Tommy's Take on Dragon Men and More Traps

10 MORE FANTASY TRAPS

The last set covered most of the "Standards"...while there are some classics here, they are of the slightly non-standard variety.

Written in the same format as the first set, this supplement adds doozies such as Acid Spray and Rolling Rocks (think Indiana Jones). A few of these are mostly set-ups for something else, like Wind Rush and Reverse Gravity. There are even Folding Stairs that collapse as you are nearly at the top and send you hurtling down.

Also included in this PDF are Small Cone Templates, designed to work with the Wind Rush trap.

My only gripe with this product is that, unless I am HORRIBLY mistaken, the font seemed to change in the entries, sometimes even in mid-sentence.

Still, if you like traps in your fantasy games, this is going to be an invaluable source of fun for your game.

PLAYER RACES: DRAGON MEN

On one hand, I am not a fan of "dragon men". On the other, this was apparently the runaway winner of a poll on the Misfit Studios blog about what race should get covered next, so there you go.

This is six pages on playing Dragon Men in Savage Worlds, who may or may not be directly descended from dragons.

Dragon Men, by default, gain flight, but they also gain "Breeding Hindrances"...a defect that the Dragon Man is born with. In addition to some of the common Hindrances, this can include having Thin Armor or blunt claws and teeth...or being unable to use their breath weapon without a Vigor roll first.

There are guidelines for Dragon Men variations based off of the dragons that have appeared in previous Misfit Studios Savage Worlds supplements as well.

A whopping 23 new Edges are present, which can tweak the PC's powers and abilities as desired, though some of them are "merely" Improved versions of other Edges.

The Small Cone Template makes an appearance here as a potential template for a Dragon Man's breath weapon (they can take on different shapes and sizes depending on the Edges purchased).

Finally, Dragon Man Scourge Armor is statted up.

I'm still not a HUGE fan of the idea of Dragon Men, but I cannot deny that this is an impressive amount of material, bringing a race in completely from scratch and dropping it alongside other Savage Worlds fantasy races, and still for the same $1.55 price tag.

MONSTER BRIEF: DRAGON MEN

Now, for all of my apprehension about Dragon Men as a PC race, I have zero problem using them as monsters.

Half a dozen variations on Dragon Men for use as antagonists...and you will want the Player Races PDF, because it references some of the Edges and Hindrances from there.

They are split pretty evenly among fighter types and arcane types (with one being a priest), with an even split of two extras and a Wild Card for each type.

Probably the most interesting variant is the drakeherd...a flightless dragon man who uses a saddled drake as a mount in order to take flight.

The Sorcerer Lord is particularly scary, boasting an impressive slate of Powers.

These could make for some good, interesting adversaries in the right campaign, although I definitely think the spellcasters are far scarier than the warrior types.

Tommy's Take on Champions, Traps and Dwarves

EXPANDED PROFESSIONS: CHAMPIONS

Paladins are one of my favorite "classes". Ever since a friend of mine played The Best Paladin Ever in AD&D2e years ago...a guy who held himself to impossible standards, but understood that people around him were fallible. This starts with the Champion Edge from Savage Worlds and provides options to make a character a truly force of righteous power in the world.

Seven Edges, spread from Seasoned to, yes, Legendary are included for your Champions, and some of them will certainly feel familiar to people who had have Paladins in their D&D games. In fact, one Edge - Champion's Mount - can be taken multiple times, with each selection allowing the player to add a new power to the mount, such as allowing the mount to use any of the PC's Combat Edges!

The Legendary Edge, Crusade, allows the Champion to summon a fighting force for a holy crusade...calling out to people every day that he continues to make the associated Faith roll! There IS a growing penalty each day, so while it's POSSIBLE to keep making rolls indefinitely, it's certainly not likely.

A very cool set of Savage Worlds options for one of my favorite character types.

10 FANTASY TRAPS

Steven Trustrum pretty much gets to the point with his product names.

This is 10 Fantasy Traps, as it sounds. Note that they are not written in the same format found in books such as The Savage World of Solomon Kane, but if you're not a fan of that system, then this may be a plus.

Every trap has a Stealth rating, a Trigger, Disarm mechanism, Attack rolls, Effect and a Cost to purchase/set it up.

These cover most of your basics: You have arrows shooting from the walls, swarms of needles, pits opening in the floor, pendulum blades and bear traps both big and small.

Important notes are made, such as how the needles in and of themselves are rarely the real threat...most of the time they are also poisoned, for instance.

If you are incredibly anal about everything new fitting everything already in existence exactly, you might be disappointed by this. If you are already 100% happy with the traps system already in place, you might not have a need for this...otherwise, this is a pretty swell addition to the Savage Worlds line-up.

