Back in November, in response to repeated internet postings about how "Savage Worlds characters are all the same", I set out on a task: I made a party and advanced them through the ranks: Novice, Seasoned, Veteran and Heroic. Now, we're going to do the Legendary advances!
Some things to note: Legendary is theoretically infinite. You can still increase Attributes once every other advance, you can only take Power Points once, and you only get advances every 10 points instead of five. I'm doing four advances here, which is actually an additional 40 XP instead of the 20 I'd been doing.
DON'T HIT ME
1st: Fighting d12 (which also increases his Parry again).
2nd: Improved First Strike. He now gets a shot at everything that comes near him.
3rd: Weapon Master (Parry goes up one).
4th: Master of Arms (Parry +2).
DON'T HIT ME
Agility d10
Smarts d10
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Fighting d12
Guts d6
Intimidation d6
Investigation d6
Notice d6
Taunt d8
Throwing d6
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 4
Hindrances
Small (-1 Toughness)
Loyal
Bad Luck (1 less bennie per session)
Edges
Acrobat (+2 to nimbleness based Agility rolls, +1 to Parry)
Block (+1 to Parry)
Improved Block (+2 to Parry)
Danger Sense (Free Notice roll at -2 to avoid attack)
Dodge (-1 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Improved Dodge (-2 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Fencer (+1 to Parry while unecumbered, +1 to offset Called Shots)
First Strike (free attack when opponent gets into range)
Improved First Strike (free attack on every opponent that comes into range)
Giant Killer (+1d6 when attacking a foe three sizes larger than him.)
Level Headed (Acts on the better of two cards)
Improved Level Headed (Acts on the better of three cards)
Quick (redraw an initiatve card less than 5)
Strong Willed (+2 to Taunt/Intimidate)
Weapon Master (+1 Parry)
Master of Arms (+2 Parry)
Rapier (+1 Parry, for a 15), Damage d6+d4, Buckler Shield (+1 Parry, for a 16), Throwing Knife Damage d6+d4
HULK SMASH
1st: Improved Frenzy. Now he makes an extra attack with no penalty.
2nd: Tough As Nails (Toughness +1)
3rd: Improved Tough As Nails (Toughness +2)
4th: Professional (Strength). Strength is d12+1.
HULK SMASH
Agility d6
Smarts d4
Spirit d6
Strength d12+1
Vigor d12
Climbing d4
Fighting d10
Guts d8
Intimidate d8
Survival d4
Tracking d4
Charisma: -4
Pace: 8"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 11
Hindrances
Ugly
Overconfident
Mean
Edges
Adaptable: Barbaric Blood (spend a benny to trigger Berserk)
Berserk (Smarts roll upon being wounded, or go Berkserk, +2 Fighting/Strength rolls, -2 Parry, +2 Toughness, rolls of 1 hit random adjacent target)
Brawny (+1 Toughness)
Charge (ignore Running penalty when making a Fighting attack)
Combat Reflexes (+2 to become unShaken)
Fleet-Footed (Pace +2, d10 Running die)
Frenzy (1 extra attack at -2)
Improved Frenzy (1 extra attack at no penalty)
Might Blow (double damage on a Joker)
Nerves of Steel (ignores 1 level of wound penalties)
Professional (Strength)
Sweep (attack all adjacent foes at -2)
Improved Sweep (removes the Sweep penalty)
Tough As Nails (+1 Toughness)
Improved Tough As Nails (+2 Toughness)
Great Axe (Armor Piercing 1, Parry -1 for 6), Damage d12+1+d10, Chain Hauberk (Armor +2, for Toughness 13)
SNIPER
1st: Improved Double Shot. Now he has no penalty when firing two arrows at once.
2nd: Professional (Shooting). Shooting becomes d12+1.
3rd: Expert (Shooting). d12+2.
4th: Master (Shooting). d10 Wild Die when Shooting.
SNIPER
Agility d8
Smarts d8
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Climbing d4
Fighting d8
Notice d6
Riding d4
Shooting d12+2
Stealth d8
Survival d8
Throwing d6
Tracking d8
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 5
Hindrances
Cautious
Wanted
Yellow
Edges
Alertness
Archer (Called Shot, Range and Cover Penalties are reduced by 1)
Combat Archer (Bow can be used at melee range and as a club, doing Str+d4)
Dark Fighting (Halves penalties for Shooting in the dark)
Dead Shot (Double damage on ranged attacks when a Joker is drawn)
Double Shot (Fire two arrows at 1 target with -2 penalty)
Improved Double Shot (Fire two arrows at 1 target with no penalty)
Marksman (Free Aim action as long as he doesn't move)
Professional (Shooting) (+1 to Shooting)
Expert (Shooting) (+2 to Shooting)
Master (Shooting) (d10 Wild Die for Shooting)
Steady Hands (removes unstable platform penalties)
Trademark Weapon (longbow, +1 to Shooting rolls)
Improved Trademark Weapon (longbow, +2 to Shooting rolls)
Woodsman (+2 to Stealth, Survival and Tracking rolls in Wilderness)
Longbow 2d6 damage, Leather armor (+1 for Toughness 6)
MR. WIZARD
1st: Smarts d12.
2nd: Power Points.
3rd: Spirit d10.
4th: Spellcasting d10 and Knowledge (Arcana) d10.
MR. WIZARD
Agility d8
Smarts d12
Spirit d10
Strength d4
Vigor d6
Charisma: +2
Pace: 4
Parry: 4
Toughness: 5
Power Points: 35
Gambling d6
Guts d6
Investigation d8
Knowledge (Arcana) d10
Lockpicking d6
Notice d4
Persuasion d6
Shooting: d4
Spellcasting d10
Streetwise d8
Hindrances
Bad Eyes
Lame
Poverty
Edges
Arcane Background: (Magic)
Attractive
Connections
Investigator (+2 to Investigation and Streetwise)
Power Points (+5 Power Points) (x5)
Wizard (use 1 less Power Point per raise on Spellcasting roll)
Powers
Boost/Lower Trait
Deflection
Detect/Conceal Arcana
Dispel
Obscure
Crossbow, nice clothes (fraying around the edges), cane.
FEARLESS LEADER
1st: Leader of Men. From Solomon Kane, this allows FEARLESS LEADER to apply his Leadership Edges to Wildcards.
2nd: Followers. Now he has a loyal cadre that believe in his cause and not just his money.
3rd: Fighting d10 and Guts d10.
4th: Intimidation d12.
FEARLESS LEADER
Agility d6
Smarts d10
Spirit d10
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Charisma: +4
Pace: 6
Parry: 7
Toughness: 5
Fighting d10
Guts d10
Intimidation d12
Knowledge (Battle) d10
Persuasion d10
Streetwise d8
Survival d4
Hindrances
Code of Honor
Doubting Thomas
Stubborn
Edges
Charismatic
Command (+1 to his troops for Shaken rolls)
Common Bond (share bennies with other Wild Cards)
Fervor (+1 to melee damage for troops)
Followers (Attract 5 Henchmen)
Hard to Kill (ignore Wound penalties when rolling on KO or Injury tables)
Hold the Line! (+1 Toughness for Troops)
Inspire (additional +1 for troops to become unShaken)
Leader of Men (Leadership Edges apply to Wild Cards)
Lucky
Majesty (Extras at Charisma x2 are at -1 to become unShaken)
Natural Leader (share bennies with troops)
Noble
Shortsword d6+d6, Plate (+3 Armor for 8 Toughness), Hirelings
THOUGHTS
I don't think they are that much alike at all. In fact, I also can't help but notice that, deep into Legendary, they still have plenty of room for improvement and advancement. The "weakest" is MR. WIZARD, and that was my fault because I didn't keep my eye on the concept. DON'T HIT ME is still vulnerable to ranged attacks and not a lot else (as his Agility should allow him to avoid most area attacks as well). HULK SMASH is still scary, with the sheer amount of damage that he can inflict AND absorb. SNIPER is the embodiment of the arrow, able to zap one target with two arrows while rolling d12+2 and a d10 Wild Die. Called Shots? No problem. FEARLESS LEADER utilizes his force of will to win battles and fires up his teammates with his Leadership Edges...such as HULK SMASH now gaining an extra +2 to become unShaken.
What's the verdict? Are Savage Worlds characters all the same?
And coming soon to this feature: Savage Supers...where I'm less trying to prove that they are all the same, and more to see just how Savage Worlds Supers scale, from Novice through Legendary.
The Proof Is In the Fun
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
[Smackdown vs Raw 2011] My WWE Universe So Far...
So I have been annoying people on Facebook for a week or so with my WWE Universe on Smackdown vs Raw 2011. I decided I would blog my Universe, after a couple of buddies expressed interest in the idea, and since I don't want to open a second blog (and this one never had a single stated purpose anyway), here it is.
For those who don't know: WWE Universe is a new mode that's like the GM Mode from previous games, but less crap. You don't have to worry about running out of money, you just play through the WWE calendar of four Raws, four Superstars, four Smackdowns and a PPV. You can change the matches, the participants, the rules, skip matches, or stick with what they give you.
For a geek like me, it's pretty cool.
So anyway, here is my WWE Universe so far, summarized as I didn't remember every little detail:
Starting Champions
RAW
WWE Champion: John Cena
US Champion: The Miz
Diva's Champion: Alicia Fox
Tag Team Champions: The Hart Dynasty
SMACKDOWN
World Champion: Rey Mysterio
Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler
Women's Champion: Michelle McCool
Tag Team Champions: The Hart Dynasty
THE ROAD TO BACKLASH
- Sheamus destroyed Edge multiple times over The Road To Backlash, winning the #1 Contender's spot from him.
- John Morrison and R-Truth feuded with the Straight Edge Society over the #1 Contender's spot, while DX seemed to face Mark Henry and MVP a lot, with Chris Jericho and The Miz interjecting themselves into DX' business. Ultimately, I turned Henry and MVP heel as they seemed to benefit from outside interference a LOT.
