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Game News

Savage Insider Issue 1 released

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Wed, 07/06/2011 - 4:54am

Savage Insider #1Savage Insider Issue 1 is a new Savage Worlds PDF magazine by Mystical Throne Entertainment. You can download it via RPGDriveThru.

Included in its inaugural pages is a one-sheet adventure, the first part of a The Crypts of the Crystal Lich serial fiction series, and a round robin Q&A session with Savage Worlds licensees.

It's nice to see Savage Worlds getting some periodical support; there's a lot of third-party product out there, but there hasn't been much in the way of a periodical to help keep the community informed about what's available. With any luck, the Savage Insider will help with that.

Savage Worlds Deluxe on sale at DriveThru RPG

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Tue, 07/05/2011 - 4:40am

Savage Worlds Explorers EditionSavage Worlds Deluxe, a hardcover version of the Savage Worlds core rules, is available as a PDF through DriveThruRPG.com. It's being pitched as a sort of special edition of the rules that expands upon, but doesn't invalidate, what came before. This version adds new setting-specific options, rules for social conflict, better and expanded examples, new artwork, and rules commentary from the creators.

I'm looking forward to the new book. I love the Explorers Edition's sleek digest format, which launched a Savage Worlds renaissance in my gaming group, but there are aspects of the rules (movement, rate of fire, vehicle chases) that I'd appreciate some elaboration on.

GameCryer.com: Unspeakable Oath #18

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 06/23/2011 - 4:55am

My review of The Unspeakable Oath #18 is up at GameCryer.com. This issue resurrects the 1990s horror RPG magazine in digital and print format, bringing with it new scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, horror reviews, and numerous adventure seeds.

GameCryer.com: Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sun, 05/08/2011 - 7:30am

Super Powers CompanionMy review of the Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion is up at GameCryer.com. This book is a setting agnostic version fo the supers rules from Necessary Evil, with a bunch of non-player characters and headquarter design rules thrown in.

I approached the review from the standpoint of using these rules to replace the Mutants & Masterminds rules that powered my group's Infinity Storm campaign. I like the M&M rules well enough, but in the end they were just too damn crunch for our needs. Savage Worlds is a better fit, providing much of the same diversity of powers, but without all of the rules overhead.

I don't expect that we'll return to Infinity Storm on an ongoing basis, but it's my hope that we can continue the campaign in the form of one shots at our homegrown Nuke(m)Cons. If we do so, it'll be because of the Super Powers Companion rules.

Signs & Portents 10th Anniversary Issue Available

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 11:00am

Signs & Portents

The free 10th anniversary issue of Signs & Portents, Mongoose Publishing's in-house magazine, is available for download.

This issue of the magazine includes a retrospective, a sequel to Otherworld Blues for Traveller, a haunted gulch for RuneQuest, playtest rules for psychics and theurgists for Call to Arms: Noble Armada, a Judge Dread investigation, scenarios for Deus Vult, Clockwork & Chivalry, and Lone Wolf, and the winners of the Earthdawn Adventure Contest.

Wizards.com: Dark Legacy of Evard Begins May 11, 2011

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 11:15am

Wizards of the Coast's new season of Dungeons & Dragons Encounters begins on May 11, 2011 with Dark Legacy of Evard, a series of linked 1-hour scenarios that involve one of D&D's classic wizards.

Duponde may look like nothing more than a sleepy little stopover along the broad banks of the Nentir River. But the village harbors a dark secret: The tomb of the notorious Evard the Black, master of shadow magic, lies in the town’s cemetery.

Read the full description of the event at Wizards.com. D&D Encounters are held each Wednesday at your friendly neighborhood gaming store. Each one runs 60-to-90 minutes. According to Rodney Thompson on the D&D Podcast, this season of Encounters is designed to include a bit more role-playing in addition to the standard combats that folks have come to expect.

I haven't played in D&D Encounters, but I think it's a cool concept, particularly for those who don't have a weekly campaign or who just need that extra weekly fix of D&D.

Dragon Age, Set 2 available for pre-order

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 05/02/2011 - 7:56am

Dragon Age, Set 2 cover artGreen Ronin's Dragon Age: Set 2 is available for pre-order as a print-and-pdf bundle: buy the boxed set for $39.95 and get the PDF for $5. The new set looks like it'll throw some meat onto Dragon Age's efficient skeleton by expanding the game to level's 6-10. It introduces new character options for Grey Wardens as well as specializations for berzerkers, arcane warriors and assasins. There are also new backgrounds, new exploration and role-playing stunts, and 40 new spells.

I really enjoyed Set 1, but I missed some of the advanced options -- like the aforementioned specializations -- from the video game. I briefly leafed through the Set 2 Beta, and liked what I saw; just like the D&D boxed sets of old, the Dragon Age expansions look to add new options just as players want them. I'm looking forward to it. 

MEPACON Spring 2011 Events: Savage Worlds, Dragon Age, Pandemic

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 5:30am

MEPACon Spring 2011 is being held Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10. It's the 10th anniversary of the convention, and they're going to be having a special reception Friday night. As always I'm looking forward to the convention, but this time around I'm taking my own advice and only running two RPGs.

Given that this is the spring convention, I've decided to give The Day After Ragnarok a rest and instead run a Savage Worlds: Fantasy game. I've been itching to run something powered by the Fantasy Companionrules, and this is my chance. I'm also going to be running the Dragon Age RPG, which might, just might be a fantasy genre game my gaming group would like. We'll see how it goes. Rounding out my set of games is Pandemic, an excellent board game by Z-Man Games.

You can register for these events at the MEPACON site on Warhorn. Here are the event pages for the three days of the con:

GameCryer.com: Gamma World

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 10:35am

My review of Gamma World is up at GameCryer.com. As an introductory game I think it's superior to the D&D Red Box. While the Red Box gives you a map, some tokens, dice and a barebones version of the rules, once you get past the initial adventure you need to jump to the Essentials books.

Gamma World is much closer in spirit to the original D&D Red Box because it gets you started in the game ... and then lets you keep going by providing rules for character levels 1-10. Admittedly, it's an extremely streamlined version of D&D 4th Edition and that makes it easier to package, but still, I think they could have done something similar with the Red Box.

As for the game itself ... it's a blast! It's quick, quirky and powered by chaos, which made it a good fit for our Blackrazor playtesters. While it's 4E DNA make it unlikely my group would play it as our regular campaign, I'll be actively looking for Gamma World games at area conventions.

Deep Vistas Funded!

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 12:50pm

Christopher West's Deep Vistas fantasy map sets reached their funding goal. I signed up at the last minute because damn it, this was a good idea, these are good maps, and Christopher's work is worth supporting.