PLAYER RACES: DWARVES

Misfit Studios doesn't reinvent the wheel with dwarves here, but they do provide some very cool options nonetheless. It is little secret that I have become a huge fan of their additions to Savage Worlds, the racial and professional expansions, certain classic monsters returning and so on, and this is no different.

My favorite Edge in this supplement HAS to be Grounded, where a dwarf can "ground" himself against damage-causing magic, gaining protection against the effects. Giant Defense goes hand in hand with the already existing Giant Killer, giving a dwarf higher parry against a giant.

If it were Edges alone in this supplement, it would be cool...but we also get a dwarven alcohol for a bit of flavor...and the very cool dwarven waraxe. What makes a dwarven waraxe special? Well, the two-headed axe is actually two axes in a single haft...that can be removed and turned into throwing axes!

Not enough for you? How about famous fantasy metals Adamantine and Mithral, and their costs and properties?

Round that out with rules for playing half-dwarves, as well as the Earth/Stone trapping for Powers (a few of the Edges tie into this trapping), and you have another packed addition to the Savage Worlds line-up.

Tommy's Take on DOOM (ICONS)

DOOM is the first ICONS release by Misfit Studios, and a conversion of the book by the same name which was released under the Mutants & Masterminds Superlink license.

First, a disclaimer: I did serve as a playtester on the book...which really just means I got to see it in play before I reviewed it, instead of just reading it.

DOOM by Misfit Studios, featuring
the Four Horsemen

It is nominally a villain book for ICONS, but it has a very specific focus to it: DOOM is an conspiracy/organization/cult that is not married to a specific setting. In fact, in my one go with the ICONS rules in play, I combined it with the ION Guard book...(the magic focus of DOOM makes them absolutely frightening adversaries for ION Guards).

First up, we get a Metahuman Threat Scale, meant to be an eye-balling guide to baddies, ranked from Alpha to Omega, with Alpha being the weakest and Omega the scariest. As well, there are notations that further defined the threats, such as "-P" meaning the threat is psychic or "-E" meaning extraterrestrial.

WHAT IS DOOM?

This is a two page background on the DOOM organizaation, an occult organization worshipping the "Lost Ones", who are very Lovecraftian in nature. It is noted that the Lost Ones should probably never be battled directly, as they are INSANELY powerful.

DOOM PERSONNEL

This is chock full of villainous game stats.

We get a section on the Counil of Nine that rules DOOM, but no concrete information at all, as GM is expected to design their own Council of Nine, if they choose to allow the PCs to confront them directly, whether built from scratch or drawn from the magical villains already in the setting.

We then get a selection of mooks, starting with rank and file cultists, then the assassin-like Daggers, the spellcasting Sorcerers and the Imps - people who have been...changed...by the dark powers of DOOM.

Next up as the very powerful lieutenants of the Council of Nine, known as the Doomsayers. We get eight of them, and they are an interesting bunch. Each entry gets a background, stats and three "Capers" you can use as inspiration for your own adventures.

Up first is the Immortal known as Acolyte. He is immortal in the Highlander sense, complete with the whole head-hunting power game. He is a powerful spellcaster and the leader of the Doomsayers, constantly looking for magical shortcuts in order to foul-up the other Immortals.

Bone is a veteran of the Iraq war who has been changed by an expirimental nerve gas that caused his bones to errupt from his body. Now he's capable of removing bones from his body and hurling them at his foes.

DOOM's Cerberus is a three-headed dog-man, and because of the three heads, you never know what you're getting, personality wise.

Chain is based off of the D&D Kytons, or "chain devils", which I have been a big fan of for years. He's not as big of a believer in the cause...just taking advantage of the opportunity to do death and destruction.

Deadman and Switch are an inseperable duo, with Switch possessing people's bodies and Deadman...er...taking stuff from people's bodies. Kinda like the old Marvel character Terror Inc., Deadman can rip off body parts and attach them to himself, using any powers that they have.

Fallen Angel is kind of a riff on Marvel's Archangel, being a winged mutant hero who has been twisted by DOOM.

Hellfire is a half demon flame wielder, and the only female on the team.

Nether is a Batman/Shroud like hero who has fallen under the sway of a very specific spell by Acolyte.

Last is Speed Demon, a meek man who cut a deal with demons...he is now host to a fast moviing clawed demon.

Next, we get the incredibly powerful Riders of the Apocalypse, who are the Four Horsemen of Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. They are only loosely under the control of DOOM, and each one should be an impressive challenge.

DOOM IN YOUR GAME

This is a series of "capers" that you can use for inspiration for inserting DOOM as an organization into your game, such as DOOM attacking the mystical heroes and villains of your setting and taking their magic items, or trying to awaken something that may or may not be Cthulhu.