- John Morrison beat partner R-Truth and Ted DiBiase to earn a shot at The Miz at Backlash.
- The WWE Universe was rocked by several shocking arrivals, including Gail Kim attacking Kelly Kelly on Smackdown (and losing), as well as Finlay going after Jack Swagger.
- Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes teamed up on Smackdown against Big Show and Rey Mysterio, with Cody walking out on Drew, leaving him to get beaten. This led to Cody turning face and sparking a feud with Drew.
- Swagger secured a World title shot by defeating Big Show.
BACKLASH
R-Truth beat The Miz and John Morrison in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE United States Title.
Dolph Ziggler pinned Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental Title.
Alicia Fox beat Eve Torres to retain the Diva's Title. Her celebration was interrupted by the shocking arrival of Mickie James, who pinned her to win the belt.
The Hart Dynasty retained the Unified Tag Team Titles against The Straight Edge Society.
Jack Swagger defeated Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Title.
Sheamus shocked John Cena to become the WWE Champion.
ROAD TO EXTREME RULES
- Chris Jericho had a banner month, starting off by beating John Cena for the #1 Contender's spot for Extreme Rules. He then defeated DX in a handicap match after Miz jumped Triple H before the match started, and Sheamus interfered during the bout. Six days before Extreme Rules, he met Cena again, and The Miz ran in...turning on Jericho! Cena looked fairly shocked, but Jericho still rolled him up out of nowhere for the pin.
- Big Show fended off CM Punk and The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match to become the new #1 Contender to the World Heavyweight title. As a preview to the match, Jack Swagger utterly humiliated him.
- R-Truth's first night as US Champion ended in seconds, as Batista destroyed him.
- The Straight Edge Society looked dominant as Luke Gallows shockingly earned an Intercontinental title shot.
- Kelly Kelly again earned a shot at Michelle McCool, despite never receiving her last one.
- Mickie James had to fend off Maryse and Alicia Fox in a handicap match, and then brought Melina in to challenge them, with her in Melina's corner. This ultimately led to Melina earning a title match.
- The Nexus debuted at the end of the month, with Tommy figuring out how to get online to work. Also, Goldust debuted, beating Sheamus by DQ.
- Vladimir Kozlov and Santino made one appearance as a team, splitting up after a loss to Kane and The undertaker.
- Finlay and Mike Knox formed a surprising team called Hard Knox.
EXTREME RULES
The Miz stunned R-Truth to regain the US title.
The Hart Dynasty held off R-Truth and John Morrison.
Luke Gallows crushed Dolph Ziggler in a Tables Match to win the Intercontinental Title.
Melina pinned her friend Mickie James to win the Diva's Championship.
Jack Swagger defeated The Big Show and then brutalized him with a chair post match.
Sheamus beat Chris Jericho despite outside interference by Evan Bourne.
ROAD TO THE BASH
- Triple H fended off Batista in a Falls Count Anywhere Match after a Pedigree on the floor to become the #1 Contender to Sheamus' WWE Title.
- Sheamus was put into the #1 Contender's Match for the US title, but he quickly just attacked Zack Ryder with a sledgehammer, getting DQed.
- Morrison and R-Truth earned a rematch with The Hart Dynasty.
- Wade Barrett pinned Chris Jericho in a Fatal Four Way Hell in a Cell that also featured John Cena and Sheamus. Barrett and Jericho would be at ringside as David Otunga and Daniel Bryan faced off, before getting ejected for fighting with one another. Bryan went on to win that match.
- Sting debuted on Smackdown in a tag match with Kane, dominating Vance Archer and Matt Hardy.
- The Big Show was supposed to wrestle Jack Swagger and The Undertaker in a Triple Threat on the Smackdown after Extreme Rules...but CM Punk had ambushed him instead, and took his place!
- The Undertaker became the #1 Contender to Swagger's World title. In a PPV Preview, Swagger squeaked by 3-2 in an Iron Man Match after being DOMINATED in the early going.
- Luke Gallows helped CM Punk beat Christian and Kofi Kingston in a #1 Contender's Match for Gallows' own Intercontinental title.
- Maryse earned a shot at Melina and the Diva's title after a series of sneak attacks from the crowd.
- Beth Phoenix earned a Women's Title shot, despite Kelly Kelly never receiving HER title shot.
- Drew McIntyre's and Cody Rhodes' feud has raged ever since splitting back in the first week of April, with Cody taking the lead initially, and Drew picking up the wins recently.
THE BASH
Despite the Straight Edge Society attacking them before the match, John Morrison and R-Truth defeat The Hart Dynasty to win the Tag Team Titles.
Zack Ryder stuns The Miz to win the US title.
Christian is inserted into the Intercontinental title match between CM Punk and Luke Gallows, and stuns the Straight Edge Society by pulling out the win.
Melina handily defeats Maryse.
Triple H fends off Sheamus, despite a brutal pre-match attack.
Jack Swagger faces The Undertaker in a second Iron Man match, and pulls away with a dominant victory after some vicious assaults with a chair.
ROAD TO NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS
- The Hart Dynasty start exhibiting tensions, and Tyson Kidd even teams with Ezekiel Jackson to face R-Truth and Morrison in a non-title match, but it all turns out to be a ruse as David Hart Smith helps Kidd and Jackson win. The Dynasty goes on to beat The Straight Edge Society to become the #1 Contenders.
- Despite Maryse' best efforts, Natalya becomes the #1 Contender to Melina's Divas' Championship, teaming with Kidd in a losing effort against Melina and Morrison.
- Sheamus beats Jericho to earn another match at Triple H, and handily defeats Triple H himself a couple of times in non-title matches. As Sheamus celebrates his victory over Jericho, Hunter wipes him out with the title belt.
- Sting and Kaval form an unlikely partnership after beating Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.
- CM Punk finally earns the #1 Contender's spot against Jack Swagger.
- Despite Miz and DiBiase joining forces in attacks against R-Truth and Morrison, they face off for a shot at Zack Ryder, which DiBiase wins. This later turns ugly as DiBiase attacks Miz with a lead pipe after Miz pins Randy Orton.
- Nexus implodes as Wade Barrett interferes in a match between David Otunga and Daniel Bryan, attacking Otunga. The story gets stranger when Barrett's facing Kozlov, and Justin Gabriel shockingly attacks BOTH men.
NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS
John Morrison and R-Truth fend off The Hart Dynasty.
Kofi Kingston pins his friend Christian to win the Intercontinental Title, after months of feuding with CM Punk and being unable to crack into the top contender's spot for the World title.
Ted DiBiase beats Zack Ryder to win the US title.
Beth Phoenix crushes Michelle McCool to end her Women's title reign.
Jack Swagger escapes Drew McIntyre, The Big Show, CM Punk and The Undertaker in a Championship Scramble.
Triple H fends off John Cena, Batista, Sheamus and The Miz in a Championship Scramble.
Heading into Summerslam, the champions are:
RAW
WWE Champion: Triple H
US Champion: Ted DiBiase
Diva's Champion: Melina
Unified Tag Team Champions: John Morrison & R-Truth
SMACKDOWN
World Champion: Jack Swagger
Intercontinental Champion: Kofi Kingston
Women's Champion: Beth Phoenix
Unified Tag Team Champions: John Morrison & R-Truth
I'm almost through Summerslam, so it'll be up sometime soon, and I will probably break down and do a full review of the game soon.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
10 Reasons Why Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Is The Worst Wrestling Game Ever
Seriously, I'm getting kind of tired of all of this talk about how Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is so great.
Here are 10 reasons why it sucks, THQ hates its fans, and it is clearly just a cynical, pointless cash grab.
10. Zack Ryder has no entrance attire! WAY TO PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS, THQ.
9. What kind of 2011 video game doesn't have Hulk Hogan and Doink the Clown in it?
8. Broken foreign objects disappear after use? What is this, the N64?
7. What kind of complete roster is this supposed to be, without Rosa Mendes?
6. Why does John Cena and Rey Mysterio have a Road To Wrestlemania, instead of Superstars that people actually LIKE, like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.
5. No Bra & Panties Match.
4. Needs more special matches like the Casket Match, Buried Alive Match, Ambulance Match and Last Ride Match.
3. Christian's forward strike should be a Front Kick 3, not a Front Kick 2, you morons! PAY ATTENTION.
2. Every wrestler should have their own, unique, fully voiced and animated year long story mode.
And the #1 reason why Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is the worst wrestling game ever...
1. I can't delete the entire roster and fill the game with 100 cooler wrestlers like my friend Jim and my e-fed guy from back in the day, Buzzsaw McCray.
Here are 10 reasons why it sucks, THQ hates its fans, and it is clearly just a cynical, pointless cash grab.
10. Zack Ryder has no entrance attire! WAY TO PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS, THQ.
9. What kind of 2011 video game doesn't have Hulk Hogan and Doink the Clown in it?
8. Broken foreign objects disappear after use? What is this, the N64?
7. What kind of complete roster is this supposed to be, without Rosa Mendes?
6. Why does John Cena and Rey Mysterio have a Road To Wrestlemania, instead of Superstars that people actually LIKE, like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.
5. No Bra & Panties Match.
4. Needs more special matches like the Casket Match, Buried Alive Match, Ambulance Match and Last Ride Match.
3. Christian's forward strike should be a Front Kick 3, not a Front Kick 2, you morons! PAY ATTENTION.
2. Every wrestler should have their own, unique, fully voiced and animated year long story mode.
And the #1 reason why Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is the worst wrestling game ever...
1. I can't delete the entire roster and fill the game with 100 cooler wrestlers like my friend Jim and my e-fed guy from back in the day, Buzzsaw McCray.
Monday, January 3, 2011
RPGNow Goes Print on Demand
My deepest apologies to the people at OneBookShelf for not posting about this sooner, but I had a couple of reasons, which I will get into in a bit.
