Lazy Bones - A Deadlands Bedtime Story - Session 2

Another night, another Savage Worlds: Deadlands Reloaded bedtime story with Cooper! Now I'm here, doing a brief recap while listening to my own personal Weird Western playlist on YouTube. 

I should note that last night's session included a miniature that Cooper painted himself: a Hero Quest skeleton. He wanted to use that figure for Sebastian, so until we get something from Hero Forge, that's gonna be Cooper's character. Come to think of it, my miniatures for this game are lacking in general. I'll share the scenes below, but I'm using mostly D&D miniatures. I need to fix this. I've got a handful of Deadlands minis, but nowhere near enough. Maybe in coming weeks this'll get righted. 

My post last night (covering the prior night's game and origin) discussed the origin of this new, bedtime story campaign. Since it was a lot, I thought I'd skip straight to the story.

Session 2 - Under the Big Top

Things looked worrisome for Sebastian Squelette. He allowed the creepy clowns to take his shotgun and whip and lead him to the circus, but once there, it seemed like they were going to be keeping him for a while.

Once backstage at the circus, Sebastian noticed that there were several cages. One housed a pair of wolves and a wolfman. Another kept a massive boar. A pair of huge frogs were penned up nearby. In the last cell on the far side of the area a sickly looking man had collapsed from exhaustion on the floor. 

It was Mr. Zink!

Sebastian allowed himself to be locked in the cage, and turned to thank his new jailers. Once they left he hatched a quick plan. 

One of Sebastian's harrowed powers allowed him to turn into a ghost. As soon as the clowns had left the backstage area, the outlaw skeleton became incorporeal and drifted out to the main area beneath the big top. Across the chamber he saw that one of the clowns had a large key on his belt. 

Sebastian carefully snuck up on the clown and grabbed the key. This required him to become corporeal again, but before he could change back he was spotted.

Sebastian ran towards the backstage area while the clowns grabbed torches. The ringmaster Philippe sent his tiger after Sebastian as well. Knowing he'd need allies, Sebastian ran up to the wolfman and let him and his wolf allies free. 

Here's where things got messy. The wolves attacked the tiger, and the wolfman attacked two of the clowns. The third clown charged Sebastian as the skeleton made his way to Mr. Zink's cage. But once Sebastian unlocked his zombie-friend's cell, Mr. Zink unleashed some wicked arcana on the pursuing clown.

Turns out that Mr. Zink is a Huckster - a spellcaster that made deals with dark spirits in return for awesome energy. Mr. Zink's spell of choice, a lightning bolt, made short work of the clown. 

Unfortunately for the party, the master of the ring was also the master of the dark arts. Philippe sent forth a pair of fiery blasts that nearly killed Sebastian and Mr. Zink in one hit!

(GM's Note: Seriously, if Cooper hadn't nailed his soak roll at this point it would've been a short adventure. Technically I'd let him wake up in a grave with a splitting headache rather than kill off Sebastian. I don't think Cooper's quite ready to "play for keeps" again yet, no matter how much Dungeon Crawl Classics I've put the child through.)

Undeterred by the ringmaster, both Sebastian and Mr. Zink returned fire. Lightning and bullets peppered Philippe as he dropped to the ground. Then the two partners in crime unlocked all the cages, allowing the other critters to get free. The undead pair wasted no time hightailing out of the big top, dropping the last remaining clown so as to assist the wolfman. The wolfman introduced himself as Wolfman. 

Once outside, the trio headed back to the train station. Chances are they wouldn't want to stay in Dodge City for long. 

To be continued... 

Wrap Up

Okay, I'm having serious flashbacks to Numenera Disenchanted Tales with Carrie and Evie now. I remember our first game being a bit of a tough grind, just trying to keep the girls on target. But the second game was a lot smoother, and so on and so forth. Each game they got more and more excited by the story and by advancing their characters. I think we're going to have the same thing here with Cooper. 

I got home late from work tonight. Around 8:30pm. I figured Cooper would've dragged his feet on getting a shower, and we wouldn't have time. Nope! He was ready to go. So we had a great one hour session, did the good night hug, and he was off counting sheep. I have a business trip for the rest of this week and he was a little bummed that we couldn't continue night after night.

There's always the weekend!

Lazy Bones - A Deadlands Bedtime Story - Session 1

I've got a fever... and the only cure may be Deadlands. 