The individual capers are more inspiring than the "DOOM in your game" capers, but some folks will probably still find these to be helpful.

NEW POWERS

Three new powers are included: Conjure, for summoning creatures; Power Boost for, well, boosting powers; and Weaken, which drains one of the six ability scores.

Weaken definitely harkens back to DOOM's M&M roots, and Conjure includes some benchmarks to use to determine appropriate summoned minions for the rank.

MYSTIC DEVICES

Soul Stones are evil little baubles that wizards can use to drain people's life and power their magic with, while the Pendants of Barzani can summon Barzani Demons (which are tied heavily into the DOOM organization) as well as control those of Barzani blood.

NEW CREATURES

First, we get three Templates that can be added to characters. Barzani Hybrids are a template that can be used to make people half-demon.

The Immortal template is much more involved, and is a pretty decent reproduction of Highlander Immortals. Every ten or so Immortals that an Immortal kills provides a full +1 bonus to an Ability, Power or Specialty. This might be a bit too "gamey" for ICONS, your mileage may vary...if so, you can always drop the Immortals and just give Acolyte "normal" Immortality.

Imps are people who have been imbued with dark power to serve DOOM, though they wind up less intelligent in the process.

Next, we get a slew of new monsters and creatures related to DOOM, such as the basic Barzani Demon and Demon Mounts, Chain Devils and Hellhounds. Additionally, a large listing of giant insects are present, for when Pestilence needs to unleash a plague of them.

Again, you can see some of the roots of the d20/D&D here just a little bit, especially with the Chain Devils.

DOOMSPIRE

This is the Super-Secret Headquarters of DOOM, which sits in a Hell dimension and has several powers of its own, from basic defenses to a self-generating supply of food for the inhabitants. Additionally, stats are given for the golem servants inside of it.

CONCLUSION

I'm not a huge Highlander fan, so I'm not sure I'm sold on the Immortals...but I really like the Doomsayers and the Riders of the Apocalypse, as well as many of the monsters such as the Chain Devils and Barzani Demons. Those guys alone would make it worth it for me. You could base a whole campaign *just* around these guys if you wanted to...heck, that's what I'm doing. I could see some folks chafing a bit at some of the new (to ICONS) concepts applied here, however, such as templates (I, personally, have no issue with them).

A great addition to the ICONS line, in my view, with some awesome villains that can be dropped into most any semi-(at least) serious series.

Tommy's Take on Resolute Beasts, Dungeon Classics and More Dragons

RESOLUTE: BOOK OF BEASTS I

This is actually intended for the Resolute fantasy setting, but is compatible with the supers book if you want some more variety. Costing a whole dollar and running eight pages, you might just be wondering precisely what you're getting.


You are, in fact, getting over 60 creatures, spread out over 7 categories (such as insects, humanoids, lycanthropes, undead, etc), fully statted in the Resolute rules system. There are also sidebars, such as handling lycanthropy in Resolute and magical properties that the body parts of the Fantastic Creatures provides.


Practically indespensible for a Resolute GM. Highly recommended if you run Resolute.


MONSTER BRIEF: DUNGEON CLASSICS

Mind Flayers and Beholders...I'm sorry, Thought Flayers and Watchers.

This may be the single best release by Misfit Studios thus far, bringing two true classics to Savage Worlds, with serial numbers filed off.

The two famous aberrations are dangerous...especially considering that Thought Flayers have a BONUS to grapple the heads of their targets, helping to negate the called shot penalties.

The Watcher's eye stalks are also represented, with cruel and harsh effects including petrification present and accounted for. Seriously: These guys are SCARY...some of the scariest Savage Worlds write-ups I have ever seen...so fair warning.

We also get three new powers: Charm, Mind Reading and Telepathy, to properly model our beasties.

Oh, Cloakers and Mimics are also here, but let's be honest: Mind Flayers and Beholders are the draw here, and rightfully so.

Just a tremendous addition to the Savage Worlds bestiary.

MONSTER BRIEF: MORE DRAGONS

This name is about as descriptive as it gets. Misfit Studios covers more dragons for Savage Worlds.

Ice Dragons have a couple of breath weapon options, the first being a cone of frost that is handled like a typical Savage Worlds cone attack...but the second is a cold fog that utterly blocks all vision in the area. They are also easily baited with warm flesh. In fact, it's probably easier to trick one than to kill one.

The Mountain Dragons is gigantic and scary, spewing hot gravel from its mouth and having a massive treasure hoard. There is a hefty payoff for killing one...but this one will make you work for it.

Sea Dragons are interesting creatures in that they have tempermants as violent as the sea...that is, you can't guarantee what you'll get from one each day. While individual Sea Dragons tend towards malicious or benevolent (adding a modifier to their reaction roll, it is possible than a normally vicious and destructive creature shows up feeling quite helpful.