The world's largest RPG download store is getting into the Print on Demand business, which could mean that many out of print games could see new life again, in more than just PDF format.
The pilot program was launched at the beginning of December, and I am only writing about it a month later because, for some reason, my order hit some awful delays that were either on the printer's end, or the post office's end (I know at one point it sat in a post office warehouse for SIX DAYS without movement), so I'm certainly not holding RPGnow at fault...but the fact is, my copy of King Arthur Pendragon 5.1 didn't show up until Christmas Eve, and then holidays (and a new PS3) took over from there. I DO think it was an anomaly, as Michael Wolf over at Stargazer's World get his from the UK to Germany in just a few days, and he ordered after I did.
Today, they officially opened it to the public, albeit with a small selection of available titles, but there are some good ones there. I particularly recommend Wu Xing.
I do want to say that the shipping prices seem pretty standard (I paid a couple of bucks for Pendragon), and the quality was good. I have a few POD books I've gotten over the year, and this is on the higher end of those. Most importantly, I paid $30 for the Pendragon softcover, so it seems like they have managed to keep the pricing reasonable.
Other than the bizarre delay in shipping (it took three weeks from the time I placed the order to the time I received it, with a three day print prep window), RPGNow's new service has exceeded my experiences with other POD services.
To see the full list of currently available titles, click here. I highly recommend getting Wu Xing if you haven't.
I'll have a review of Pendragon itself later, once I've had time to digest it...but RPGNow could easily have hit a game changer with this.
The world's largest RPG download store is getting into the Print on Demand business, which could mean that many out of print games could see new life again, in more than just PDF format.
The pilot program was launched at the beginning of December, and I am only writing about it a month later because, for some reason, my order hit some awful delays that were either on the printer's end, or the post office's end (I know at one point it sat in a post office warehouse for SIX DAYS without movement), so I'm certainly not holding RPGnow at fault...but the fact is, my copy of King Arthur Pendragon 5.1 didn't show up until Christmas Eve, and then holidays (and a new PS3) took over from there. I DO think it was an anomaly, as Michael Wolf over at Stargazer's World get his from the UK to Germany in just a few days, and he ordered after I did.
Today, they officially opened it to the public, albeit with a small selection of available titles, but there are some good ones there. I particularly recommend Wu Xing.
I do want to say that the shipping prices seem pretty standard (I paid a couple of bucks for Pendragon), and the quality was good. I have a few POD books I've gotten over the year, and this is on the higher end of those. Most importantly, I paid $30 for the Pendragon softcover, so it seems like they have managed to keep the pricing reasonable.
Other than the bizarre delay in shipping (it took three weeks from the time I placed the order to the time I received it, with a three day print prep window), RPGNow's new service has exceeded my experiences with other POD services.
To see the full list of currently available titles, click here. I highly recommend getting Wu Xing if you haven't.
I'll have a review of Pendragon itself later, once I've had time to digest it...but RPGNow could easily have hit a game changer with this.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tommy's Top Six and Birthday Blog Giveaway
I reviewed a LOT of games since I opened my blog last year, and I wanted to take a special moment to recognize the six that captured my attention the most, provided that they fit under the following criteria: 1) I had to have reviewed the title on my blog from January 1st through December 17th. Unlike some year end awards, I'm not concerned with actual release dates, but when the books actually made it into my hands. 2) Only one book per company was allowed. This rule came in because one draft of the list had four books by two companies. The Top Six itself is a purely arbitrary number...I like the number six, nothing more.
There were a lot of products that I really enjoyed, that didn't get tagged for a certain reason, and I plan on doing a follow-up with a couple of those, explaining why I didn't choose certain titles.
Without further ado, in alphabetical order:
BASH ULTIMATE EDITION (Basic Action Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I love superheroes. It's part of the reason I write comics...(even though I have yet to do a traditional superhero book, unfortunately). Marvel SAGA is my favorite RPG of all time, flawed though it is...I've read a lot of superhero games since then, but none have captured my imagination in the same way as BASH, and I am hard pressed to think of a superhero game that does as much, with as little work. It has an "equalizer" for characters of multiple power levels on the same team, it provides plenty of options for making characters without the same level of bean counting that you get with Mutants and Masterminds or Champions, and it scales up from gritty to cosmic, all in the main rulebook. It currently holds the distinction of being the only game that I have ever purchased twice, once in PDF format and once in softcover. In fact, if the new version being released through Cubicle 7 is full color, I may go so far as to buy it one more time (and donate my black and white copy to someone). Chris Rutkowsky has made what is, to my mind, one of the best RPGs I have ever read, as it hits pretty much all of my sweet spots without a ton of work. For me, certain other major superhero RPGs are either underwritten, or incredibly overdone to the point of being Too Much Work...but BASH never has that problem. With Vigilance Press and Daring Entertainment coming aboard as third party licensees, I hope that BASH gains the following that I feel it truly deserves.
Buy the PDF at RPGnow, and look for the print version in 2011 from Cubicle 7.
HIGH VALOR (Silverlion Studios/Better Mousetrap Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I love fantasy gaming, but I can't make myself do Dungeons & Dragons anymore. I want epic, high fantasy, not dungeon crawls...and, as you may have guessed, I don't want it to be Too Much Work. High Valor is pretty much rules light, but never goes too far away from being a game. Just because you have three stats (kinda like you do in BASH, actually), and monsters only have one, doesn't mean it's not still a game. I love the mechanic of borrowing back and forth between your pools when you REALLY need to accomplish something, and I really like the fairly freeform nature of Magic and Miracles. I think one thing I love the most is that your experience comes from your Triumphs and Dooms...even epic failures help to define you, as you and your legend grows over time. Be Epic. High Valor wants you to. Don't kill a monster and take its stuff, risk life and limb to destroy an elder troll terrorizing the region, and take its head as a warning to all other foul creatures...and if it happens to rip your eye out? Then your legend is even more epic. The setting is dark, but not TOO dark...providing a growing storm of evil, sure, but you're expected to fight it *and win*. To boot, Tim Kirk seems dead set on making books that stand alone, so if you buy this? All you need is this...plus, the system is incredibly easy to convert to, since the monsters are basically one stat plus flavor text. Now, this isn't a highly tactical combat game...but it is a pretty damn awesome fantasy epic.
Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or the print version at Lulu.
INTERFACE ZERO (Gun Metal Games)
Why You Should Buy It: This is precisely what Savage Worlds settings could (and, IMHO, should) be. I'm not saying that every Savage Setting needs to ape Interface Zero, I'm saying that publishers shouldn't be afraid to make their game. Gun Metal Games does not hesitate to provide you with new Hacking rules, Cyberspace, cybernetics and the single coolest equipment chapter I have read since, well, Pinnacle released a whole book for Deadlands (both the Interface Zero equipment chapter and the Deadlands book - Smith & Robards - are written as catalogs). I'm also a sucker for random tables, as anyone that reads my reviews should know, and so not only does Gun Metal Games provide an adventure generator, but they also provide a random Bounty generator! The crazy part is that as comprehensive as this book is (at 300 pages), there is still a TON of room for development! Psychics will be coming this year, and publisher David Jarvis has been hyping it pretty heavily over on the Savage Worlds forums at www.peginc.com, if you wanna check that out. Also, Gun Metal Games and Silver Gryphon Games have announced that we will be getting an "Interface Zero" version of the latter's Wellstone City...and given the people involved, combined with the Savage Worlds system, I can't feature it not being twelve shades of awesome. In the meantime, get IZ and get acquainted with a world where life is cheap, especially if you were born in a vat (or built from the ground up).
Buy the PDF at RPGNow.
Leverage (Margaret Weis Productions)
Why You Should Buy It: Oh, man, what a year these guys had, and all because of two releases: Smallville and Leverage. Smallville was a GREAT game...but I'm not a fan of the show. Leverage was a GREAT game, and I AM a fan of the show. However, making a faithful adaptation of the show wouldn't have been enough to make the list. And luckily, they did more than that: Sure, you can run the Leverage crew, no problem...and you can build your own crew from the ground up. However, the book walks you through basically every step necessary to set up your world and run your game, including (YES!) random generators for making Jobs for your Crew to take! When I read the quickstart, I was excited, but scared to death: I mean, seriously, how in the heck do you run LEVERAGE as an RPG? For me, it seemed awfully daunting...and then came one of the best GMing chapters I have ever read. At that point, I was mostly just sad not to have the opportunity to run it right now. Great concepts get mangled in translation all the time, but Margaret Weis Productions took this opportunity and knocked it out of the park. Just an amazingly well-written rulebook and a phenomenal translation of the TV show.
Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the hardcopy from Margaret Weis Productions.
War of the Dead Chapter One (Daring Entertainment)
Why You Should Buy It: One of the most ambitious projects ever released for Savage Worlds, War of the Dead is a four part, epic campaign beginning on a simple cruise ship and changing the world forever. This is the zombie apocalypse come to Savage Worlds in a way that Zombie Run could never have been. Chapter One is the first thirteen weeks of the campaign, taking your hapless, Novice characters from their life-changing cruise, back to land, including a conflict with a ruthless biker gang and relative safety in one of the remaining refuges left. The world is familiar and filled with inside references to famous zombie creators like George Romero and Robert Kirkman, but most importantly, Lee Szczepanik understands the strengths of the system he is writing for, filling adventures with massive battles against zombie hordes that would have GMs pulling their hair out under many systems. Also, I'm a big fan of how many of the episodes feature random encounter charts, using card draws, specialized for the location and situation. Plus, of the books on this list, the support for War of the Dead absolutely blows the other picks away, with freebie adventures that fill the gap between Chapter One and Chapter Two, as well as one of the coolest sets of paper miniatures I have seen in The Paper Dead, including a printable RV with "anti zombie" attachments! If you like The Walking Dead or Night of the Living Dead, and wanna play something like it, this is it, right here. Chapter Two is in the home stretch now, and has even eclipsed Chapter One in some ways, though it has never failed to live up to the promise of Chapter One, even at its low points, in my opinion. I admit, when this project was first announced, I threw up my shoulders with a resounding "eh"...but going on nearly twenty six installments now (not even counting the free adventures), and Daring Entertainment has produced a Savage Worlds campaign with some amazing promise, as well as a scope rarely seen in this genre (again, The Walking Dead is the closest thing that comes to mind).
Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the print version from Cubicle 7.
Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade (Third Eye Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I like superheroes, high fantasy, zombies, Leverage...I'm not BIG into cyberpunk, but I'll try anything in Savage Worlds. I kinda hate most anime, and I'm just not into oriental mysticism/mythology/history, etc. So why is Wu Xing here? Because I am not into those things and this book just stood out as one of the coolest books I have read in recent memory, perhaps ever. I had no real experience with Third Eye Games before this year, though I did get Apocalypse Prevention Inc. in the Haiti Bundle, but it kind of got lost in the shuffle when I was trying to download and read EVERYTHING. After Eloy Lasanta approached me about the game, I gave it an honest go, and really loved what I read there...so I checked out Wu Xing on the strength of API (which is right up my comfort zone, genre-wise)...what I found was a very cool, over the top, albeit westernized (to the annoyance of some, not me) martial arts fantasy epic. The production is fairly light in this day and age, but that just means the book is filled with content. Plot hooks are all over the thing, and Third Eye Games doesn't truck in metaplots, meaning that if you want to expand something there and run with it, or answering one of the burning questions, there is no wrong answer and you are not likely to find something completely invalidated by a future book. All of the clans just come alive, and what could easily have been a rigid, "not much else to do" setting is instead loaded with intrigue and plot hooks. Any RPG that can take a genre I pretty much can't stand and make me go "oh, crap, I GOTTA play" is a big winner in my book. Wu Xing is just full of "cool".
Buy the PDF at RPGnow (where Wu Xing is also listed as Print on Demand option for those who have it available) or pick up the print version at Beautiful Brains Books & Games.
And now, the cool part:
These six publishers have pledged to give you, dear readers, a chance to win PDFs of these games, as part of the "Thank you" for reading the blog and the reviews of their fine games. Here are the prizes:
- Three (3) PDF copies of BASH Ultimate Edition (awarded separately) -OR- a Basic Action Games PDF of your choice, if you already own BASH.
- A PDF copy of High Valor.
- A PDF copy of Interface Zero plus a poster-sized PDF of the cover.
- Three (3) PDF copies of the Leverage RPG.
- A complete War of the Dead Chapter One PDF bundle, including the entire War of the Dead Chapter One, The Paper Dead and all of the Freebies released to date, everything you need (except for the Savage Worlds rules) in order to jump into Chapter Two.
- A PDF copy of Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade.
To enter, simply send me an e-mail to tommyb(a)sstelco(dot)com, with the subject (minus the quotes) "Happy Birthday Blog", listing your order of preference for the prize. Once I have closed entries by 11:59 PM Central Time on January 15th, I will use a randomizer to determine the winners...#1 gets their first choice, #2 gets their first available choice (their first choice if it wasn't taken, second if it was, and so on). If you are wanting a BASH PDF that isn't Ultimate Edition, specify it in the e-mail.
Thank you all so much for reading this blog, thanks to Michael Wolf at Stargazer's World, whose shoutout helped spike my blog traffic immensely over the summer, thank you to the Top Six publishers for the prize support for this giveaway, thank you to every publisher who gave me product to review over this last year, and thank you to Sean Patrick Fannon of RPGnow for allowing me in the affiliate program, which literally allowed me to make it to and from work when I started a new job last summer and otherwise had *nothing* to put in my gas tank.
Next up on the slate: A few products that were exceptional, but why I didn't pick them for the Top Six, reviews of the Squawk RPG as well as Dust Devils Revenged, an overall look back on 2010, some WWE thoughts for old times sake, probably a full on review of Smackdown vs Raw, the Legendary installment of Savage Worlds Characters Are All The Same, the new Supers version of it, and a look at RPGnow's new Print on Demand program (as I was apparently one of the last ones in the pilot program to get my book...despite ordering two hours after it launched).
Thank you, have a Happy New Year, and come back soon!
Tommy
There were a lot of products that I really enjoyed, that didn't get tagged for a certain reason, and I plan on doing a follow-up with a couple of those, explaining why I didn't choose certain titles.
Without further ado, in alphabetical order:
BASH ULTIMATE EDITION (Basic Action Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I love superheroes. It's part of the reason I write comics...(even though I have yet to do a traditional superhero book, unfortunately). Marvel SAGA is my favorite RPG of all time, flawed though it is...I've read a lot of superhero games since then, but none have captured my imagination in the same way as BASH, and I am hard pressed to think of a superhero game that does as much, with as little work. It has an "equalizer" for characters of multiple power levels on the same team, it provides plenty of options for making characters without the same level of bean counting that you get with Mutants and Masterminds or Champions, and it scales up from gritty to cosmic, all in the main rulebook. It currently holds the distinction of being the only game that I have ever purchased twice, once in PDF format and once in softcover. In fact, if the new version being released through Cubicle 7 is full color, I may go so far as to buy it one more time (and donate my black and white copy to someone). Chris Rutkowsky has made what is, to my mind, one of the best RPGs I have ever read, as it hits pretty much all of my sweet spots without a ton of work. For me, certain other major superhero RPGs are either underwritten, or incredibly overdone to the point of being Too Much Work...but BASH never has that problem. With Vigilance Press and Daring Entertainment coming aboard as third party licensees, I hope that BASH gains the following that I feel it truly deserves.
Buy the PDF at RPGnow, and look for the print version in 2011 from Cubicle 7.
HIGH VALOR (Silverlion Studios/Better Mousetrap Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I love fantasy gaming, but I can't make myself do Dungeons & Dragons anymore. I want epic, high fantasy, not dungeon crawls...and, as you may have guessed, I don't want it to be Too Much Work. High Valor is pretty much rules light, but never goes too far away from being a game. Just because you have three stats (kinda like you do in BASH, actually), and monsters only have one, doesn't mean it's not still a game. I love the mechanic of borrowing back and forth between your pools when you REALLY need to accomplish something, and I really like the fairly freeform nature of Magic and Miracles. I think one thing I love the most is that your experience comes from your Triumphs and Dooms...even epic failures help to define you, as you and your legend grows over time. Be Epic. High Valor wants you to. Don't kill a monster and take its stuff, risk life and limb to destroy an elder troll terrorizing the region, and take its head as a warning to all other foul creatures...and if it happens to rip your eye out? Then your legend is even more epic. The setting is dark, but not TOO dark...providing a growing storm of evil, sure, but you're expected to fight it *and win*. To boot, Tim Kirk seems dead set on making books that stand alone, so if you buy this? All you need is this...plus, the system is incredibly easy to convert to, since the monsters are basically one stat plus flavor text. Now, this isn't a highly tactical combat game...but it is a pretty damn awesome fantasy epic.Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or the print version at Lulu.
INTERFACE ZERO (Gun Metal Games)
Why You Should Buy It: This is precisely what Savage Worlds settings could (and, IMHO, should) be. I'm not saying that every Savage Setting needs to ape Interface Zero, I'm saying that publishers shouldn't be afraid to make their game. Gun Metal Games does not hesitate to provide you with new Hacking rules, Cyberspace, cybernetics and the single coolest equipment chapter I have read since, well, Pinnacle released a whole book for Deadlands (both the Interface Zero equipment chapter and the Deadlands book - Smith & Robards - are written as catalogs). I'm also a sucker for random tables, as anyone that reads my reviews should know, and so not only does Gun Metal Games provide an adventure generator, but they also provide a random Bounty generator! The crazy part is that as comprehensive as this book is (at 300 pages), there is still a TON of room for development! Psychics will be coming this year, and publisher David Jarvis has been hyping it pretty heavily over on the Savage Worlds forums at www.peginc.com, if you wanna check that out. Also, Gun Metal Games and Silver Gryphon Games have announced that we will be getting an "Interface Zero" version of the latter's Wellstone City...and given the people involved, combined with the Savage Worlds system, I can't feature it not being twelve shades of awesome. In the meantime, get IZ and get acquainted with a world where life is cheap, especially if you were born in a vat (or built from the ground up).Buy the PDF at RPGNow.
Leverage (Margaret Weis Productions)
Why You Should Buy It: Oh, man, what a year these guys had, and all because of two releases: Smallville and Leverage. Smallville was a GREAT game...but I'm not a fan of the show. Leverage was a GREAT game, and I AM a fan of the show. However, making a faithful adaptation of the show wouldn't have been enough to make the list. And luckily, they did more than that: Sure, you can run the Leverage crew, no problem...and you can build your own crew from the ground up. However, the book walks you through basically every step necessary to set up your world and run your game, including (YES!) random generators for making Jobs for your Crew to take! When I read the quickstart, I was excited, but scared to death: I mean, seriously, how in the heck do you run LEVERAGE as an RPG? For me, it seemed awfully daunting...and then came one of the best GMing chapters I have ever read. At that point, I was mostly just sad not to have the opportunity to run it right now. Great concepts get mangled in translation all the time, but Margaret Weis Productions took this opportunity and knocked it out of the park. Just an amazingly well-written rulebook and a phenomenal translation of the TV show.Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the hardcopy from Margaret Weis Productions.
