[Review] Deadlands: Noir Companion

One of the things that I really, really enjoyed in Deadlands: Noir was the amount of work that the team put into building New Orleans as a playable setting. The setting was extremely thorough, breaking down the various locations, NPCs and plot hooks that the players can run into and can easily fuel several campaigns.

The Deadlands: Noir Companion takes that aspect of the game, and spins it off into FOUR new settings, each one taking place in a different point in time. With Chicago (1927), Shan Fan (1939), Lost Angels (1946) and The city of Gloom (1950).

Each of these settings is complete, with discussions on life in each setting, notable locations, a random location generator, Savage Tales, a Plot Point Campaign and the Men and Monsters of each city. Needless to say, this is the book that will give Deadlands: Noir the kind of legs it needs to fuel years of gaming.

But aside from the settings, the book also introduces a few new elements to the Deadlands: Noir game. Fans of the Arcane Backgrounds will be pleased to see that The Blessed and Sykers coming back into play. Meanwhile, martial arts fans get something to enjoy with the Kung Fu Edge tucked into the Shan Fan chapter.

Needless to say the same infectious enthusiasm from the Deadlands: Noir corebook is present in the Companion. While most of the material is more useful for the GM as opposed to players, the few mechanics invovled do present new avenues for players to try different characters from more unique backgrounds.

The idea of each setting taking place in a slightly different time period is also an inspired decision, as it shifts the tone of the games from the Prohibition to World War 1 and even post World War 2.

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The Deadlands: Noir Companion is an excellent expansion to the already amazing core book. It expands the setting through both time and space, giving pleny of opportunities to run the entire gamut of sordid stories that Noir is known for. I’m constantly impressed by the quality of the books for the Deadlands line, and I have to admit that now I’m secretly hoping for a Hell On Earth Reloaded Companion sometime in the future.

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Deadlands: Noir Companion is available from RPGnow for $19.99 or roughly Php 799.00

GM’s Day Sale – Philippine Gamer’s Picks: Pinnacle Entertainment

Savage Worlds is one of the most popular systems in RPGs nowadays and it’s not difficult to see why. With a focus on being fast, easy to learn and fun, and with a flexible core mechanics that allows for implementation into a host of settings, Pinnacle Entertainment is very good at churning out imaginative and fun games.

Savage Worlds Deluxe Core Rules

The Deluxe Edition is the latest iteration of the Savage Worlds rules. Incorporating tweaks from the previous edition, along with some very nice art, the book is great as a stand-alone game and can be improved further by picking up the iconic Deadlands setting books below:

Deadlands Reloaded!: Player’s Guide
Deadlands Reloaded!: Marshall’s Handbook

Deadlands Reloaded! is THE Weird West RPG. Iconic, atmospheric and fun as all get out, Deadlands Reloaded mixes supernatural horror with western grit to make a potent combination that can handle spooky stories and western drama in equal measure.

Deadlands Noir

Spinning off the Default Deadlands setting to the 1930′s Deadlands Noir is a setting independent of the Deadlands Reloaded! books but still requires the Savage Worlds rules. The setting is complete and presents an entire city for hard boiled noir adventures staring dirty cops and dirtier crooks with the signature weirdness of the Deadlands setting.

Hell on Earth Reloaded

Hell on Earth takes the Weird West and subjects it to an (un)healthy dose of radiation. Mutants, radiation and doomsday cults roam the wastelands and it’s up for the players to set things right. Definitely another must-have for Savage Worlds Players.

[Review] Deadlands Noir

If there’s a genre that seems like a perfect fit for Deadlands, it’s the Noir setting. Taking place after the default Western-genre setting of Deadlands: Reloaded! but not quite as far in the future as Hell On Earth, Deadlands Noir presents a new and exciting spin on the 1930′s.

In an interesting twist, the game takes place in a much smaller stage. Rather than the Weird (or Wasted) West, the game takes place in the setting’s take of New Orleans. I find this to be a good choice, as the Noir genre is inherently bound to the city. There’s a sharp focus involved in the honing of this supplement, and one that shows in all the design decisions. Everything from the skill list to the sample character concepts oozes style and substance appropriate to the genre. Some are also cleverly renamed from their Weird West counterparts, such as the Patent Scientist, and the Grifters.

The highlight of the book for me is the chapter on New Orleans, which includes a gorgeous and very evocative map of the city, and a detailed look at the various locales. The chapter is practically dripping with plot hooks, and I can see a campaign of Deadlands Noir going for a long, long while.

