Free Savage Worlds Pulp Adventure!

Okay, so it's been a while since I posted anything remotely about RPGs, much less Savage Worlds, but Triple Ace Games released a free full-length .pdf adventure for their Daring Tales of Adventure series that they "officially" ended a few months ago as a little present for all the fans.

Thank you, Triple Ace Games.  Your Kaisernacht present is highly appreciated.  If you've never checked out the Triple Ace Games website, go there... now.  They have a lot of great Savage Worlds adventures for different genres and the site has shitloads of freebies.  Plus, check out their Hellfrost campaign setting (I did a short review of it a few months back).  It's perfect for these cold winter months.

Kaiser out

Another Teaser...

So I was playing around with MapTools again this morning and I created a scene that developed into another hint on the secret project I'm working on.  At first, the only criteria I was going for was that it had to include a human sacrifice.  Everything else sprang from there.  Pretty much, it's a band of adventurers and barbarians interrupting this dark ritual in order to save a lovely maiden from becoming the fuel for grisly blood magic.  It's not much, but enjoy.

Tools of the Trade

Recently, I've been putting blogging on the back burner and have been focusing on other things.  I've been investing most of my time on a top secret RPG project.  While taking breaks from that, I've been playing around with an application I downloaded called MapTools.  I found out about this program from The Savage Blogger (which is a pretty good blog for Savage Worlds fans.  Check it out.) and am having some fun with it.

If there's one thing that's damn near impossible for me to do, it's getting my friends together to run a game session.  Everyone's got an excuse: "I have to work in the morning," "I'm tired," "I'm having sex with five women in a UFO."  It's so hard to get people to come together at someone's house.  So the prospect of playing RPGs over the internet sounds promising.  All you need are some friends with computers and an internet connection (which shouldn't be hard) and you can set up an online gaming table.

MapTools lets you create your own battle maps, complete with buildings, terrain, objects, and creatures and player characters to keep track of battles.  I have heard of other programs, but I'm kinda liking what I'm seeing so far with MapTools.  There is a chat function, but, as The Savage Blogger mentioned, Skype would work well with this.  If you want to check out MapTools, go to their website, which has all the applications, tutorials, and resources you need.  I definitely recommend the tutorial videos, as they help you get around the program and make the most of it.

To give you a simple example of some of the things you can do with MapTools, I made a little scene with cavemen in a skirmish against some lizard men.

Not to mention that this is a tiny hint on the secret project I'm working on.  (Those who already know are sworn to secrecy under penalty of making you wish you were dead.)

Kaiser out

The Savage Worlds of Kaiser Crowbar's Crypt of Doom

Last time, I went a little bit into vampire hunting in video games with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.  I always thought that victorian style monster hunting would be an awesome idea for an RPG.  Well, Pinnacle Entertainment, the guys who created Savage Worlds, have the answer to that with Rippers.  Try to imagine the movie Van Helsing, except that it didn't horribly suck, and you have a good idea of what Rippers is like.

The game's story includes many classic horror characters, including Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Frankenstein, and the Invisible Man, for starters.  The formation of the monster hunting organization, known as Rippers, began when occultist John Dee and a colleague of his began experimenting with the corpse of a werewolf that Mr. Dee killed while it was attacking him.  They discovered that by using techniques such as organ transplants and tissue grafting, a subject could gain the powers of the supernatural creature that "donated" the organs.  It made men strong enough to fight the monsters that plagued them and gave rise to the organization.  The first victory for Rippers was when Abraham Van Helsing, a protege under Dee, aided in defeating Dracula.

But power came at a horrific price.  Mr. Dee, who had took up the pseudonym Dr. Jack in order to stage his own death, had many rippen-transferre procedures.  He started to suffer from what was called "Ripping Psychosis," as the monstrous implants started turning him mad.  The numerous transplanted organs also did harm to his body and he was constantly facing death from organ failure.  In order to keep himself alive, he had to have new organs constantly replaced, which meant he needed corpses, fresh corpses.  In London, he found a hearty staple of prostitutes.  Since prostitutes were not held in high regard, he thought very few people would miss a dead whore from time to time.  So it was this killing spree in London that gave Dr. Jack the nickname he was most famous for: Jack the Ripper.

With madness deteriorating his mind, Dr. Jack decided that the Rippers he once fostered were now his enemies.  He conversed with witches and sorcerers, enlisted mad scientists, and dealt with demons to form his own alliance of terror, known as the Cabal.  Van Helsing discovered this and now leads the Rippers in a secret war in the dark hours to rid the threat of the Cabal forever.

This really is a great campaign, and one of my favorites from Pinnacle.  The setting is great and it includes systems for ripping psychosis, status (monster hunters still have to play a part in gentlemen society), and maintaining a Ripper lodge (Courting sponsors for your lodge is a must, as this shadowy war costs money).  It hearkens back to the classic horror stories and brings a moral dilemma to the player characters:  Do they risk death to keep themselves pure, or do they use Ripper technology to fight the monsters and risk something far worse?

The core book for Rippers is available in print.  You can order it at your local game and hobby store.  All the supplements and adventures are strictly in .pdf format.  I recommend going to DriveThru RPG to download all the materials you need.

If you're looking for something more modern in your horror campaign, check out 12 to Midnight.  They have a horror campaign centered around the fictional town of Pinebox, Texas, where all sorts of strange and evil phenomena occur.  Pinebox, Texas is any paranormal investigator's dream come true.  Trust me, these guys have horror market cornered in Savage Worlds.

Don't think I forgot about those who like something more Lovecraftian in their horror games.  I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's stories and general mythos, so how could I not recommend checking out the Reality Blurs website?  Their game, Realms of Cthulhu, seems perfect for anyone interested in risking their sanity to fight against the minions of the Elder Gods.  I haven't picked this one up, yet (Don't have the money, right now), but it does look very promising.  It's available in .pdf and print versions, as well.