War of the Dead Chapter One (Daring Entertainment)
Why You Should Buy It: One of the most ambitious projects ever released for Savage Worlds, War of the Dead is a four part, epic campaign beginning on a simple cruise ship and changing the world forever. This is the zombie apocalypse come to Savage Worlds in a way that Zombie Run could never have been. Chapter One is the first thirteen weeks of the campaign, taking your hapless, Novice characters from their life-changing cruise, back to land, including a conflict with a ruthless biker gang and relative safety in one of the remaining refuges left. The world is familiar and filled with inside references to famous zombie creators like George Romero and Robert Kirkman, but most importantly, Lee Szczepanik understands the strengths of the system he is writing for, filling adventures with massive battles against zombie hordes that would have GMs pulling their hair out under many systems. Also, I'm a big fan of how many of the episodes feature random encounter charts, using card draws, specialized for the location and situation. Plus, of the books on this list, the support for War of the Dead absolutely blows the other picks away, with freebie adventures that fill the gap between Chapter One and Chapter Two, as well as one of the coolest sets of paper miniatures I have seen in The Paper Dead, including a printable RV with "anti zombie" attachments! If you like The Walking Dead or Night of the Living Dead, and wanna play something like it, this is it, right here. Chapter Two is in the home stretch now, and has even eclipsed Chapter One in some ways, though it has never failed to live up to the promise of Chapter One, even at its low points, in my opinion. I admit, when this project was first announced, I threw up my shoulders with a resounding "eh"...but going on nearly twenty six installments now (not even counting the free adventures), and Daring Entertainment has produced a Savage Worlds campaign with some amazing promise, as well as a scope rarely seen in this genre (again, The Walking Dead is the closest thing that comes to mind).Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the print version from Cubicle 7.
Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade (Third Eye Games)
Why You Should Buy It: I like superheroes, high fantasy, zombies, Leverage...I'm not BIG into cyberpunk, but I'll try anything in Savage Worlds. I kinda hate most anime, and I'm just not into oriental mysticism/mythology/history, etc. So why is Wu Xing here? Because I am not into those things and this book just stood out as one of the coolest books I have read in recent memory, perhaps ever. I had no real experience with Third Eye Games before this year, though I did get Apocalypse Prevention Inc. in the Haiti Bundle, but it kind of got lost in the shuffle when I was trying to download and read EVERYTHING. After Eloy Lasanta approached me about the game, I gave it an honest go, and really loved what I read there...so I checked out Wu Xing on the strength of API (which is right up my comfort zone, genre-wise)...what I found was a very cool, over the top, albeit westernized (to the annoyance of some, not me) martial arts fantasy epic. The production is fairly light in this day and age, but that just means the book is filled with content. Plot hooks are all over the thing, and Third Eye Games doesn't truck in metaplots, meaning that if you want to expand something there and run with it, or answering one of the burning questions, there is no wrong answer and you are not likely to find something completely invalidated by a future book. All of the clans just come alive, and what could easily have been a rigid, "not much else to do" setting is instead loaded with intrigue and plot hooks. Any RPG that can take a genre I pretty much can't stand and make me go "oh, crap, I GOTTA play" is a big winner in my book. Wu Xing is just full of "cool".Buy the PDF at RPGnow (where Wu Xing is also listed as Print on Demand option for those who have it available) or pick up the print version at Beautiful Brains Books & Games.
And now, the cool part:
These six publishers have pledged to give you, dear readers, a chance to win PDFs of these games, as part of the "Thank you" for reading the blog and the reviews of their fine games. Here are the prizes:
- Three (3) PDF copies of BASH Ultimate Edition (awarded separately) -OR- a Basic Action Games PDF of your choice, if you already own BASH.
- A PDF copy of High Valor.
- A PDF copy of Interface Zero plus a poster-sized PDF of the cover.
- Three (3) PDF copies of the Leverage RPG.
- A complete War of the Dead Chapter One PDF bundle, including the entire War of the Dead Chapter One, The Paper Dead and all of the Freebies released to date, everything you need (except for the Savage Worlds rules) in order to jump into Chapter Two.
- A PDF copy of Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade.
To enter, simply send me an e-mail to tommyb(a)sstelco(dot)com, with the subject (minus the quotes) "Happy Birthday Blog", listing your order of preference for the prize. Once I have closed entries by 11:59 PM Central Time on January 15th, I will use a randomizer to determine the winners...#1 gets their first choice, #2 gets their first available choice (their first choice if it wasn't taken, second if it was, and so on). If you are wanting a BASH PDF that isn't Ultimate Edition, specify it in the e-mail.
Thank you all so much for reading this blog, thanks to Michael Wolf at Stargazer's World, whose shoutout helped spike my blog traffic immensely over the summer, thank you to the Top Six publishers for the prize support for this giveaway, thank you to every publisher who gave me product to review over this last year, and thank you to Sean Patrick Fannon of RPGnow for allowing me in the affiliate program, which literally allowed me to make it to and from work when I started a new job last summer and otherwise had *nothing* to put in my gas tank.
Next up on the slate: A few products that were exceptional, but why I didn't pick them for the Top Six, reviews of the Squawk RPG as well as Dust Devils Revenged, an overall look back on 2010, some WWE thoughts for old times sake, probably a full on review of Smackdown vs Raw, the Legendary installment of Savage Worlds Characters Are All The Same, the new Supers version of it, and a look at RPGnow's new Print on Demand program (as I was apparently one of the last ones in the pilot program to get my book...despite ordering two hours after it launched).
Thank you, have a Happy New Year, and come back soon!
Tommy
Friday, December 31, 2010
Fairly Big Announcement
If you're into this sort of thing...
I intended to post a LOT more this last week or so, but holidays and a new PS3 have conspired against me.
However, tomorrow is the anniversary of the creation of my blog, and I have two big announcements:
1) Tomorrow, I am going to unveil Tommy's Top Six...these are the top six titles I reviewed on my blog this year, in my effort to ensure that certain games get very special mention. The criteria for selection was simple: 1) I had to have reviewed it on my blog this year...and 2) Only one title per company...(one tentative list had four books by two companies, and that's all I'll say). The companies have been notified of their selection, and that leads to part two...
2) To celebrate my blog's birthday, I will be running a giveaway over the next week. Official rules will be posted tomorrow, with full details, but I can tell you this: You will have the opportunity to win one of Tommy's Top Six in PDF format, as well as a few other goodies. Ten prizes will be awarded in all, with multiple copies of two games being available, as well as two prizes containing special extras...but every entry in Tommy's Top Six will be available to be awarded! What happens if I wind up with less than 10 entries? Thanks to the generosity of the publishers, the first anniversary of The Most Unread Blog on the Internet. Ever. is going to be much bigger than I ever dared dream...so please, come back tomorrow to see Tommy's Top Six and WHY I think you should buy these books, as well as your chance to win a copy of ten amazing prizes.
Thank you so much for reading the blog!
Tommy
Hoping You All Had A Merry Christmas And Have A Safe And Happy New Year
I intended to post a LOT more this last week or so, but holidays and a new PS3 have conspired against me.
However, tomorrow is the anniversary of the creation of my blog, and I have two big announcements:
1) Tomorrow, I am going to unveil Tommy's Top Six...these are the top six titles I reviewed on my blog this year, in my effort to ensure that certain games get very special mention. The criteria for selection was simple: 1) I had to have reviewed it on my blog this year...and 2) Only one title per company...(one tentative list had four books by two companies, and that's all I'll say). The companies have been notified of their selection, and that leads to part two...
2) To celebrate my blog's birthday, I will be running a giveaway over the next week. Official rules will be posted tomorrow, with full details, but I can tell you this: You will have the opportunity to win one of Tommy's Top Six in PDF format, as well as a few other goodies. Ten prizes will be awarded in all, with multiple copies of two games being available, as well as two prizes containing special extras...but every entry in Tommy's Top Six will be available to be awarded! What happens if I wind up with less than 10 entries? Thanks to the generosity of the publishers, the first anniversary of The Most Unread Blog on the Internet. Ever. is going to be much bigger than I ever dared dream...so please, come back tomorrow to see Tommy's Top Six and WHY I think you should buy these books, as well as your chance to win a copy of ten amazing prizes.
Thank you so much for reading the blog!
Tommy
Hoping You All Had A Merry Christmas And Have A Safe And Happy New Year
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Savage Worlds Characters Are All The Same: Big Damn Heroes
Yeah, so after reading Suzerain, I totally want to make these guys "wake up" as Heroic Rank Suzerain characters. I'm NOT...though I am stealing a Suzerain Edge (stripping off the Pulse function of it) and giving it to a PC this rank, because it's cool.
The Cast is now at Heroic Rank...the last rank under the regular character rules. Then they hit Legendary and advancement is handled a bit different. Once I do a few advances in Legendary, I'm putting these guys to rest and I'm starting a new series with superheroes...not so much to see if they turn out alike, but to see just how well they scale into the upper ranks.
DON'T HIT ME
1st: Giant Killer - He's Small already...may as well take bonus damage against the big guys.
2nd: Smarts d10 - Mostly for the benefit that he gains from Smarts Tricks.
3rd: Improved Level Headed - He now acts on the better of three cards, which must be a 5 or Greater.
4th: Fencer - From Shaintar. This gives him +1 to Parry while unencumbered and +1 to offset Called Shots, all while using the rapier.
DON'T HIT ME
Agility d10
Smarts d10
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Fighting d10
Guts d6
Intimidation d6
Investigation d6
Notice d6
Taunt d8
Throwing d6
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 4
Hindrances
Small (-1 Toughness)
Loyal
Bad Luck (1 less bennie per session)
Edges
Acrobat (+2 to nimbleness based Agility rolls, +1 to Parry)
Block (+1 to Parry)
Improved Block (+2 to Parry)
Danger Sense (Free Notice roll at -2 to avoid attack)
Dodge (-1 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Improved Dodge (-2 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Fencer (+1 to Parry while unecumbered, +1 to offset Called Shots)
First Strike (free attack when opponent gets into range)
Giant Killer (+1d6 when attacking a foe three sizes larger than him.)
Level Headed (Acts on the better of two cards)
Improved Level Headed (Acts on the better of three cards)
Quick (redraw an initiatve card less than 5)
Strong Willed (+2 to Taunt/Intimidate)
Rapier (+1 Parry, for a 12), Damage d6+d4, Buckler Shield (+1 Parry, for a 13), Throwing Knife Damage d6+d4
HULK SMASH
1st: Improved Sweep (Removes Sweep penalty)
2nd: Spirit d6. This is gonna help with that whole "becoming unShaken" thing.