In a nice touch, the book goes on to discuss the nature of Investigation in the Deadlands Noir setting. This is the kind of information that is golden to GMs, as it helps those who aren’t quite so familiar to the setting to adapt accordingly. Rules on interrogation, patter and even tailing a target are all presented in an easy to understand fashion.

The GM section makes up a huge chunk of the book, and for good reason. It goes into great detail on the secrets of the setting, as well as providing advice for running games in true Noir fashion. The GM Guide to New Orleans presents NPCs and the current state of New Orleans as it relates to the people that inhabit (and control) it. An extra section for how to create Mysteries is particularly inspired as well, helping those who are new to this particular style of storytelling to create one with little difficulty. It takes the form of a random generator with multiple lists involving Hook, Event, Perpetrator, Motive, Evidence, Location and Twist. It’s very nice and I can see it getting use even outside of Deadlands.

The book also includes Red Harvest! A campaign-length mystery that will suit any group, and features a ride through a lot of New Orleans’ set pieces, and with plenty of opportunities for getting into trouble. If that’s not enough, there are also a smattering of Savage Tales, mini-adventures that can be incorporated to Red Harvest! or any Deadlands Noir campaign.

Finally the book finishes with a thorough Rogue’s Gallery and a series of excellent maps of various buildings, a cemetery and other interesting locales for encounters.

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Few supplements hit all the right spots in the same way that Deadlands Noir does. It has literally everything you could need. An evocative setting, excellent GM advice, interesting and varied Character concepts, an adventure, gorgeous maps, all with an easy to read layout and excellent artwork to go with it.

Savage Worlds is a very popular system, and books like Deadlands Noir are an example of just why that is. I think that Noir continues with the trend of excellence that Pinnacle has been known for.

Definitely a must have for any fans of the genre, the system and the setting.

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Deadlands Noir is available from RPGnow for $19.99 or roughly Php 820.00

[Gaming 101] Games to Start With Part 4: Alternate History and Pulp

Right, I know I said I’d do Alternate History and Pulp today. Then I realized what kind of trouble I got myself into. There’s an awful lot of this stuff out there right now! Okay, so no preamble, let’s just do this:

Hollow Earth Expedition from Exile Games
Fast, pulpy fun matched with an easy to grasp system that can use any size of die makes Hollow Earth Expedition (or HEX) a definite crowd pleaser. Add some top-notch art, compelling plot hooks for a hollow earth campaign and all sorts of crazy threats from Dinosaurs to Nazis to tribes of cannibals, the game practically runs itself. Add the fact that the supplements and expansions for the game are all aimed at targeting all other forms of pulp (Secrets of the Surface World covers urban pulp, for example) and an upcoming expansion set in MARS, what’s not to love about this game?

All For One: Regime Diabolique from Triple Ace Games
Musketeers fighting the forces of Hell itself! Swashbuckling action against the threats of the supernatural! Add a well-researched history and a very strong series of supplements to fill out everything from War to Fashion, this game presents itself extremely well and has a freeform magic system that is quick and easy to learn without having to trawl through massive spell lists. Imaginative and unique, All For One: Regime Diabolique also uses the Ubiquity system from Hollow Earth Expedition, but for fans of Savage Worlds, they’ve just recently released a version for that rule set as well.

Leagues of Adventure from Triple Ace Games
Another Ubiquity system game, Leagues of Adventure takes the Triple Ace Games level of research to pulling off steampunk and mashing it up with the adventure-seeking high of the pulps. Fans of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen will find themselves right at home in this game, with strange devices, mysterious ruins and the call of adventure. Go out and heed the call for adventure!

Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein from Iain Lowson
Perhaps one of the creepiest alternate history games I’ve ever had the good fortune to read, Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein is a dystopian steampunk setting where Dr. Victor Frankenstein uses his discoveries to establish his nation of Promethea. Commoners huddle away from the Dark Harvest, while the decadent nobility harvest body parts to live forever. Take up arms as part of the resistance, and fight the good fight in hopes for a brighter tomorrow.

Qin: the Warring States from Cubicle 7
I’m actually reading this book right now, and I have to say that it’s a blast to read. Low-powered wuxia action in a time before the Three Kingdoms Era, with plenty of room for adventure and kung fu action. If you’re interested in following along, just check out my Let’s Study articles.

Yggdrasill from Cubicle 7
Here’s another favorite of mine. Well researched and carefully presented, Yggdrasill gives an awesome look at the Scandian lands and the lives of the Norsemen Heroes that live there. Politics (?!) Magic, and Frost Giants abound, leaving players with more than a number of different avenues to get into trouble.