So there you have it, plenty of ways to kick off a terror filled Savage Worlds campaign.  The beast is on the prowl.  Let the hunt begin.

Kaiser out

The Fallen Soldier Will Rise Again

At the beginning of September, I mentioned that Daring Entertainment (the ones who made G.E.T. Into Action, a game which I like) had closed up shop. At the end of the month, their once desolate website sprung back to life. News is that they are on hiatus until summer 2010 and will continue to sell their existing products on their website. At the end of the hiatus, they resume with expanding in their game library, including future supplements for G.E.T. Into Action. I, for one, am glad to see the company getting back on its feet and am looking forward to seeing what they have in store for the future. Go check out their website for the full details. Way to go, guys. Kaiser out

Savage Pathfinder Apocalypse!

I started playing Dungeons & Dragons at a very young age and have been playing for over 20 years. I stopped playing after 3.5 edition came out because I spent so much money on 3rd edition stuff and got tired with the system. Then 4th edition came out, which I'm not at all interested in. Of course, my RPG of choice nowadays is Savage Worlds, but a friend of mine started a game with the RPG that has become the spiritual successor to 3.5, Pathfinder. Paizo Publishing, who were once known for publishing both Dungeon and Dragon magazine, released the Pathfinder line of supplements and game aids for 3.5. When WoTC decided not to support 3.5 anymore to pursue 4th Edition, Paizo decided to revise and update the 3.5 rules. Pathfinder has been called version 3.75. So what do I think of Pathfinder? Well, I still prefer Savage Worlds, but Pathfinder is actually pretty good. The thing I like most is the addition of new abilities to existing classes. In 3.5, being a fighter didn't give you a lot except for a bunch of feats - no special abilities. Pathfinder made being a fighter cool again (being a fighter was always kinda cool, but now it contends with playing a ranger or a barbarian). I also like the campaign so far. My character is a barbarian that was born and raised in an affluently decadent society, but political intrigue had brought about the assassination of his parents and he was sold into slavery. He escaped and found solace in a barbarian tribe who raised and trained him to fight. Now I do like the improvements they made to 3.5, but the system is still d20 and it retains some of the things I'm not big on. When we did combat, we were slowed down by all the numbers. Plus I was never a big fan that Armor Class is used to determine if a blow hits or not. I preferred the Star Wars RPG from WoTC that made armor reduce damage. Nonetheless, it is better than 3.5. If you are a big fan of 3.5, then you owe it to yourself to pick up Pathfinder. I still prefer Savage Worlds, but this is a good RPG for D&D fans.

Hellfrost - Savage Worlds

After playing Dungeons & Dragons for so many years, I kinda got tired of playing your typical high fantasy campaign setting. A lot of the ones I've played seemed too derivative of King Arthur or J. R. R. Tolkien (not that it's necessarily bad, it's just been done to death). Plus, I got real tired of elves and dwarves, for some reason - I don't know. That's the reason why I'm more interested in the sword & sorcery genre. That being said, it takes something special for me to be interested in a high fantasy RPG. Obviously, that's what Hellfrost has, because I find myself wanting to play it. Hellfrost was made by Triple Ace Games, which is headed by Paul "Wiggy" Wade-Williams, who created Savage Worlds campaign books for Pinnacle Entertainment before making his own company. While it does have the elves and dwarves and lots of magic, Hellfrost does high fantasy in a way I can appreciate. The campaign setting doesn't fall back on trying too hard to be Lord of the Rings or any typical generic fantasy. Instead, it draws inspiration from what a lot of good fantasy relies on: ancient mythology (in this case, norse mythology). It's rich with nordic influence, which weaves beautifully with the setting. Sure, there are orcs, goblins, dragons, etc., but it doesn't feel like the same old fantasy world I've been playing over and over again. The story helps give the world it's flavor. Five centuries ago, the continent of Rassilon was locked in a devastating war. All manner of monsters from the frozen wastes of the north swept south through the land, leaving destruction in their wake. Though the failing nations eventually drove back the icy horde, the world slowly became colder over the countless years. An eternal winter is threatening the people of Rassilon, and the north has turned into a forbidding wasteland called, of course, Hellfrost. This game also sports a highly robust magic system that overhauls the system in the Savage Worlds corebook. I haven't gotten through the entire player's guide, but I like what I see. For me, Hellfrost is the best high fantasy setting for Savage Worlds (at the very least). You can pick up the player's guide, along with some adventure modules at the Triple Ace Games website. In November, they're releasing the other core books for Hellfrost: The Bestiary and The Gazetteer. While you're there, check out their other products, such as the awesome pulp action of Daring Tales of Adventure and the sci-fi/military/horror setting Necropolis 2350. Kaiser out

A Fallen Soldier on the RPG Front

Not long after I had put a good review for the G.E.T. Into Action RPG, the publisher of the game, Daring Entertainment, closed it's doors. Their website is barren, save for a short and very final announcement of the closing. From what I've read of the company, it looked like they wanted to do more with the products they provided, like the use of videos, soundtracks, and interactive websites to integrate into their games. I can see the company had an interesting vision. It kind of gives me pause, because I hate to see independent companies in the RPG industry (especially those who make games for Savage Worlds) fold under. It's one of the things that I would like to do, and it really does sadden me to see something like this happen. You can still pick up any of their released products on RPGNow on .pdf (and I still recommend trying G.E.T. Into Action, if you're interested). To the people who brought Daring Entertainment to life, may you get back on your feet and back in motion, whatever endeavor it may be. Vaya con dios.

GI Joe Action - Savage Worlds Style (Part 2)

All right, back to business.