3rd: Nerves of Steel. Ignores a level of Wound penalties.
4th: Frenzy. One extra attack at -2.
HULK SMASH
Agility d6
Smarts d4
Spirit d6
Strength d12
Vigor d12
Climbing d4
Fighting d10
Guts d8
Intimidate d8
Survival d4
Tracking d4
Charisma: -4
Pace: 8"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 9
Hindrances
Ugly
Overconfident
Mean
Edges
Adaptable: Barbaric Blood (spend a benny to trigger Berserk)
Berserk (Smarts roll upon being wounded, or go Berkserk, +2 Fighting/Strength rolls, -2 Parry, +2 Toughness, rolls of 1 hit random adjacent target)
Brawny (+1 Toughness)
Charge (ignore Running penalty when making a Fighting attack)
Combat Reflexes (+2 to become unShaken)
Fleet-Footed (Pace +2, d10 Running die)
Frenzy (1 extra attack at -2)
Might Blow (double damage on a Joker)
Nerves of Steel (ignores 1 level of wound penalties)
Sweep (attack all adjacent foes at -2)
Improved Sweep (removes the Sweep penalty)
Great Axe (Armor Piercing 1, Parry -1 for 6), Damage d12+d10, Chain Hauberk (Armor +2, for Toughness 11)
SNIPER
1st: Woodsman. +2 to Stealth, Tracking and Survival in the Wilderness.
2nd: Combat Archer. From Shaintar. SNIPER can now fire his bow in melee combat as well as use the bow itself as a club, doing Str+1d4 damage.
3rd: Improved Trademark Weapon. +2 to Fighting and Shooting with his bow.
4th: Shooting d12.
SNIPER
Agility d8
Smarts d8
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Climbing d4
Fighting d8
Notice d6
Riding d4
Shooting d12
Stealth d8
Survival d8
Throwing d6
Tracking d8
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 5
Hindrances
Cautious
Wanted
Yellow
Edges
Alertness
Archer (Called Shot, Range and Cover Penalties are reduced by 1)
Combat Archer (Bow can be used at melee range and as a club, doing Str+d4)
Dark Fighting (Halves penalties for Shooting in the dark)
Dead Shot (Double damage on ranged attacks when a Joker is drawn)
Double Shot (Fire two arrows at 1 target with -2 penalty)
Marksman (Free Aim action as long as he doesn't move)
Steady Hands (removes unstable platform penalties)
Trademark Weapon (longbow, +1 to Shooting rolls)
Improved Trademark Weapon (longbow, +2 to Shooting rolls)
Woodsman (+2 to Stealth, Survival and Tracking rolls in Wilderness)
Longbow 2d6 damage, Leather armor (+1 for Toughness 6)
MR. WIZARD
1st: Streetwise and Investigation d8.
2nd: Investigator. +2 to Investigation and Streetwise.
3rd: Power Points.
4th: Smarts d10.
MR. WIZARD
Agility d8
Smarts d10
Spirit d8
Strength d4
Vigor d6
Charisma: +2
Pace: 4
Parry: 4
Toughness: 5
Power Points: 30
Gambling d6
Guts d6
Investigation d8
Knowledge (Arcana) d8
Lockpicking d6
Notice d4
Persuasion d6
Shooting: d4
Spellcasting d8
Streetwise d8
Hindrances
Bad Eyes
Lame
Poverty
Edges
Arcane Background: (Magic)
Attractive
Connections
Investigator (+2 to Investigation and Streetwise)
Power Points (+5 Power Points) (x4)
Wizard (use 1 less Power Point per raise on Spellcasting roll)
Powers
Boost/Lower Trait
Deflection
Detect/Conceal Arcana
Dispel
Obscure
Crossbow, nice clothes (fraying around the edges), cane.
FEARLESS LEADER
1st: Majesty. From Noir Knights, minus the Pulse version. This makes it harder for Extras to become unShaken in his presence.
2nd: Smarts d10.
3rd: Knowledge (Battle) d10 and Fighting d8.
4th: Hard to Kill. Ignore Wound penalties for rolls on KO and Injury Tables.
FEARLESS LEADER
Agility d6
Smarts d10
Spirit d10
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Charisma: +4
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 5
Fighting d8
Guts d8
Intimidation d10
Knowledge (Battle) d10
Persuasion d10
Streetwise d8
Survival d4
Hindrances
Code of Honor
Doubting Thomas
Stubborn
Edges
Charismatic
Command (+1 to his troops for Shaken rolls)
Common Bond (share bennies with other Wild Cards)
Fervor (+1 to melee damage for troops)
Hard to Kill (ignore Wound penalties when rolling on KO or Injury tables)
Hold the Line! (+1 Toughness for Troops)
Inspire (additional +1 for troops to become unShaken)
Lucky
Majesty (Extras at Charisma x2 are at -1 to become unShaken)
Natural Leader (share bennies with troops)
Noble
Shortsword d6+d6, Plate (+3 Armor for 8 Toughness), Hirelings
THOUGHTS
DON'T HIT ME still has the Glass Ninja syndrome going on...but being Small, that Giant Killer really comes in handy.
HULK SMASH continues on the path of being an engine of destruction. He's finally beefed up Spirit, which gives him an extra boost (with Combat Reflexes) to become unShaken).
SNIPER is really changing, learning to handle himself in a straight up fight in addition to sniping. He's been building to Combat Archer and Woodsman, and now he's hit them. He's the tracker of the squad and a scary good shot.
MR. WIZARD has very little magic development, but we're doing "subtle magic" anyway...he is pretty big on the investigative front.
FEARLESS LEADER is becoming one heckuva charismatic presence. He now leaves Extras unnerved in his presence, and he's becoming an above average fighter, though he doesn't have many personal tricks up his sleeve. He does, however, know how to run a mass combat.
Up next: Legendary!
The Cast is now at Heroic Rank...the last rank under the regular character rules. Then they hit Legendary and advancement is handled a bit different. Once I do a few advances in Legendary, I'm putting these guys to rest and I'm starting a new series with superheroes...not so much to see if they turn out alike, but to see just how well they scale into the upper ranks.
DON'T HIT ME
1st: Giant Killer - He's Small already...may as well take bonus damage against the big guys.
2nd: Smarts d10 - Mostly for the benefit that he gains from Smarts Tricks.
3rd: Improved Level Headed - He now acts on the better of three cards, which must be a 5 or Greater.
4th: Fencer - From Shaintar. This gives him +1 to Parry while unencumbered and +1 to offset Called Shots, all while using the rapier.
DON'T HIT ME
Agility d10
Smarts d10
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Fighting d10
Guts d6
Intimidation d6
Investigation d6
Notice d6
Taunt d8
Throwing d6
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 4
Hindrances
Small (-1 Toughness)
Loyal
Bad Luck (1 less bennie per session)
Edges
Acrobat (+2 to nimbleness based Agility rolls, +1 to Parry)
Block (+1 to Parry)
Improved Block (+2 to Parry)
Danger Sense (Free Notice roll at -2 to avoid attack)
Dodge (-1 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Improved Dodge (-2 to avoid being hit with ranged attacks)
Fencer (+1 to Parry while unecumbered, +1 to offset Called Shots)
First Strike (free attack when opponent gets into range)
Giant Killer (+1d6 when attacking a foe three sizes larger than him.)
Level Headed (Acts on the better of two cards)
Improved Level Headed (Acts on the better of three cards)
Quick (redraw an initiatve card less than 5)
Strong Willed (+2 to Taunt/Intimidate)
Rapier (+1 Parry, for a 12), Damage d6+d4, Buckler Shield (+1 Parry, for a 13), Throwing Knife Damage d6+d4
HULK SMASH
1st: Improved Sweep (Removes Sweep penalty)
2nd: Spirit d6. This is gonna help with that whole "becoming unShaken" thing.
3rd: Nerves of Steel. Ignores a level of Wound penalties.
4th: Frenzy. One extra attack at -2.
HULK SMASH
Agility d6
Smarts d4
Spirit d6
Strength d12
Vigor d12
Climbing d4
Fighting d10
Guts d8
Intimidate d8
Survival d4
Tracking d4
Charisma: -4
Pace: 8"
Parry: 7
Toughness: 9
Hindrances
Ugly
Overconfident
Mean
Edges
Adaptable: Barbaric Blood (spend a benny to trigger Berserk)
Berserk (Smarts roll upon being wounded, or go Berkserk, +2 Fighting/Strength rolls, -2 Parry, +2 Toughness, rolls of 1 hit random adjacent target)
Brawny (+1 Toughness)
Charge (ignore Running penalty when making a Fighting attack)
Combat Reflexes (+2 to become unShaken)
Fleet-Footed (Pace +2, d10 Running die)
Frenzy (1 extra attack at -2)
Might Blow (double damage on a Joker)
Nerves of Steel (ignores 1 level of wound penalties)
Sweep (attack all adjacent foes at -2)
Improved Sweep (removes the Sweep penalty)
Great Axe (Armor Piercing 1, Parry -1 for 6), Damage d12+d10, Chain Hauberk (Armor +2, for Toughness 11)
SNIPER
1st: Woodsman. +2 to Stealth, Tracking and Survival in the Wilderness.
2nd: Combat Archer. From Shaintar. SNIPER can now fire his bow in melee combat as well as use the bow itself as a club, doing Str+1d4 damage.
3rd: Improved Trademark Weapon. +2 to Fighting and Shooting with his bow.
4th: Shooting d12.
