Savage Upgrades: Deluxe Edition, Beasts & Barbarians

I decided to upgrade my Savage Worlds collection with two new purchases: Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition and Beasts and Barbarians: Golden Edition.

The Deluxe Explorer’s Edition book replaces the old, battered, dog-eared version of the original Explorer’s Edition that I bought at Origins in 2009. From what I understand it has all the same content as the hard cover, but it’s in a smaller, slimmer package. It’s also a lot lighter, which makes it easier for me to carry to work for my lunchtime Day After Ragnarok games.

The new Explorer’s Edition is a little thicker and the font’s a little smaller than the previous version, but that’s worth it to get my hands on the new chase rules, social conflict rules, campaign options, and — Gods of Geekdom be praised — an index. I’m amazed that they’re still publishing it for $9.99; that’s a pretty impressive feat for a book that packs in even more content than the original $9.99 tome.

I also picked up Beasts & Barbarians: Golden Deluxe Edition by Gramel. I did it on a lark, mostly because I’ve always thought that Savage Worlds would make for a great Robert E. Howard-style sword and sorcery campaign. Beasts & Barbarians is an unapologetic pastiche of Howard’s Conan books and short stories, right down to the black-and-white penciled, heavily muscled warrior that graces its second page.

It follows the slim Explorer’s Edition format and is a little thicker than the new Deluxe book. It promises 30 new edges, three new arcane backgrounds (Lotusmastery, Sorcery, and the Path of Enlightenment), 20 monsters, 51 NPCs, background information on the Dread Sea Dominions, an adventurer generator, and three adventures.

It’s a lot of content, and I’m looking forward to reading through it. If it holds up, I can easily see running this at one of our local MEPACON conventions.

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