The second game is from Daring Entertainment, who also do supplements for the Mutants and Masterminds RPG, which one of their products for the line, Dawn of Legends, already saw release in Savage Worlds. Their game is called G.E.T. Into Action and seems to effectively capture the spirit of the GI Joe cartoon. Even from the cover page, you can tell this is all about “Red and Blue Laser Action!” While we're on the subject, let's talk about the art and layout. While G.E.T. Into Action doesn't dress as professionally as Strike Force 7, it does feature a lot more artwork. Now the maps at the end of the book are not as well done as Strike Force 7, and the photos of real military vehicles, while they do give the players an excellent visual reference, look like someone went haywire with Microsoft Photo Editor. The character drawings, however, are great. They are consistently well done, they look (almost exactly, in some cases) like characters from GI Joe, and I have two words for the Scarlett look-alike on page 9: Nice ass!

Moving on, the book starts off with the history of G.E.T. (Global Elite Tactical) and the terrorist organization known as STORM. Basically, a Black Ops agent gets disenchanted with the bloody-handed methods he has to employ to keep America safe. Seeing dissent in the agent's eyes, his unit supposedly kills him.

Of course, he survives and sets up STORM to enact his “ultimate revenge.” Later on, it turns out that STORM is being used by these mechanical life forms from outer space as a front to destroy all of humanity...

Hold on, what? Mechanical life forms from outer space? Yes it turns out that a long dead alien race sent these robots to enslave the human race thousands of years ago. In retaliation to their masters, some of them, who called themselves “Eliminators” decided to kill all the humans as a first blow against the alien empire. Then there were those to decided to protect the humans and joined together as the “Guardiatrons.”

Okay, I know that GI Joe was hardly based in reality and had some pretty way out shit. I mean, Serpentor turned Cobra Commander into a snake, for fuck's sake. But, seriously, get your Transformers out of my GI Joe.

After the storyline, the book gets into character creation. First off is concept. Now instead of having your character assigned to a certain team, like in Strike Force 7, you just pick what type of soldier you want your character to be. Let's face it, GI Joe didn't have teams, it was just GI Joe. You could have a team made up of a sailor, a marine, an astronaut, and a ninja and call it good. G.E.T. Into Action keeps it simple and I like it that way. After taking you through getting your Attributes, Skills, and what not, it goes through this list of questions to help flesh out your character. The thing is there is this (fortunately) optional system where you draw cards from a poker deck to randomly pick what sort of personality, history, and outlook your character has, which takes up three pages. Now the book is a healthy 70 pages (this excludes the ads in the back of the book), but in my opinion, this is unnecessary filler.

Now, we're getting to the good stuff - the Edges. This is a definite strong point of the book. It offers a plethora of useful and interesting Edges. Actually, there's a reason why there's so many Edges. What they did was, with full permission, use some of the Edges from the upcoming Weird War II campaign that Pinnacle is releasing. This is not to say that these borrowed Edges are the only good ones in the game, but it does make a solid foundation for a meaty selection of benefits. What I really like are the new professional Edges, because they allow the character to become a specialist, as all the members of GI Joe were. For example, you could be a medic, a mechanical specialist, demolitions specialist, etc. The players portion of the book ends with some combat rules variants and a Rank/Promotion system.

The Game Master's section starts out with an overview of Global Elite Tactical and STORM, including stats for NPCs, vehicles, and (this is awesome) rules for creating your own headquarters and missions. It also does the same thing that Strike Force 7 did, and gives the GM hints on how to set the tone of the game, but this one actually tells you how to change the rules a bit to fit more in line with a cartoon type game (little to no deaths in combat, being able to bounce back from getting hurt, etc.). Following that is a lengthy mission and stats on some of the major characters in the game.

All in all, I like this game. It certainly captures the feel of the "Real American Heroes" and makes good use of the Savage World rules. If you are looking for a Savage Worlds version of GI Joe, this would be it.

While this is only the tip of the iceberg for military RPGs (even for Savage Worlds), I hope this has helped you make a better decision on what game you should buy for what kind of military game you're wanting to play, whether it's the Saturday Morning variety, a super-soldiers and psychics type game, or a gritty Tom Clancy-esque thriller. As they say, now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.

Kaiser out

GI Joe Action - Savage Worlds Style (Part 1)

Like I said before, the new GI Joe movie came out recently, so I'm reviewing not one, but two RPGs for Savage Worlds that were inspired by the cartoon. Each of them are different in their own ways. Both of them do add something new to the table, but which one gives a more authentic GI Joe experience? By that, I mean which one feels more like the cartoon and not just another military RPG?

Starting off, we have Strike Force 7, published by Super Genius Games, who also make supplements for the Call of Cthulu RPG. Before we get into the meat of the system, lets talk about how pretty it dresses. The book certainly does have a well put together and professional layout, and the cover art is pretty good, but there is a severe lack of interior artwork. The only art inside the pages is a snippet from the front cover transposed onto the border lining of each page. While this isn't such a big deal, it does feel like there should be something there to give a visual for some of the vehicles and armor suits that are featured in the book.

Anyway, onto the content. Strike Force 7 starts by asking what kind of person do you want your character to be, from their childhood to why they joined an elite group of commandos. Thankfully, that section doesn't take up too much space as to be too extraneous and only helps you create a concept of your character. After that, you're asked to pick a team affiliation within the organization. Some examples of teams are Military Operations, Counter-Terrorist, and Media Relations...

Wait, Media Relations?

Are you serious? I mean, the other teams make sense, but Media Relations seems kinda... Well, let's just say you won't find Duke or Flint holding a press conference (It would be funny to watch Snake Eyes try to hold one, though)

I guess that's for games that want a more realistic or political bent. To be honest, the game does kind of have a realistic angle on US politics. I mean the author mentions the 9-11 terrorist attacks and even includes the team foiling an assassination attempt on Senator John McCain. While that's fine, it does kind of taint the Saturday Morning Cartoon feel. I mean, you don't often see actual political figures, with the exception of presidents from days long ago (such as Washington), in fictional media – not just in cartoons, but in other TV programs and movies, as well.

Not only that, but it also includes a deep conspiracy, involving inter-department espionage, psychic spies, assassination, and cover ups, which makes it significantly darker than your “Real American Hero.”