SNIPER
Agility d8
Smarts d8
Spirit d6
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Climbing d4
Fighting d8
Notice d6
Riding d4
Shooting d12
Stealth d8
Survival d8
Throwing d6
Tracking d8
Charisma: 0
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 5
Hindrances
Cautious
Wanted
Yellow
Edges
Alertness
Archer (Called Shot, Range and Cover Penalties are reduced by 1)
Combat Archer (Bow can be used at melee range and as a club, doing Str+d4)
Dark Fighting (Halves penalties for Shooting in the dark)
Dead Shot (Double damage on ranged attacks when a Joker is drawn)
Double Shot (Fire two arrows at 1 target with -2 penalty)
Marksman (Free Aim action as long as he doesn't move)
Steady Hands (removes unstable platform penalties)
Trademark Weapon (longbow, +1 to Shooting rolls)
Improved Trademark Weapon (longbow, +2 to Shooting rolls)
Woodsman (+2 to Stealth, Survival and Tracking rolls in Wilderness)
Longbow 2d6 damage, Leather armor (+1 for Toughness 6)
MR. WIZARD
1st: Streetwise and Investigation d8.
2nd: Investigator. +2 to Investigation and Streetwise.
3rd: Power Points.
4th: Smarts d10.
MR. WIZARD
Agility d8
Smarts d10
Spirit d8
Strength d4
Vigor d6
Charisma: +2
Pace: 4
Parry: 4
Toughness: 5
Power Points: 30
Gambling d6
Guts d6
Investigation d8
Knowledge (Arcana) d8
Lockpicking d6
Notice d4
Persuasion d6
Shooting: d4
Spellcasting d8
Streetwise d8
Hindrances
Bad Eyes
Lame
Poverty
Edges
Arcane Background: (Magic)
Attractive
Connections
Investigator (+2 to Investigation and Streetwise)
Power Points (+5 Power Points) (x4)
Wizard (use 1 less Power Point per raise on Spellcasting roll)
Powers
Boost/Lower Trait
Deflection
Detect/Conceal Arcana
Dispel
Obscure
Crossbow, nice clothes (fraying around the edges), cane.
FEARLESS LEADER
1st: Majesty. From Noir Knights, minus the Pulse version. This makes it harder for Extras to become unShaken in his presence.
2nd: Smarts d10.
3rd: Knowledge (Battle) d10 and Fighting d8.
4th: Hard to Kill. Ignore Wound penalties for rolls on KO and Injury Tables.
FEARLESS LEADER
Agility d6
Smarts d10
Spirit d10
Strength d6
Vigor d6
Charisma: +4
Pace: 6
Parry: 6
Toughness: 5
Fighting d8
Guts d8
Intimidation d10
Knowledge (Battle) d10
Persuasion d10
Streetwise d8
Survival d4
Hindrances
Code of Honor
Doubting Thomas
Stubborn
Edges
Charismatic
Command (+1 to his troops for Shaken rolls)
Common Bond (share bennies with other Wild Cards)
Fervor (+1 to melee damage for troops)
Hard to Kill (ignore Wound penalties when rolling on KO or Injury tables)
Hold the Line! (+1 Toughness for Troops)
Inspire (additional +1 for troops to become unShaken)
Lucky
Majesty (Extras at Charisma x2 are at -1 to become unShaken)
Natural Leader (share bennies with troops)
Noble
Shortsword d6+d6, Plate (+3 Armor for 8 Toughness), Hirelings
THOUGHTS
DON'T HIT ME still has the Glass Ninja syndrome going on...but being Small, that Giant Killer really comes in handy.
HULK SMASH continues on the path of being an engine of destruction. He's finally beefed up Spirit, which gives him an extra boost (with Combat Reflexes) to become unShaken).
SNIPER is really changing, learning to handle himself in a straight up fight in addition to sniping. He's been building to Combat Archer and Woodsman, and now he's hit them. He's the tracker of the squad and a scary good shot.
MR. WIZARD has very little magic development, but we're doing "subtle magic" anyway...he is pretty big on the investigative front.
FEARLESS LEADER is becoming one heckuva charismatic presence. He now leaves Extras unnerved in his presence, and he's becoming an above average fighter, though he doesn't have many personal tricks up his sleeve. He does, however, know how to run a mass combat.
Up next: Legendary!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tommy's Take on Noir Knights
The PDF is $19.95, with most of the common cool features, like being searchable and bookmarked, with copy and paste available. You can order the hardcopy right now for $34.99.
The same production values are present here as they are in Savage Suzerain and Shanghai Vampocalypse, although the art on the cover image just doesn't do it for me. Conceptually, I don't have a problem with it...something about the style just doesn't click with me. Incidentally, I don't have a problem with the interior art (by the same artist), the cover just loses me.
FOR PLAYERS
The setting is a mostly-like-our US in the 1930s, in the heart of The Great Depression...just freakier. A conspiracy is afoot, and it is slowly tearing the United States down from the inside. Your PCs are assumed to be members of, or at least associated with, the United States Special Projects Administration - Task Force Division. This means that they are the kind of troubleshooters that deal with secret conspiracies threatening to take apart the United States from the inside.
And so the book provides us with the player's overview of the SPA, including three new Paths that we'll get to in a minute, to give you an idea of just how things work.
CHARACTER CREATION
Pretty standard Suzerain character creation, which is pretty standard Savage Worlds character creation, except everyone gets free Pulse. Noir Knights is assumed to begin at Heroic, after the Telesmae have "awoken" to the PCs and they are now doing freakier stuff...so if you want to plunge right into the Plot Point Campaign, create Heroic rank characters.
Unlike some realms, American Grit only has humans...however, since everyone is Heroic rank, the option is present to allow a PC who started in another realm and wound up in American Grit before the beginning of the Plot Point Campaign, for a nice variation.
A single new Hindrance is present - Charge. This is a dependent that the hero must care for, not a sidekick or anything.
Several new Edges are present, like the really cool Echolocation...basically, you use sound to make up for the lack of light. Fair Catch lets you spend Pulse to catch projectiles...and that includes bullets. Hail of Bullets lets you unload into a crowd but ensure that you never hit in innocent, Majesty makes it harder for Extras to become Unshaken in your presence, Nothing To See Here convinces people that you are doing whatever you're supposed to be doing and Sharp Shooter lets you pay Pulse to dump penalties off of Called Shots! There are some really cool Edges here!
A list of setting-specific Connections is supplied, as well as new Telesma Edges such as Folk Hero Telesma, which lets you take an Edge that is one rank higher than you are, once per Rank.
Three new Pulse Paths are provided: Ruizologist's are Weather Wizards, basically, and have a list of New Powers...Railwalkers are hobos who use sigils and, like the Ruizologist, they have a list of new powers well. Lastly are the Taximancers, who sometimes use dead things for back-up. Each of these is a specialization for an existing Pulse Path, meaning that you have to have the appropriate pre-requisite Pulse Path first. 18 new Powers are spread out among the Paths, like Mean Dog, which allows Railwalkers to summon attack dogs or Drudge, which allows a Taximancer to enlist the dead (though they typically only use animals these days), and Bolt from the Blue, which allows a Ruizamancer to summon a giant bolt from the sky that'll strike in a Medium Burst Template that doesn't directly harm those it hits...just potentially sends them flying,
THE SPA FILES
Here is a more detailed look at what the SPA is dealing with. It touches more on the sense of desperation in the Great Depression, the rise of carnivals and the prevelance of the railroads (and the sigil-drawing hobos that follow them). The text is full of little items that can be expanded into adventures, and does a nice of job planting the idea that something IS fundamentally wrong in the world.
A handy flowchart tries to explain government structure. Thank God this is set in the '30s at the rise of government expansion and not now, trying to keep everything straight.
Washington DC gets a special section of its own, since it is likely serving as the homebase for your party, from the mobsters carving up the city to the rumors that The Founding Fathers are back from the grave and operating as vigilantes.
GUNS AND GEAR
A few pages of equipment specific to the era, such as elephant guns and padded trenchcoats.
FOR GMs
And now we starting getting into the truth of the setting...and spoilers are coming, so if you're a player and not a GM, do go away.
For instance, the drought that created the Dust Bowl? Ruizologists that screwed up and breached the Realm of Fire. An assassination attempt on FDR goes wrong, killing the guy he tapped to head up SPA...a taximancer tries to "save" him, repairing the body and sticking a new spirit in...it just wound up not being the right spirit...and now that has turned into an unholy brain trust who are trying to cripple America in the Depression.
Oh...and the Transcontinental Railroad? It's one Great Sigil keeping heinous forces at bay...and the hobos guarding it are kind of one of the few safeguards against The End of Everything.
J. Edgar Hoover's infamous paranoia has led to him figuring out that some things just aren't what they seem, and Hoover, for his faults, is someone inside the system who ultimately has American interests at heart, rather than infernal interests.
Other benevolent factions include the Templars of Marassa, warrior-priests empowered by the Loa Marassa to make sure that the taximancers doing unnatural things are stopped in their tracks.
Even some of the mobsters in DC now have access to arcane forces, but the BIG secret is the truth behind industrialization: All of those big factories have a sub-basement in which the morlocks slave away...and along with some "normal" humans, who are happy to have a job.
I wouldn't be completely shocked to see a sequel in the American Grit realm.
ADVENTURE!
The plot point campaign has a dozen adventures to it, with Savage Tales to fill in the rest.
The campaign begins in Winter of 1934, with a missing persons case (mostly hobos, but a few locals) in Dodge City. Right off the bat, the PCs can wind up diving into something deeper if they know where to look.
The second plot point follows up on a thread involving a carnival in the first one, and ties into the hobo disappearances, as the government tracks the carnival to Tennessee.
Plot point three, in a bit of campy fun amidst a dark situation, lets the PCs encounter a megalomaniacal Thomas Edison inside a morlock factory (Edison himself is one, and has faked his death). Human trafficking isn't funny...but I know my game table would lose it the second I revealed Thomas Edison's plan to take over the world from his underground sweat shops. Awesomely, Edison has a captive who can end his plans if the PCs free him - Henry Ford, master of machines.