Here's the issue. I've been geeking out somethin' fierce with the new Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Kickstarter going on right now. I spent the entire weekend flipping through some of my old Savage Worlds books, reminiscing on previous games and campaigns, and cooking up some thoughts for new sessions. But then I came across my Deadlands stuff, and my future goals all became a lot more immediate. 

See, I can't ever seem to open a Deadlands book without doing a complete gaming U-turn, and taking the first locomotive back to the Weird West. One quick read of Bruce Campbell's forward in the the original Deadlands Weird West Player's Guide, and I'm in a full western tailspin. I'm back to reading The Sixth Gun, watching Westworld, and booting up Red Dead Redemption. 

But it's been years since I've had a long term Deadlands game cookin'. I had a couple Deadlands Classic campaigns back in the mid-2000's, and was a player in a long running Deadlands Hell on Earth campaign (RIP Joaquin Vega.) Other than that, all my Deadlands action has been one-shots, many with the Norwin Game Knights. 

Flipping through just one of those books reignites the urge. 

I should note that it's really, REALLY hard not to come across a Deadlands book whenever digging through my pile of gaming materials.

What I really want to do with Deadlands Reloaded, and what I've always wanted, is to do a live, in-person campaign. Not a one-shot. Not a con game. Not an online campaign. Real people in a real room with real dice, real Fate Chips, and real playing cards. Playing once a week. Hell, maybe we could even get through one of the four incredible plot point campaigns I own. 

Unfortunately, I don't live close to enough people whom I know who would be able to take part in a regular, weekly game. Even Jen and the girls have such busy schedules now that they just don't have as much time as they used to in order to game with their dad. 

But what about Cooper?

Evie was Cooper's age when we first started Numenera: Disenchanted Tales back in early 2014. We've been talking about ways to help get Cooper away from his TV and his Nintendo Switch, without having to institute hard limits. Maybe a bedtime game, styled like what I had run previously for his sisters, would have similar beneficial effects.

This wouldn't even be Cooper's first rodeo. He's played his fair share of Savage Worlds over the years:

• He took party in our Savage Skylander's Skirmish game. 
• He played WALL-E during a short-lived Last Parsec campaign.
• He took on the role of Foxy the Clockwork Pirate during a sandy series of 50 Fathoms sessions. 

That said, its been a few years since Cooper's played any role-playing game. He's dedicated his time to electronic gaming, and does a fair bit of board gaming as well. But with his sister' graduating to the grown up table, I think Cooper's been feeling left behind.

In addition to Savage Worlds being a game Cooper was somewhat familiar with, Deadlands Reloaded has a lot of features and themes that would excite my eight-year old son. So much of the Weird Western style, coupled with the "Fast, Furious, Fun" of Savage Worlds appeals to younger players. Back when we ran the Norwin Game Knights, it was never hard to pick up a whole table of young players willing to take to the dusty trails. 

Also, there are the Harrowed, and Cooper really has a thing for the undead. I think it started with Plants vs. Zombies and just progressed from there. Maybe if I let Cooper play a harrowed from the get go I'd be able to pique his interest right off the bat?

So we planned a bedtime one shot for last night, with a subsequent session planned for tonight. If both go well, we'll set up regular games at home, perhaps with some guest stars from our friends and family.

Sign up now!

Sebastian Squelette, the Stealthy Skull

Here's the character Cooper and I concocted for our story:

The skeletal outlaw is a harrowed from Tombstone, who had big plans in the CSA a year ago. Sebastian took part in a massive heist to steal the tomb of George Washington. After dismantling the structure, Sebastian and his partner Mr. Zink attempted to make delivery to a gentleman named Billy Bob Jenkins in exchange for one million dollars. But it was a set up! Instead of becoming rich, Sebastian had to flee Virginia and the Texas Rangers. He made his way to Philadelphia.

But Sebastian longs to go home.

Recently Sebastian got a telegram from his good zombie friend (or "zombro") Mr. Zink. Mr. Zink had found his way to Dodge City, and wanted to link up with Sebastian so that they could travel back to Dodge City together.  

Image from Hero Forge. If Cooper successfully completes 10 sessions, I promised him a custom Sebastian Squelette figure that I will paint for him. 