Okay, so if this is supposed to be a darker, somewhat realistic campaign, you wouldn't know it from the antagonists of the game. Though the terrorist organization known as Skorpion does have a deep, political origin and background, it definitely feels like an organization that could hold it's ground with Cobra in terms of techno-wizardry and silly code names. This makes an odd counterpoint to the semi-serious Strike Force 7 team.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. After choosing your team, you, of course go through the usual drill of picking Attributes, Skills, Edges, and Hindrances. And, of course, there are new Edges and Hindrances, but some of them are a bit confusing or unnecessary (and I say this as constructive criticism).

First off is Cart Away, which allows you to grapple an opponent from behind if you have surprise (SWEX p. 61) against him. This allows you to cover his mouth and get a +2 to grapple checks against the opponent. The opponent can only speak if he breaks from the grapple. Truth is, you don't need this Edge. I would rule that any character who grapples a surprised opponent has “the drop” on them (SWEX p. 68) and would get a +4 to any grapple check (since a grapple is a Fighting check – I would even go so far as to add it to the Strength/Agility check to hold onto the victim. Gagging him would just be gravy on top of that.

One group of Edges that confused me are Dodging Tumble/Bullet Dance. It says that you can add 2 to the TN of attack(s) with a rate of fire greater than 1 (Dodging Tumble affects only one attack, while Bullet Dance affects multiple ones). It lists the conditions as “When targeted by a strafe attack or the free attack from failing to take cover from suppressive fire.” What is that supposed to mean? I've looked in my rulebook and on Savagepedia and I've heard nothing about a “strafe” attack. And what's this about a “free attack from failing to take cover from suppressive fire?” Are they talking about opponents who succeed their Spirit checks against the suppressive fire? They don't get a free attack. They just don't get shaken from failing their roll. And the person using suppressive fire doesn't get a free attack against those who succeed against their Spirit roll, either. This edge makes no sense.

Then there's “rate of fire greater than 1.” Double barrel shotguns can have a rate of fire of 2 and I don't think that this Edge would cover against shotgun fire. All of the guns that can be used for suppressive fire have at least a 3 in rate of fire, so it should really say any weapon with a rate of fire of 3 or greater. Despite some broken Edges, though, there are some good ones that can be used in a military game (or some other types of game).

After that, there's a section on equipment, mostly cutting edge stuff for Strike Force 7 and sci-fi technology for Skorpion.

The next chapter covers the complex backstory that, while it makes for some good military espionage, just doesn't seem to fit the whole GI Joe mold. Then the obligatory GM's section, which allows GMs to tailor the campaign to fit any style of play, from gritty and realistic, to high tech super soldiers, to, of course, the “Saturday Morning Cartoon” variety.

Even with the variety of ways to play, doing a cartoonish style with the storyline may require some work. Like I said, this feels more at home with a kind of black ops/super soldier type game, what with the psychic operatives, political undermining, and conspiracies. If you're looking for something more along the lines of that, then this game will work great for you.

Well, it looks like this review took too long already and I still have one game left to review. Tune in tomorrow as we “G.E.T. Into Action!”

Kaiser out

Savage Monster Island Apocalypse

So here we go. If you want to play some awesome kaiju action, there's no better choice than Firefly Games' Monster Island. This isn't actually an RPG, per se, but it does use a simplified version of the Action! RPG rules from Gold Rush Games. This is a very simple miniatures game, where you can play a kaiju (or in other supplements, a human army or an alien invasion force) and knock the crap out of other kaiju (or army or invasion force). The simplified rules make this an easy game to pick up and play, after making you kaiju (or army, etc.), all you need are some d6s, and something to represent terrain and your character. The core book actually suggests two ways of doing this: you can either pull out a battle mat and use the figure cutouts provided in the book, using the grid or hex squares for movement and range, or you can, if you have them, grab any toys that would look good as a kaiju (for instance, I have collectable action figures of Godzilla, Voltron, Great Mazinger, Kamen Rider, and the original Megazord from Power Rangers - there's even a two headed dragon I've had since I was four that would work well) and use some random things around the house, such as felt cutouts, salt and pepper shakers, boxes of Hamburger Helper (Beef Stroganoff is the best), as terrain. Then grab a tape measure to gague distance for movement and range. While I can appreciate the "off the cuff" method of the second option, I prefer using the battle mat and miniatures. It just makes everything easier to manage. While the core book is plenty enough to get some kaiju brawling going on, there are supplements that expand on the carnage. Each supplement adds new powers for kaiju as well as expanded rules. In Escape from Monster Island, you can create your own human armies, complete with soldiers, artillery, scientists, and maser tanks (the ones that have a huge ass satellite dish that shoots concentrated electromagnetic energy). In Invasion of Monster Island, you can create your own invasion fleet of aliens, complete with mothership. Then there's Revenge of Monster Island, which expands on all the different factions, as well as rules for combat, terrain, and movement and a background of that hotbed of kaiju action, Tokyo. With all the options this game provides, you can have one hell of a battle, but I did notice something. If you only have two players, things can get pretty frustrating. Say you play a kaiju who has a radioactive blast attack (like Godzilla), but the kaiju you're up against not only can hit you with his blast attack, but is immune to yours (Immunity is one of the powers a kaiju can take). Basically, your blast attack is useless and you're most likely going to lose. That's where things can be a pain in the ass. There are two solutions to this: either create a roster of kaiju for you to select from and pay attention the the kaiju your opponent is playing, or have more people join in the fight for a multiplayer throwdown ala Destroy All Monsters. Personally, I recommend both. Two player fights can easily get one sided and more players means more carnage - everybody wins! The books have their own sample kaiju to use, but it's much more fun to make your own. I turned the Abdominal Snowman into a kaiju. I just gave him the Amulet of Dai'kithu and watched him grow. His six-pack looks more like a fleet of beer trucks now. If anyone wants to use him in all his abdominal glory, here's his stats:  