Spirit of the Century from Evil Hat Productions
These days I can’t mention Pulp without mentioning SotC lest the FATE fans cry foul. :p Seriously though, I’ve heard a lot of good things about this game, and I’m just waiting for someone to run it for me and show me the error of my heathen ways.

Deadlands Reloaded! from Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Welcome to the Weird West. If you’re even remotely interested in Westerns, grab this game (and the Marshall’s guide too.) Deadlands is one of the longer running game lines and is one of the most loved horror-western settings around. Strange card-slinging hucksters and eagle-eyed sharpshooters are just two of the kinds of characters you can play, not to mention miracle wielding preachers and Ghostrock-powered weird gadgetry!

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This is by no means exhaustive, and I’m pretty sure I’ve missed more than a few titles here, but I think this is a good enough place to start if you’re looking for adventure and pulps. At this point I’m still thinking of what other areas to cover… anyone got suggestions? Just add them on the comments below!

If you’re interested in picking up any of these in hardcover, you can order them directly from Gaming Library.

To place an order, please go to Gaming Library’s special order express page : http://www.gaminglib.com/pages/special-order-express-page

Take note that placing an order there doesn’t mean you’re committed, rather the Gaming Library team will be giving a quote and you can now choose whether to push through with the purchase or not.

[Review] Hell on Earth Reloaded

To steal a quote from Starcraft 2, “Hell, it’s about time.”

What made the Deadlands universe so compelling wasn’t just the fact that it had a quirky blend of Wild West meets horror, but the writers took it way beyond the Weird West. The best example of this is the Hell on Earth line of the Classic Deadlands game, which brought the Weird West way into the Wasted West, a post-apocalyptic nightmare future world where many of Deadland’s original echoes remained.

For old fans of the setting, getting Hell on Earth back updated to the modern Savage Worlds ruleset is a godsend. Ever since Deadlands Reloaded! was released, the first question on everyone’s lips was, “Where’s Hell on Earth?”

Thankfully, Hell on Earth Reloaded was just released by PEG, and there was much rejoicing.

But onto the review:

First off, let me say that Hell on Earth Reloaded isn’t a stand alone game. It requires the Savage Worlds corebook to play.

What Hell on Earth Reloaded does provide is a complete setting to go crazy in, with radiation cults, mutants, templars and enough weirdness to make Arkham Asylum look like nursery school.

The book itself is divided into three major sections:

• The Player’s guide, which details the setting, character creation, equipment and setting specific rules. Anyone with a familiarity with the Savage Worlds rules will be able to pick this up and get building a character right away without skipping a beat.
• No Man’s Land, which details the setting-specific Arcane Backgrounds for Hell on Earth. Old fans will recognize the Doomsayers, Harrowed, Junkers, Sykers, Templars and Toxic Shamans. Each of these Arcane backgrounds has a full treatment, with history, methods and beliefs, as well as their Edges and Powers.
• Marshal’s Handbook, which is the GM’s only section with rules specific to running the game, and is chock-full of setting secrets that players have no business knowing for the sake of preserving the mystery of the Hell on Earth setting. There’s also a region-by-region breakdown of the crazy things in the setting. My greatest frustration in this review is the fact that I can’t talk about the juicy secrets and crazy elements in the book lest I spoil it for other GMs who are going to be springing it on their players.

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Hell on Earth is an alternate future of the Deadlands setting, but thankfully the game doesn’t need you to be familiar with Deadlands in order to play. Hell on Earth takes on the burden of educating a new reader into the setting. This is a great thing, as this means that people who might not have any interests in the Weird West (though I can’t imagine why) can still go in and enjoy the full experience of the Wasted West.

Part of the draw of the Wasted West has always been the artwork and aesthetics, and Hell on Earth Reloaded has managed to knock this one out of the park. The layout is clean, appealing and readable, and the artwork is top-notch. Every character portrait in the game makes me want to build a character and start playing.

The PDF itself is very useful, with bookmarks and a hyperlinked table of contents. Plus, for those who want to save on printer inks, the PDF also has layers that you can turn off to strip the pages down to just mere text. It’s a perfect example of the kind of best practices that I’d love to see other PDF publishers adapt on a constant basis.

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With a solid setting, compelling character concepts, crazy plot hooks and powered with the Savage Worlds system, Hell on Earth Reloaded is a solid entry into the official settings of Savage Worlds. It’s been a long time coming, but the wait was worth it.

If you’re even remotely interested in Deadlands, Post-Apocalyptic settings or unique settings, then Hell on Earth is a must have in your collection.

Hell on Earth Reloaded is now available from RPGNow in PDF format for $24.99 or roughly PHP 1075.00