Swamp Dragons are acid spitting beasts whose scales can somewhat meld into their surroundings. Rather than kill people and creatures around them, they prefer to torment them, getting more joy from inflicting terror and harm rather than outright slaughter.

Another great entry in the line-up, with some obvious D&D inspiration, just tweaked a bit so that these dragons stand out on their own merits.

Tommy's Take on Blades, Dungeon Dwellers & Dragons

5 MAGIC ITEMS: BLADES

Another in Misfit Studios' line of microsupplements, we get 5 magic blades. The introduction informs us that each Blade's powers should be hidden, and gives guidelines on researching them...complete with a table to roll on (there is a unique one for each blade), detailing just how much information the researcher finds. A Critical Failure means that they get it ALL wrong. This is a great concept, but stumbles just a bit in execution: If they players roll it, they will know they got a Critical Failure, and will suspect something. If the GM rolls it, they essentially lose the right to use a benny to modify the roll, which some could construe as unfair. Other than that, I love it...and I have been told by the author that a benny solution is coming soon.

Bloodletter: The first item is an intelligent longsword that actually makes those that hold it less intelligent. Being an intelligent sword, it has a Smarts and Spirit die, as well as Skills and Goals, plus special powers. The blade uses the Tests of Wills for Magic Weapons from the Fantasy Companion to try to drive its wielders insane. Crazy stuff.

Dagger of Piercing: Much as it says...this little dagger is the Ginsu of the fantasy world, though it does have limitations...

Deathsever Dagger: A dagger with cool extra bonuses against the Undead and essentially granting the Sweep Edge. However, they were designed for a VERY specific, hidden purpose.

Demonbane: Another unique blade, at first glance...but extra research can again reveal a very cool, hidden purpose.

Frostheart: This one is a bonafide artifact, with Power Points and everything. Conceptually, it's probably my least favorite of the five.

The first magic item collection from Misfit Studios for Savage Worlds is very cool for your $1.55...the plot hooks for the Demonbane and Death Severe Daggers are probably my favorite parts, honestly. Another fine entry.

MONSTER BRIEF: DUNGEON DWELLERS

The second Monster Brief by Misfit Studios takes a different tack: Rather than focusing on one monster, like the Goblin, we get some dungeon classics.

The Carnivorous Cube: A giant, man-eating gelatin cube?  Ridiculous...that'll never fly. Frankly, it's just as scary as you remember.

Mad Mouthers: Mad Mouthers are slightly less iconic than the inspiration for the Carnivorous Cube...in fact, Mad Mouthers are one of the few quasi-classics I don't think I ever used. I've gotta compare the entries for this and its D&D inspiration...'cause this is cooler than I remember.

A minotaur remix is up next, designed to focus on the minotaur in the labyrinth, taking them back to their roots. FRIGHTENING if it is allowed to get a full on charge going.

Troglodytes: My biggest memory of troglodytes are their appearance in one of the D&D arcade games, where they still emitted the musky ordery stuff (though I think it was more like poison in that game, I think).

All told, not as cool as the expanded professions, or even quite as cool as the Goblin brief, but still very nice to see some renamed D&D classics slink into Savage Worlds.

MONSTER BRIEF: DRAGONS

The third Monster Brief by Misfit Studios produces four new dragons for Savage Worlds!

The first entry is the Arcane Dragon and it is absolutely scary. In addition to being big and mean, it has Power Points, knows spells and can cast the Dispel power at will. They don't seem to be overtly good or evil, preferring to be left to their own devices to study.

Mock dragons (that's Smoke Dragon to you) are tiny, smoke spewing dragons not much larger than a housecat. Back in the day playing D&D, I had a friend who played a solo Mage, and I would totally have stuck him with a Mock Dragon. They're perfect for that sort of role in a game.

The Sand Dragon looks a whole lot like one of the Metallic dragons from D&D...Brass? Copper? I don't recall...regardless, the Sand dragon is obsessed with collecting magic (for some reason), and does not fly, instead preferring to burrow in the desert.

Finally, the Viper Dragon is another flightless dragon and is barely more than an animal in intelligence...it doesn't come across particularly malevolent, but is still a definite adversary due to its predatory nature.

I'm kind of surprised at the lack of "evil" dragons in this. The closest seems to be the Viper Dragon, with the Sand Dragon also seemingly capable of filling an antagonistic role if need be. The Mock Dragon makes for an awesome companion in a game, while the Arcane Dragon just wants to be left alone.

The variations are nice, but the product isn't brimming with plot hooks for your Savage Worlds game...however, the Mock Dragon and the four write-ups as examples in changing up dragons within the Savage Worlds rules set are still very cool.