cool move, and it was a free copy of the Pathfinder rules, so it wins.

Best Game: Dragon Age: Set 1

I refuse to give this to Pathfinder or Shadowrun because they’re really just a little polishing and revising of the exact games I’ve been playing for years. Good improvements, all around, but not a new game by any means.

Dragon Age, while only one fourth of the whole game, is still a new game. And, the box comes with everything you need to play. And you can play the videogame to learn about the world. This comes together to make for a solid experience.

Best Miniature Product: Fortress of Redemption

This gets the win for just looking awesome. I want it. I don’t want to store it. I don’t play Warhammer. But I want it.

Best Monster/Adversary: Hellfrost Bestiary

I have to give a nod to the Savage Worlds product. I also have to give a not to TAG for bringing a full monster book to Savage Worlds. Of course, Pathfinder is going to get this one, almost certainly, and probably even deservedly, but in the end it’s still just a Monster Manual.

Best Podcast: I can’t say

I haven’t listened to them, sadly. I’ll have to rely on your opinions.

Best Production Values: Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed

This one is close. As a whole Pathfinder has the highest production values in the industry. Every single product is fantastic. But the 20th Anniversary books are full of deep fiction, relevant and stunning art, and just about everything you need to really capture everything the game has been over the past 20 years. They’re something special.

Best Regalia: Grind

It’s warjack soccer. Multi-ton steam powered robots pushing a spiked ball around a lava pit. I love it.

Best Rules: Can’t Comment

Strangely, I’ve never played any of the nominated games, so I can’t comment on the rules.

Best Setting: Day After Ragnarok

Even if this wasn’t a Savage Worlds setting, it would get my nomination. It’s unique, and not just a little. Ragnarok happened in the middle of World War 2. We nuked the giant snake. It’s pretty wicked.

Best Supplement: Player’s Handbook 3

With this release, Wizards has introduced hybrid classes and Psionics, and now 4th Edition D&D, after dozens of books, feels as complete as Pathfinder does in one book. That’s praise, of a sort. D&D 4e is it’s own beast, with certain strengths. If you’re a player that likes lots of shiny things, this book is the ultimate resource.

Best Website: d20PFSRD.com

Much of what I learned about Pathfinder I gleaned from this site. It’s well organized, making it an invaluable resource when you don’t want to dig through a several hundred page book.

Best Writing: Anathem by Neal Stephenson

I haven’t read any of the books on this list, but I did read Anathem, and it’s fantastic, if you like to fill your brain with science.

Product of the Year: Not Pathfinder

It’s inevitable that it will win. This game is the most significant release of the year, or for several years to come. And, I do like it. But I feel very dirty about giving Product of the Year to D&D re-branded. My personal favorite product is the Shadowrun 20th Anniversary, so in my heart it wins, but if the argument above applies to Pathfinder, it applies here too. So that’s it.

Thoughts?

Tags: anathem, campaign coins, critical hits, day after ragnarok, dragon age, dungeons and dragons, eclipse phase, ennies, fotress of redemption, gencon, grind, hellfrost, jeff carlsen, neal stephenson, newbiedm, Pathfinder, rpg blog 2, shadowrun, stolen land
Categories: Behind the Bar |
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Savage Status Report: The Day After Ragnarok

Written by Jeff Carlsen on 2010/05/27 – 00:00 -

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 one of the most unique settings in all of Roleplaying: The Day after Ragnarok.

WARNING. All Day After Ragnarok products are available for both Savage Worlds and Hero System 6. If you ever decide to purchase something, make sure you’re buying it for the system you want.

What is it?

The Day After Ragnarok is rather young, but its popularity is growing very quickly. It has a unique mix of World War 2 and Post Apocolypse that appeals to many players. While I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, I certainly intend to in the near future.

Core Products

The Day After Ragnarok

128 page PDF: $12.95.

128 page Softcover: $19.95.

Print + PDF Combo: $29.95.

The cover shows a muscled man in a ripped shirt, carring a huge gun, and standing over a collosal snake. That tickles me.

I’ll let their product page speak for the rest:

Mighty-thewed barbarians and grim mercenaries roam the desolate plains of Ohio. Giant snakes, and those who worship them, prowl the ruins of St. Louis. Pirates battle the Japanese invaders in the South China Sea. Bold British agents, equipped with experimental bio-technology, thwart the insidious infiltration of Stalin’s humanzees. Sky-raiders strike from hidden bases in the Sahara, deros skulk in South American caverns, and the Texas Rangers fight electrical death worms to save Los Alamos.