Abdominus, the 100 foot Yeti of Doom! A 45 point kaiju Attributes Strength - 8 Reflexes - 8 Health - 8 Mind - 2 Life - 40 Evade - 18 Toughness (including Armor power) - 13 Daze - 10 Move - 8 Damage - 4d6 Powers Armor (Invincible Abs) - 5 Clinging (can climb vertical surfaces) Entagle (Ice Breath) - 4 Food Source (can eat people to increase powers) Immunity (Cold) Swimming - 1

So, if you want to pick up the Monster Island game, go to the Firefly Games website. You'll find the core book (both in .pdf and print) and the supplements, including gazetteers for some of the major US cities, in their Catalog and a couple of freebies in Product Support. I better get going. Abdominus is having too much fun doing belly flops on city hall. Kaiser out

Slipstream - Savage Worlds

I picked up Slipstream when they released the hardcover version, which was a while back. It is one of the settings released by Pinnacle, the guys who made Savage Worlds. Since I found out about this game, last year, it kept screaming, "Buy me, goddamit!" So what is Slipstream? Do you remember the old Flash Gordon serials or the Filmation cartoon or 1980 movie with the Queen soundtrack? Actually, this would be a good test to find the age demographic of my readers, because I'm sure that no one under the age of 30 knows what the fuck I'm talking about. Slipstream is pulp sci-fi - rayguns, rocketships, robots, tyrants, and space pirates. This book embodies all the pulp action of those old serials, complete with appropriate Edges, rules variants, and enough worlds, aliens, and creatures to keep a good game going for a while. Of course, if you ever run out of content in the book, there are rules for creating your own world fragments (there are no planets in Slipstream, just their shattered remnants) and aliens to make sure you always have something new. Yet this book does have it's drawbacks. Clocking at just under 160 pages, it does have a lot of content, including the plot-point campaign (something found in every Savage Worlds campaign from Pinnacle), but I would say that's still not enough. For instance, the lack of a detailed, organized, and cohesive reference section for aliens is, probably, Slipstream's biggest weakness. There are numerous aliens in the game, but only nine races are really put into good detail: Anarchs, Babelonians, Bird Men, Earthlings, Lion Men, Psiclops, Robot Men, Valkyrians, and Septosians. All of them would make for good characters, except for the Septosians, who are giant slugs with arms, best known for smelling like onion farts (on a good day). Doesn't really sound like a heroic race, does it? What stumps me more is after these nine races, there is a listing of most (I'll get to that later) of the other major races found in the universe, which includes their home fragment, one descriptive sentence and a list of racial Edges/Hinderances for each race. That's it. Sometimes, that's servicable enough, but not always. Here's a couple of examples from the listings: Lupine (Lupos): wolf men... Pretty self explanatory, right? Now tell me what kind of alien this is: Vergelmirion (Vergilmir): small agile humanoid... Would you guess that these are lemur men? Not even in the entry for Vergilmir in the world fragments listing (later on in the book) gave a good description of them. It just said they were small, had prehensile tails, and liked shiny things. I actually found out what they looked like when I saw one in the figure flats .pdf file they released online. While some of the aliens aren't described well enough, others aren't even on the list. Take the Brockians. They're badger men and the only mention of them in the book is in an adventure in the plot-point campaign, where you meet a Brockian pirate captain. The pirate captain's stats show the Brockian's Edges/Hinderances, but why were they not listed with the other races? There's other races excluded from the list, but you get my point. Another thing, which I wouldn't consider a problem, really, is the plot-point campaign is a little different than in other Savage Worlds games. Take the Rippers game, for instance. The plot-point campaign in Rippers is pretty loose. A lot of the adventures don't actually require you to play them in any particular order, or at all, for that matter. But in Slipstream, the campaign plays out like an adventure serial, just like in the old films. That means once you finish an adventure, the most logical step is to move on to the next plot-point. Let's say, at the end of an adventure that you saved a lion man noble from Queen Anathraxa's soldiers, but he tells you that the queen sent out a fleet of warships to attack his home fragment of Simba. If you decided to go somewhere else to, say, find treasure or hunt down pirates, then go to Simba and stop the fleet, not only would you be too late, you'd look like a royal douchebag in the process. That's not how these heroes roll, bitches. While the serial nature does lend to the style of the genre you're playing, you can see how it leaves little room to do anything in between. With that in mind, I say this to all GMs: If you want to use the plot-point campaign, but you also would like to make your own adventures, save the campaign for later. You'll have more freedom that way and you can bring the long obligation of saving the universe on the players when everyone's good and ready. All complaints aside, I still like this game a lot. Regardless of its flaws, it did a lot of things right. Dashing space jockeys, bizzare creatures, a multitude of aliens, a tyrannical queen who drains the life-force of the men she sleeps with to stay young and beautiful (if I were to ever die, I would choose "death by hot sex"). This book really does capture the style of the genre perfectly, from the rules and backstory to the art and presentation. This book oozes pulp sci-fi. It has been long awaited by many and it delivers on many fronts. You can get a copy of this game just about anywhere: your local brick-and-mortar geek store (just order it if they don't have it), or you can go online and buy it (and other Savage Worlds products, in both print and .pdf formats) at the Studio2 Publishing online store. Now if Pinnacle releases a detailed supplement on all the alien races, we'll be good to go. Kaiser out