• Attributes: Agility d12, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
• Edges: Veteran of the Weird West (Harrowed), Supernatural Agility, Ghost
• Hindrances: Wanted (Major, Texas Rangers), Phobia (Minor, Tigers), Enemy (Minor, Tracker Tim)
• Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Riding d6, Shooting d10, Stealth d6, Streetwise d4, Tracking d6
• Gear: Double Barreled Shotgun, Colt Navy Revolver, Whip

Game Modifications

I made just a couple of adjustments to our game to help Cooper re-learn the system, and not overly complicate our game. 

• Exchanged Fate Chips for the more Savage Worlds standard "Bennies." I figure we'll go back to Fate Chips later, once he mastered the process.
• I gave Sebastian Hinderances that are more suited for the GM to track. Wanted, Phobia, and Enemy can all reside on my side of the screen, and don't necessitate too much active role-play, at least in the beginning. 
• For tracking ammo, I had Cooper break out six white Nerf bullets (pistol ammo), and two green Nerf bullets (shot gun ammo.) Heck, I think I may use this for my grown-up players at some point!

Session 1 - Clowning Around

It was early evening when Sebastian's train entered Dodge City. Once he got out of the car, he called out "Mr. Zink! Mr. Zink!" 

Strangely enough, this method of investigation worked. A passerby, unfazed by Sebastian's skeletal visage, stated that he knew a Mr. Zink, and had seen him earlier having a drink over at the Alhambra Saloon. 

Sebastian strolled into the Alhambra Saloon, sauntering up to the bar while a musician played a few pleasant tunes on a piano. The skeleton asked the bartender where he could find Mr. Zink. The bartender claimed that the zombie had left a few hours earlier with a traveling salesman. But something wasn't right. Sebastian sensed that the bartender was lying. 

"Tell me the truth!" Sebastian shouted at the bartender.

The bartender cried out that Mr. Zink had been press-ganged by the circus on the north side of town. That was no good. 

Sebastian walked out into the dark streets of Dodge City, headed north towards the circus. Soon a trio of clowns encircled the skeleton. 

"Well, well, what have we here? Wanna join the circus, skeleton?" they asked. The clubs they were carrying seemed proof enough that they weren't actually asking. 

"Okay," Sebastian responded. Outnumbered, he figured that he was headed to the circus anyway, so why not see where his path led. The clowns took his shotgun, but Sebastian was able to hide his Colt Navy Revolver in his pants. 

Cooper wanted to help draw the map of the circus big top.

When Sebastian entered the big top, he gasped. There, in the middle of the giant circus tent, was the Ringmaster Philippe, guiding a tiger around in circles. Sebastian hated tigers! Sebastian choked back his fear, and continued with the clowns towards the backstage area.

To be continued... 

Wrap Up

I gotta say, Cooper impressed me with one of his decisions. When the three clowns appeared, I figured that we were going into combat. I drew the map, placed the miniatures, and broke out the playing cards. But Cooper kept his finger off the trigger, and went along with the clowns. Pretty impressive! 

As we move along in the campaign, I'll continue to post updates. If you'd like to join us, please be on the lookout for our adventures. 

And again... if you'd like to join Sebastian Squelette and Mr. Zink on the dark trails of the Weird West, let us know. Maybe there's room in the posse for someone to ride shotgun. 

Road Crew Event - Shadow Under Devil's Reef, Part 2

"We fight the fish with the fish." - Steve James

This quote from our player Will is so very, very important. Embedded in those words are the heart and soul of our Road Crew campaign (that is increasingly becoming NOT a Road Crew campaign but just a regular store game... which is totally fine with me.) If that quote doesn't seem to make sense don't worry. It doesn't make sense to me either, and yet it totally does. 

During today's session of Jon Hook's Shadow Under Devil's Reef, our party finally completed the adventure using a combination of quick thinking, fishy spell-casting, froggy clerical magic, and high die rolling. A very well cast Paralysis spell from Turd Fergeson essentially one-shotted the boss encounter. That was the kind of day I was having as a Judge. 

At the end of the session, I made a comment that the party beat me quickly with the high rolling. All the players seemed surprised that I would take an adversarial tone against the them in my games.

Sorry guys, I'm here to roll dice and kill characters. Unfortunately I didn't kill any characters today, but I came close a few times.

And there's always next time. 

As an added bonus, Robert brought a whole mess of Dwarven Forge for us to use for the game. I had SO MUCH fun with the caverns and dungeons, and can't wait for my own swag to come next year! I've gotta wait a long time, but after seeing the stuff in play, it's gonna be worth it. 