Plot point four leads the PCs to Florida, where they are thrust in the middle of a conflict between rail workers and indian natives, and get a crack and the ruizologists that caused The Dust Bowl to begin with!
Plot Point five is a head-on conflict with Ma Barker's gang...'cept most of them have been dead for a while, so they're a little more durable than your typical crook. Barker's plan involves dropping "Necro-Bombs" on Washington, turning everyone into zombies!
Plot Point Six is the historical Black Sunday dust storm...and it is one massive Dust Devil. For the halfway point of the campaign, they turn up the "heat", because this should be a fairly intense affair. At the conclusion of this point, their handler is piecing together a much larger conspiracy, even if they haven't been.
Plot Point Seven begins with a meeting of the minds and ends in a giant factory raid that lets the PCs work through dozens of drudges, a nasty ruizologist and a flying serpent...but leaves them missing pieces, still.
Plot Point eight starts off with a nasty hurricane coming to Florida and has more leeway than any previous plot point: It can be solved with guns or with words, and depending on what the PCs do, could easily wind up in the Spirit World!
Plot Point nine draws the PCs back to Washington as an ally from an earlier adventure goes missing...and Hoover hands them one of the villains named dropped earlier in the adventure as the suspected reason for the disappearance.
Plot Point ten has the PCs specifically requested for task in Pennsylvania which, at this stage in the game, draws suspicion from all involved. This lets them learn the truth about the Great Sigil and the railwalkers, as well as let them do battle with a Demigod.
Plot Point eleven seems to be a detour in things, taking on arcane gangsters...until the PCs get mystical information identifying the Big Bad that they have been hunting (their own boss) is in Washington DC.
Plot Point twelve is the grand finale, where everything gets laid on the table and the PCs get to kill their boss...only to realize that the shell he was stuck in was holding him back, and once freed, it turns into a MEGA boss fight...at this point, the PCs should just be crossing into Demigodhood.
Much like the Necessary Evil plot point campaign, you are going to have some people who just HATE the set-up, because it is, for the most part, their immediate boss telling them where to go and what to do, since the campaign explicitly assumes that the PCs are part of the SPA (and if they are not, it will mean a massive rewrite). Note: I love the Necessary Evil plot point, and so I don't have a problem with this one, just stating what will surely be a complaint.
One common complaint I've heard about Plot Point campaigns over the years is that they tend to "kill" the setting...that is, they fundamentally alter the setting far past the starting point. This one doesn't really do that with American Grit, though it does fundamentally alter the premise of Noir Knights - that is, The SPA does not survive the campaign intact. The setting itself can still be used as written (in fact, many of the events of the PPC will wind up under the radar of most people).
SAVAGE TALES
18 Savage Tales are included, with some name dropping. For instance, Blackbeard's Castle (though there are no pirates here, but Fish-Men). Another one involves the PCs getting to deal with the Chosen of Loki, who is trying to drop a sea creature in Lake Champlain. Another Tale deals heavily with the Spirit World, while John Dillinger makes a cameo in another. They also get to deal with a time traveler and his death ray, and it is worth noting for those who ran the Heart of All Saints adventure in the Savage Suzerain book that there are several callbacks to it in this one.
ALLIES AND ENEMIES
The book concludes with a set of generic stats for the various extras that show up, such as Dust Devils, drudges, thugs, etc.
CONCLUSION
I have to confess, I don't see the "Noir" part of it, other than it's being set in the thirties. I mean, you do have The Great Depression going on, but there's not much setting up the heroes as hard luck, or really even a lot of shades of grey in the setting. Citing "four color pulp", "answering the call to action" and "patriotism in the form of universal morality" as being what the adventures should invoke...yeah...not a lot of noir there, in my opinion.
That doesn't mean it's bad...far from it. I like the supernatural twist on The Great Depression, and Savage Mojo scores once again with some very nice character options. On one hand, I might would have gone with something other than a dragon for The Final Boss Fight, since that was done in the Savage Suzerain book already...but on the other, a big dragon is about the last thing you expect to see at the culmination of big battle in Washington D.C., supernatural setting or not.
While I think they missed the mark on the hard-boiled part, they delivered a great take on supernatural pulp action (Thomas Edison is a morlock looking to take over the world - that's awesome), and the setting still has tons of life left in it for a future Plot Point Campaign or setting book. I, for one, enjoyed getting a setting in this time frame focused on America and having nothing to do with, say, World War II.
To summarize: I really dig the book...Savage Mojo supplies some great settings and some tremendous character options. I just don't think I liked it for the reasons I'm supposed to, with names like American Grit or Noir Knights, because there wasn't anything particularly gritty or morally dark or ambiguous about it...on the other hand, it does provide a high-powered smackdown of Very Bad Guys who are trying to destroy the very fabric of America with Necro-Bombs and stuffed government officials possessed by Giant Dragon Demons whose plans are being held at bay by hobo wizards that time-traveled to ensure that the railroad system was a giant protective sigil.
If loving that is wrong, I don't wanna be right.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Best Purchase I've Made All Year
And no...it's NOT LOST: The Complete Collection or Taylor Swift's Speak Now.
In fact, unlike LOST or Speak Now, the best purchase I've made all year wasn't pre-meditated...it was a total impulse purchase.
A few months back, Amy and I went Barnes & Noble, looking for a gluten-free cookbook for Faith. As I walked in the door, they had a kiosk set up for the purpose of pimping the Nook. Now, I'd been eye e-readers for a while, looking mostly at the Amazon Kindle. On that particular day, I had a paycheck in my pocket and our bills covered, so when the guy hit his sales pitch, I was listening.
Wouldn't have done it if Amy wasn't there, but she was, and so I did.
MAN that was a good idea.
I have read more books in the last few months than I have in the last few years. I've discovered authors (Kate Atkinson, Richard Kadrey, James R. Benn) that I had never heard of and genres (World War II Murder Mysteries!) that I never thought I would enjoy. I've become a fan of the above authors, Dennis Lehane and John Skipp.
Right now I have about sixty books loaded on the Nook...when I finish one, I start another. Heck, I've even gotten hooked on Sudoku, which came loaded onto the Nook.
Every Friday, Barnes & Noble gives away a free book (including some of the above)...and they run specials all the time, giving deep discounts on books.
Since the Nook, unlike the Kindle, uses the ePUB format, if you don't like Barnes & Noble, go to Smashwords.com (where a number of independent authors publishing their books, sometimes for free) or the new Google ebook store.
The Nook uses e-ink technology, which is great because it "feels" like the printed word to my eyes, rather than a computer screen...meaning that I can read for hours as time permits. The Nook even does decent PDF conversion (for the less art intensive ones, anyway), as I read the API Anthology on the Nook, as well as used the Wu Xing RPG book on it.
The Nook Color just came out, and it looks cool enough, but I'm not ready to "trade up" until we get color e-ink. The LCD screen would be fine for PDFs and comic books...but for traditional reading, I am incredibly pleased with the Nook.
Just a list of some of the books and short stories I've read over the last couple of months with the Nook:
- The API Anthology
- Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas
- When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
- The Monster That Devoured Cleveland by A.M. Murray
- Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
- One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
- Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
- Hunt at the Well of Eternity by "Gabriel Hunt"
- Billy Boyle by James R. Benn
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang
- DEAD(ish) by Naomi Kramer
- SERIAL by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn
And currently reading Jake's Wake by John Skipp...and I plan on reading a bunch more.
With all of the freebies and deals, an affordable price (for an electronic gadget) and great performance, you could do a lot worse than to invest in a Nook if you're a reader.
In fact, unlike LOST or Speak Now, the best purchase I've made all year wasn't pre-meditated...it was a total impulse purchase.
A few months back, Amy and I went Barnes & Noble, looking for a gluten-free cookbook for Faith. As I walked in the door, they had a kiosk set up for the purpose of pimping the Nook. Now, I'd been eye e-readers for a while, looking mostly at the Amazon Kindle. On that particular day, I had a paycheck in my pocket and our bills covered, so when the guy hit his sales pitch, I was listening.
Wouldn't have done it if Amy wasn't there, but she was, and so I did.
MAN that was a good idea.
I have read more books in the last few months than I have in the last few years. I've discovered authors (Kate Atkinson, Richard Kadrey, James R. Benn) that I had never heard of and genres (World War II Murder Mysteries!) that I never thought I would enjoy. I've become a fan of the above authors, Dennis Lehane and John Skipp.
Right now I have about sixty books loaded on the Nook...when I finish one, I start another. Heck, I've even gotten hooked on Sudoku, which came loaded onto the Nook.
Every Friday, Barnes & Noble gives away a free book (including some of the above)...and they run specials all the time, giving deep discounts on books.
Since the Nook, unlike the Kindle, uses the ePUB format, if you don't like Barnes & Noble, go to Smashwords.com (where a number of independent authors publishing their books, sometimes for free) or the new Google ebook store.
The Nook uses e-ink technology, which is great because it "feels" like the printed word to my eyes, rather than a computer screen...meaning that I can read for hours as time permits. The Nook even does decent PDF conversion (for the less art intensive ones, anyway), as I read the API Anthology on the Nook, as well as used the Wu Xing RPG book on it.
The Nook Color just came out, and it looks cool enough, but I'm not ready to "trade up" until we get color e-ink. The LCD screen would be fine for PDFs and comic books...but for traditional reading, I am incredibly pleased with the Nook.
Just a list of some of the books and short stories I've read over the last couple of months with the Nook:
- The API Anthology
- Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas
- When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
- The Monster That Devoured Cleveland by A.M. Murray
- Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
- One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
- Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
- Hunt at the Well of Eternity by "Gabriel Hunt"
- Billy Boyle by James R. Benn
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang
- DEAD(ish) by Naomi Kramer
- SERIAL by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn
And currently reading Jake's Wake by John Skipp...and I plan on reading a bunch more.
With all of the freebies and deals, an affordable price (for an electronic gadget) and great performance, you could do a lot worse than to invest in a Nook if you're a reader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)