The Day After Ragnarok - Savage Worlds

Question: Why does this RPG kick so much ass? Is it because it's a Savage Worlds game? Is it because it takes place after the Norse apocalypse, Ragnarok, during the late 1940s? Is it because it mingles World War II with pulp adventure and elements of Robert E. Howard's Conan? Is it because the creator, Kenneth Hite, is an award winning veteran in the RPG business? Answer: Fuck yeah! If you've ever wanted an extremely savage setting for Savage Worlds, this is it. Day After Ragnarok gives you a chance to plunge into an in-depth, post-apocalyptic world with a variety of campaign ideas. During WWII, the Nazis enacted a ritual to summon Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, who would bring about Ragnarok while the Nazis rode on the wave of destruction and built a new world atop the ashes. The plan didn't work too well, though. The serpent came, but a well placed H-bomb caused the serpent's body to deicmate most of western Europe, including Germany. The giant corpse then polluted the world and turned over half of North America into a poisoned wasteland. The ones who profited from this the most were the Soviets, who wasted no time in dominating all lands east of the serpent's body (making it's corpse a continental version of the Berlin Wall). The corruption of the serpent brought fierce beasts (such as the now prevalent giant snakes) to plague humanity all over the globe. There are numerous possibilities for this campaign setting. Anything from fighting serpent cultists deep in the wastelands to MI6 agents infiltrating Soviet compounds can be done here. Throw in some magic and weird science, and you've got a heady brew that is sure to sate any gamer looking for a brutal time. If you want in on this apocalypse, head over to Atomic Overmind Press and pick up a copy. They're available in print and PDF formats. As for me, this world looks ripe for my dominion. I'll be back in a few days. Kaiser out

Savage Dragon Quest Apocalypse

If you asked me to pick my favorite JRPG series, it would have to be a tie between Lunar and Dragon Quest. But since no one made a good Lunar game in a while, I'll talk about Dragon Quest. It's one of the few RPGs that retained a that classic feel, even after many tweaks and modernizations from other RPGs, including its rival, the Final Fantasy series.

Actually Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy have a very entwined history together. Final Fantasy ranks first as Square Enix's most popular game, which Dragon Quest is a close second (Dragon Quest has a bigger following in Japan than in the US), however, Dragon Quest came first and, it can be said, that Final Fantasy rose to came to be because of its former competitor.

In 1982, Enix sponsored a national contest for aspiring video game programmers. The winners of this contest would form the core of the Dragon Quest team, headed by Yuji Horii. The prize for winning was a trip to an Apple convention in San Fransisco, where Yuji discovered the Wizardry series. Being inspired by this and the Ultima games, Yuji decided to work on an RPG of his own. Other talent joined, such as composer Koichi Sugiyama and manga-ka Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball fame), who did the character designs. Dragon Quest skyrocketed when it was released. Japan found a new obsession and Yuji Horii became the father of japanese RPGs.

Another game company, Square, was facing bankruptcy, due to poor sales. Hironobu Sakaguchi, a programmer at Square, decided to put the company's future on an all-or-nothing gambit. Inspired by fantasy games, most notably, Dragon Quest, Sakaguchi made his own fantasy epic. He named it Final Fantasy, which some people attribute to it being Square's last chance at a success while others to the fact that Sakaguchi planned to retire after making it (so much for that). Seeing how Dragon Quest used a great composer and character designer, Sakaguchi would do the same, employing composer Nobuo Uematsu and artist Yoshitaka Amano, both masters of their respective arts. The rest is history, but only in Japan did it become so apparent that Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy were like twin brothers, fighting an evenly matched battle for supremacy in the gaming market.

When it was brought to the States, Enix changed the name to Dragon Warrior, due to a trademark conflict with an obscure tabletop RPG of the same name. It did well, but really didn't hit off the RPG kick in America like Final Fantasy did.

By the turn of the millenium, both Square and Enix took huge financial blows - Enix for long delays in their game releases, and Square for the box-office nad-shot resulting from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The two companies expressed interest in a merger and, in 2003, the two companies became SqEnix, um, Square Enix. Because of this, the rivalry between the companies flagship RPGs changed. In fact, after the merger, the company brought Dragon Quest back to American audiences. The two series have coexisted since, with Final Fantasy being more of an avant garde RPG for the kind of person who thought life before Sephiroth sucked (whatever) and Dragon Quest for the RPG aficionados who like to go back to their roots (and probably played at least one tabletop RPG not made by White Wolf).

Anyway, back to Dragon Quest. It is still classic, after all these years. Just like Final Fantasy, it's seen its offshoots. Dragon Quest Monsters, Rocket Slime, Dragon Quest Swords, Torneko's Mysterious Dungeon (starring one of the characters in Dragon Quest IV), etc. But it's the core games that really keep to a lot of the formulas they used back in the '80s, which is good. Personally, I'm an old school kind of guy. I own all of the NES games, even Dragon Quest Monsters 2 for Game Boy, and I just picked up Dragon Quest IV for the DS. Dragon Quest proves the old addage, "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it."

Well, that's it. I'm gonna go back to playing IV before bed.

Kaiser out

(Update: For those of you who regularly come to check out this post for your own faptastic reasons, I have some news for you.  Basically, I use StatCounter to track which posts are being viewed and how much traffic I get.  Which post is the most popular on my site?  You guessed it - Dragon Quest for Pervs.

Not anymore.  You see, most of the people who come check out the naked boobies never really go any further into my blog.  They don't check out Random Weirdness, or Games You Should Know About..., or my Savage Worlds RPG reviews. I've been constantly updating this site to keep fresh content and a steady stream of awesomeness delivered to you, but if all you do is look at a post I made several months ago, then what the fuck's the point?

So, instead of looking at the plethora of individuals who are here for nothing more than abusing the pink bishop, I decided to take down the pictures I had up here.  If you have actually taken the time to check out the rest of my blog, accept the Kaiser's appreciation and sincerest wishes that you enjoy my blog and come back often.  If you're just here to see what Jessica from Dragon Quest VIII looked like naked, there's a whole wide internet out there.  Find that shit elsewhere.

The Kaiser has spoken.)