Prior Sessions

• Session 1: Beyond the Silver Scream
• Session 2: Sky ov Crimson Flame, Part 1
• Session 3: Sky ov Crimson Flame, Part 2
• Session 4: Shadow Under Devil's Reef, Part 1

Cast of Characters

• Larkin, Elf, played by Shannon
• Glassblower by trade, whose magic is derived through careful use of lenses, crystals, and light. 
• Native of the Eastern Forest.
• Owns a prized hen.
• Seeks the Great Pumpkin as a patron
• Turd Fergeson, played by Ryan
• Faithful servant of Amon-Tor, goddess of mysteries.
• Originally from Earth. 
• Has possession of an endless suite of one-liners to fit every occasion.
• Marco, Thief, played by Cody
• Born and raised in Black Sand Port.
• Tried to join the Thieves Guild, but was too rebellious. 
• Learned several alien alphabets from his former Guildmaster's secret library. 
• Partially possessed by the soul of a magic door named... Door. Door can grant Marco aid in dealing with other doors, at a cost. 
• Steve James, Wizard, played by Will
• Earth native who left home, joined the French Foreign Legion, fell into the DCC Planet, and became a great wizard.
• Father of Steve James II (evil Cult Wizard, RIP) and grandfather of Steve James III (lost teen who wanted to discover his family, RIP)
• Specializes in all-fish magic (Ichthyomancer).
• Tonya, Warrior, played by Robert
• Badass figure skater from Earth. 
• Wields a big-ass sword, and not afraid to cut you with it. 
• Lars, Dwarf, played by Rob
• Human from Earth who was transformed into a Dwarf after traveling to the DCC Planet.
• Seeks entrance into the CCPR (Card Carrying Punk Rockers) but needs to complete three acts of legendary vandalism.
• Wielder of the Demon's Claw, an enchanted scimitar from Fu-Lamia. 
• Bueno, Cleric, played by Evie
• Gender-shifting villager from Reed who was a simple hireling trying to save some of their friends from the Crimson Flame before gaining Clerical powers. 
• Twisted worshipper of the froglike Bobugbubulz.
• Extremely chaotic.

Adventure Overview

(Judge's Note: I'm going to take full advantage of the Dwarven Forge, and use the pictures to illustrate this tale of danger.)

The party opened the great onyx door leading down into the depths of Devil's Horn Island. Time was of the essence, because the more time the party spent on Devil's Horn Island, the more they mutated into fish/amphibian beasts. 

The sloping passage was super cramped. Halfway down there was a four foot gap spanning a pit. Seemed easy to cross! Marco played scout throughout the adventure, and during this first segment he easily crossed the gap. Unfortunately, the tentacle beast at the bottom of the crevasse wasn't thrilled to see a meal get away. 

As the rest of the party tried crossing, he beast would try to devour Lars and Turd Fergeson. To distract the horror, Bueno summoned forth a feast of food, and dumped it atop the creature. While the thing ate the food of Bobugbubulz, Tonya charged forward and skewered. 

One shot. One kill. 

Moving into the next chamber, the party discovered six mutated Fu-Lamians. Five of them were only slightly mutated, much like some of the party members. But one was huge, much further along than his associates. The lead mutated Fu-Lamian didn't want to let the non-mutated party members past. Tonya wasn't about to be told what to do. 

The two troupes threw down. Before too much blood was spilled, Steve James cast Sleep on all the mutants. What a peaceful way to end the combat!

That's when Tonya walked up and lopped the head off of the lead mutant. 

The next chamber featured a small portal leading further down, with a rather large pool to the right. Each party member who entered the chamber was psychically "called" by something in the water. Marco and Larkin easily resisted the call of this unknown evil, but Bueno and Tonya were not so fortunate. As soon as they entered the chamber, they dropped their weapons and headed for the pool. 

Realizing that it could be dark magic at work, Turd Fergeson ran into the room while casting Protection from Evil. The spell worked, breaking the hold on both Tonya and Bueno. That's when the evil arose from the water. The massive shambling mound of tentacles, eyes, and human mouths was truly terrible to behold. The slap of its limbs caused terrible acid burns, as Larkin realized when she was attacked. 

Tonya collected the party, and had them evacuate from the chamber, while Steve James cast a Sleep spell in retreat. The spell worked! The monster collapsed into the water. Earlier, Marco had chucked a dagger at the beast, so he tried to collect it from the pool. Unfortunately, there was enough acid in the water that he burned his hands when he tried.

Ouch!