And across it all lies the trillion-ton corpse of the Midgard Serpent, killed by Truman’s atomic fire but still poisoning the Earth with every night that passes. Welcome to the world at the end of the world. Welcome to THE DAY AFTER RAGNAROK.

Tehran: Nest of Spies

35 page PDF: $7.95.

From the product page:

In the wake of the Serpentfall, Persia lies balanced between the desperate British Empire and the malevolent Soviet Union. Both powers have toyed with Persia in the past; both would gladly swallow it whole in the present. Their machinations reach a fever pitch in Persia’s historic capital.

Preview Documents

These thirteen documents are designed to draw you into the setting and feel of The Day After Ragnarok. If you’re at all interested in this setting, they’re worth checking out.

Accessories

Atomic Overmind has been providing support through small, single topic suppliments call Serpent Scales. They cover a variety of topics, from locations to equipment. There are only two out now, with two more already announced.

Serpent Scales #1: The New Konfederacy

16 page PDF: $3.95.

From the product page:

America is Shattered. The people are looking for hope and strength. The New Ku Klux Klan offers them that. This suppliment details the Klan and the New Konfederacy

Serpent Scales #2: (Happiness is a) Sten Gun

6 page PDF: $1.95.

From the product page:

Love it or hate it, the STEN gun is the weapon of the Resistance in Europe. This Serpent Scales gives a history and game options for this iconic gun.

What’s in Development?

Atomic Overmind has a rather ambitious release schedule for a small company, so it isn’t surprising to see that it has slipped a bit. The following is pulled directly from their blog. Any release dates shown we announced a while ago and are probably a little off.

Serpent Scales #3: Return to Monster Island

Wreathed in mist and veiled in mystery, Monster Island was bad enough during the War, when it held cannibal soldiers sworn to kill and die for Hirohito, and savage tribes who worshiped Golyeong, the “gorilla ghost.”

After the Serpentfall, who knows what horrors might be rising up in Monster Island’s jungles, awakened from the prehistoric past?

Serpent Scales #4: ¡Técnicos En Contra De La Serpiente!

Fascist Sinarquistas battle fanatical Kulkulkan cultists. Where can decent folk turn? Aztec mummies ravage the city as exiled Nazi doctors steal the organs of the poor for mad experiments. What can stop them? The Atomic Piledriver, the Anaconda Vise, the Frankenstein Death Swing. Can any man face them and live?

In Mexico after the Serpentfall, courage must wear a mask.

Memphis: Gateway to the Poisoned Lands (Winter 2010)

A City Pack for the Bluff City at the dawn of the new barbarism. Memphis makes a great jumping-off point for a “Wolves Across the Border” game of mercenary action and intrigue in the ruins of eastern America.

Capetown: Diesel and Venom (Spring 2010)

A dieselpunk City Pack for the dark side of the British Empire, where industrial ophi-tech spreads gloom — but doesn’t spread the wealth. Fight the power on the gritty streets with Nelson Mandela, or grit your teeth and double down for Crown and country.

The Belly of the Beast: The Speleo-Herpetologist’s Handbook (Summer 2010)

Get the inside story on the Royal Society’s elite band of dragon-delvers — and lots and lots of horrible things to kill and flee from. You think it’s bad outside? You ain’t seen inside, yet.

Behind the Serpent Curtain: The Soviet Sourcebook (GenCon 2010)

Everything you need to adventure in Stalin’s dark empire, including details on the NKVD, the Jotun, and the Red Army. Will include a Moscow City Pack, and a Plot Point campaign: “Objective: Science City 14!

Community Materials

Propaganda Cards

These playing cards are stunning, and wonderfully fit the tone of this setting. Moreover, they do so without sacrificing legibility. For a better view, you have to check out the website. If nothing else, it’s full of stunning, yet usable cards.

Tags: atomic overmind press, behind the serpent curtain, capetown: diesel and venom, day after ragnarok, jeff carlsen, nemphis: gateway to the poisoned lands, serpent scales, tehran: nest of spies, the belly of the beast
Categories: Savage Status Report, Savage Worlds |
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Savage Mondays – May 24, 2010

Written by Tyson J. Hayes on 2010/05/24 – 00:00 -

I’d like to take a moment before the news to thank everyone that has commented on our feedback post. We’ll be working in the coming weeks to incorporate your feedback and make this blog even better. If you have a minute, please check out Friday’s post and leave us a note on what your digging and what your not.