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

In this edition, we look at three games that are more suited to a niche audience and, therefore, have not received much attention by the populace at large. Today, RPG video games are a different animal than they were when I was young. For the most part, things seem to follow either the SquEnix model of flashy, graphically impressive JRPGs (because RPGs in Japan are in a league of their own) or the hybrid RPGs that incorporate aspects from other genres, such as Oblivion or Mass Effect (both of which are great games). However, these games tend to be much easier than their predecessors. Five years ago, I collected all four Dragon Warrior games for the NES and played through them again. Those games were tough. I still have my copy of 7th Saga, for SNES (also made by Enix), but I won't start up a new game because I know it's just going to beat the shit out of me. That's the thing that's missing from RPGs as of late: a sadistic amount of challenge and difficulty. Enter Atlus. They released three RPGs on the Nintendo DS guaranteed to break a foot off in your ass and screw your girlfriend while you're at home, crying in your pillows. And these are no modern RPGs, they're 100% old school dungeon crawls. The first one is called Etrian Odyssey, which allows you to create your own guild of adventurers and take them, five at a time, into a deep, mysterious forest labyrinth filled with ravenous monsters. As you go through deeper levels, you discover the mysteries that lay hidden in the canopied dungeons. While you're plumbing the depths on the top screen, you can (and must, if you want to survive) draw out a map of the level on the bottom screen, noting all the doors, treasures, and dangerous enemies you encounter. While this is created by a japanese company and has an anime style to the characters, it is by no means your little brother's JRPG. There is no big, sweeping story, no CG cutscenes, not even mind-blowing graphics (that's not to say the graphics suck, by any means). This game hearkens back to the days of playing the old RPGs, and it's just as tough. Levels are big, monsters are plenty, and save points are few and far between. For the first few hours, if you want to save your game, you have to travel all the way back, without teleporting, to the town outside of the labyrinth. Eventually, you do find a spot to save and quickly return to town, but getting there is an uphill battle. Let's say your party made it to level 2 and are low on health and magic. You need to backtrack all the way to the entrance of the labyrinth, fending off the monster encounters that plague you every couple of steps to reach the town and rest up at the inn, heal the mortally wounded, and buy/sell items. The thing is the more you use the inn or the healer, the more expensive they get the next time you go there, making you use those resources sparingly. Not all the monsters in the game are random encounters, either. There are these, let's say, mini-bosses called FOEs. When you are close to a FOE on a level, you can actually see their location, both in the labyrinth and on the map. The reason why you can see them is that they are hard as hell. Eventually, you can beat some of them after enormous amounts of leveling, but some of them are too hard for you to take on until way later in the game. The only real option when faced with one of these high level FOEs is to run past them while they chase you down (and they do follow you). Since everyone thought that Etrian Odyssey was such a good time, they decided to make another one. Etrian Odyssey II is very much like it's predecessor, though they did add a couple of extra touches: new features, new classes, an updated map creation system, oh, and new dungeon and story to make things more interesting. If you do like Etrian Odyssey, the sequel will give you more of the same, which is not a bad thing. The third game is more like a spiritual successor than a sequel to Etrian Odyssey. The Dark Spire just came out recently and, frankly, it's the hardest one yet. Where Etrian Odyssey gave you a place to fight tough monsters, The Dark Spire ups the ante and also adds lethal traps, more enemies at once during a battle, and a system that throws you into the thick of things without holding your hand or even telling you what to do. This game feels more akin to the Wizardry games as well as old school Dungeons & Dragons, having a darker, more western RPG feel. Unlike most RPGs, magic users don't have magic points. They actually go the D&D route and let you cast a certain amount of different level spells, depending on the level of the character. Leveling up also has to be done manually. You buy skills and levels with the experience points you gain from battles, but you have to go back to the guild hall to purchase a new level, giving you another reason to backtrack through the multiple levels back to town. The map in this game is different, too. You can pull up the map screen at any time and see what you have explored so far without having to draw anything, but, without using a certain spell or item, the map screen doesn't show you where you are in the dungeon. You have to figure that out for yourself (just like everything else). This game also has two modes of play, though the difference is purely graphical. You can play the modern mode, shown below in the video, or you can switch to classic mode, which looks more like the old Wizardry games with the wire frame dungeon walls and simple sprites for NPCs and monsters. Here's the thing. These games are not for everyone. Only the most hardcore may apply. All of these games will beat you up, kill your family, and sell them to a body farm if you're not careful. They are hard. If you have not the balls to take these games on, you will only find frustration. However, if you like a little pain with your RPG, these games are great fun and provide months of old school satisfaction. Until next time, keep it old school. Kaiser out

Legends of Steel - Savage Worlds

It's obvious that I love Savage Worlds (see previous post). I also love the Sword & Sorcery genre. And, since I have an RPG campaign setting that I'm working on (though it's still in it's infancy), I like to see independent companies put out quality product. It let's me know that guys like me have a chance in the industry. That's where Legends of Steel comes in. I discovered this blog for Evil DM Productions while I was scoping out the Savage Worlds scene on the internet. The blog is run by a guy named Jeff Mejia, the creator of LoS. Not only is his blog chock full of hot chicks and pulp awesomeness (Hell yes!), it also features his forthcoming games (LoS is already available, but he's also working on a pulp game called Lost World of Hador). Anyway, Legends of Steel is most certainly Jeff's love letter to the genre, because each page is written in fitting tribute. It starts off with him mentioning the sources of Sword & Sorcery that greatly influenced this game and the different styles in the genre, from the savage, brutal, and magic deficient world of Conan, to the comics, cartoons, movies, and TV shows of the 70s, 80s, and 90s such as Red Sonja, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Beastmaster, or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The list of pulp S&S books he cites read like an all time favorite list for me and I grew up watching most, if not all, of the movies and shows. Although his campaign setting is more geared toward the slightly more fantastical elements of the comics, movies, and TV shows, there's plenty of leeway to play the game using whatever elements of the genre you want. The book then goes over how to create a character suitable for the genre. He makes the interesting (and appropriate) stipulation that PCs can only be human. No elves, no halflings; none of that mess. Magic is somewhat available, but to a small extent. In Sword & Sorcery, these elements are to be considered more along the lines of the bizarre, not commonplace. Heroes relied on sinew and steel to fight their battles. So much so, that LoS pretty much dictates that, with a sharp blade, and an iron will, a hero may even defeat a demon (killing it would be another story). LoS continues with some modifications to some pre-existing edges as well as new edges to play around with. Some of these edges might seem a bit outlandish to play in any other genre, but they all fit right in with elements of S&S. From skimpy armor to the finer points of Beast Mastery, it's all here. It even adds some rules and tips for running a Sword & Sorcery game and also its own rules for carousing (which I like better than the rules in 50 Fathoms). The rest of the book focuses on the campaign setting, Erisa - mostly a gazetteer of the major regions in the world. I like how Jeff did this, because he provides a short description of each kingdom or city-state, then divides it into four categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each and every one of them rife with plot hooks. He doesn't give you an overarching storyline or a plot point campaign (which are common in many Savage Worlds campaigns). This allows gamemasters plenty of room to fashion their own adventure paths. Should the heroes become embroiled in fighting the mighty kingdom of Tyros to liberate a city? Will they fall in league with the scumbags from Radu? Or do they dare stand against the dread sorcerers of Yar? That is entirely up to the group and there are plenty of plot hooks to choose from. It also mentions some of the less civilized wilderness areas that are not as detailed, but still offer good ideas for adventures. The Gazetteer caps off with a pantheon of the numerous gods and goddesses of Erisa, from the sublime to the savage. The book ends with an adventure, River Pirates of the Belsa, and sample characters to get things started quickly. Overall, this is a great value. It has excellent presentation, great art, and plenty of meaty story ideas to last quite a few gaming groups. All of this in a pdf file for the slim price of $12 (the hard copy book runs about $22, which is still not bad). If you love Sword & Sorcery and Savage Worlds (there must be something wrong with you if you don't), then I seriously recommend this game. Legends of Steel is available for download on the Evil DM Productions website at evildmprodutcions.net or on Jeff's awesome blog, The Lair of the Evil DM, at evildm.blogspot.com. (Edit: Jeff just made a paperback version available at the Evil DM Productions website so you can display it on your bookshelf) Oh, and spread the word. I'm hoping some of this good karma will come back my way when my RPG campaign world is ready for release. Kaiser out.

Savage RPG Apocalypse

Believe it or not, I've been playing role playing games (of the tabletop variety) for almost as long as I've been alive. In my humble beginnings, I was but a 4 year old child, playing Dungeons & Dragons with my older brother. For a few years, I would playtest his adventures before he went over to his friend's house for game night. I was so enthralled with the game, I just wanted to play more. I even remember religiously watching the D&D Saturday morning cartoon on CBS (which I own on DVD). It was awesome. After a while, my brother stopped playing and I was forced into a hiatus, since I couldn't afford any of the books. When he left behind all of his old books, I took them and read them often. I didn't really have anyone who wanted to play back then, so I just collected the stuff. I bought my first dice in 1989 (and still have the original dice bag from then) and bought miniatures at the flea market with the money I got from lawn mowing. By the time that 2nd Edition AD&D came out, TSR was putting out a lot of boxed adventure games to get new people into the hobby. I bought the Dragon Quest board game, which kicked ass because it came with actual metal miniatures. About this time, I got my younger brother and his friend into D&D. So, I ran adventures for them. It was my first taste of gamemastering (I was about 13 at the time). When I got into high school, my family had moved and I met a bunch of guys who were really into RPGs. We played AD&D, but they also introduced me to other games. That's when I got caught up in White Wolf's World of Darkness games, especially Werewolf: the Apocalypse, at first. We'd be up until 2 am playing all sorts of shit. Eventually, I got wise to White Wolf's Mage: the Ascension. That game blew my fucking mind. Before Mage, I thought AD&D did a shitty job with wizards and mages. I always thought that only being able to use a couple of spells each day and then forgetting how to cast them until you memorize them again was retarded. It made no fucking sense. So, when I first came across Mage, I thought it as going to be the same stupid bullshit. Boy, was I wrong. Reading that book completely coincided with my thirst for enlightenment and was just what the doctor ordered. So, I spent the next few years of my life (mostly in college) playing White Wolf. I was also working in a game store at the time, which exposed me to a lot of games. I discovered other games like Rifts, Legend of the Five Rings, and (...ugh) GURPS. Then, Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition came out with the open gaming license and everything went crazygonuts. Everyone and their grandmother was making content for 3rd Ed. And while a lot of it was crap, I think it helped bring some people back into RPGs. Of course, I picked it back up and started playing with my co-workers Then D&D 3.5 came out and told me that those hundreds of dollars I spent on 3rd Ed. stuff was wasted and that I could go suck a dick. Needless to say, I gave up on D&D. I also got burned out on White Wolf, since they pretty much fucked up the World of Darkness storyline when their 3rd Edition line came out. At that point, I put RPGs on the backburners for a few years. I ran a couple of Mage games and played Big Eyes, Small Mouth (the Anime RPG), but, by then, I was sick of it. Every system I played had inherent flaws that chafed me in one way or another. I couldn't find a system that I could get behind anymore. Then, about a year ago, my cousin-in-law introduced me to a game called Savage Worlds. He said it was quick, easy, and didn't get bogged down in rules and numbers so people could have fun with it. After reading the rulebook (which costs all of $10), I found a new passion for RPGs. Savage Worlds fucking rules. It's a universal system that keeps things moving quickly. It's a blast to play and a breeze to gamemaster. I've already ran a couple of sessions in the Rippers campaign setting (which, just like most of the settings for the system, is really good). There's even third party products for the system, which means a great selection of campaign settings to run. I cannot recommend this game system enough. If you've never played it before, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Anyway, I just wanted to show off my dork cred (and say how friggin' sweet Savage Worlds is). Until next time...