Thirty feet down the corridor, the party came to a door. A magic door. The Judge revealed that the locked door was "humming." The players made fun of the humming, and mocked the Judge. They made sounds as if the "humming" was musical in nature. So the Judge complied.

"Door" was a jovial sort, very eager to see the rest of the dungeon. Door offered Marco a means to open him. If Marco agreed to take Door with him, Door would open up. 

Marco agreed.

Door then possessed Marco.

At first Marco didn't realize that his soul fused with that of an intelligent magical door, but after a while he caught on. Fortunately, Marco was mostly in control of his own body...

... that'll change with time.

Even though it cost the party's thief part of his soul, the team let Marco lead the way down a long hall to another door. Door made Marco wave at his "friend." This was when the party realized that the possession had taken place. 

The next hallway was bizarre. A series of chambers, some holding tentacles, others holding imprisoned Fu-Lamians that were being transformed into tentacles. 

There were a few open chambers, and the most mutated of the bunch - Steve James - had to struggle to not throw himself into the vacant room. Actually Tonya did the struggling, as she wrestled the party's wizard away from an attempted suicide. 

Once at the end of the hallway, there was a locked door. Marco tried unlocking the portal but failed. That's when Door offered to help. Marco agreed to let Door take control of his arms. This unlocked the door, but again... at a cost.

I should point out that the mechanic I used for this was a simple percentile system. At the beginning of their arrangement, Marco was in control of 80% of his body while Door was in control of 20%. Every time Marco gives in to Door he will trade 2d10% of control. This act cost him 19%. 

The current scoreboard is now 61% to 39%. 

As the party moved into the chamber, they found a pair of Elder Things working a control panel. Three great, glass chambers were attached to the central room, each holding weird creatures floating in water. One held a large, injured starfish thing. The other held a dead starfish thing. The final chamber held a fully transformed, amphibian Princess Kaeko, along with her attendants.

The Elder Things weren't about to let the party rescue the princess! The two aliens charged the party, met quickly by Tonya.

But Turd Fergeson wasn't in the mood for a long, drawn out battle. He cast Paralysis (and got a 25) and both aliens were immediately stunned and on the ground. 

Rather than a great, magnificent clash of blades and spells, the boss battle was finished like a bar room brawl. The party encircled the aliens and bludgeoned them to death with fists, pole-arms, and Tonya's crowbar. Because blades didn't work that well. 

With the Elder Things dead, the party used the central console to release the princess. Unfortunately her mind was not her own, and the same went for her attendants. Steve James cast Sleep on two of her attendants while Lars slew the other two. The princess's precious PsiSpider, carried by Larkin, then freed the mind of her mistress.

Together, the party fled the dungeon before anything else terrible could give chase. Once back in Black Sand Port, the team received their reward with a healthy dash of glory!

Quotes

"They're not fish! They're cephalopods!" - For some reason this made a different to Lars.

"We fight the fish with the fish." - Steve James being the Steve James. 

"Run!" - Tonya grabs the party, and pulls them out of the dungeon before more eldritch terrors could ruin her day. 

Open Story Points

• With Princess Kaeko saved, would the party's good standing in Black Sand Port be of any benefit?
• Now that he was possessed by Door, was it only a matter of time before Marco lost his own soul? 

Character Crematorium 

• None this game!

What's Next?

I think our adventuring party will be headed back to sea for Moon Slaves of the Cannibal Kingdom!

Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Ten

Under a Weirdling Sun

Peril on the Purple Planet is an epic DCCRPG box set devised by +Harley Stroh. The adventure is a hex crawl, so player characters get to explore a completely open and lush world. Characters must discover artifacts, make alliances, battle terrifying worms, and sustain the deadly sun's rays if they are to ever make their way back home.

Care to hear about this week's banishment? Read on!

Previous Tales of the Banished

• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part One
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Two
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Three
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Four
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Five
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Six
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Seven
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Eight
• Banished to the Purple Planet - Part Nine

The Banished

• Marc
• Floyd Pink, Warrior
• Andy
• Ssof Rehtaf, Cleric
• Lil Hammy, Paladin
• Alex
• Gastronomix, Dwarf
• Nicodemus, Thief
• Paul
• StarRider, Wizard

Banished to the Purple Planet - Ten

Day 10

• Time to set out again.
• Weapon swapping. Floyd takes Faerie Stomper and Ssof takes the Bronce Skull Mace of Heavy Doom.
• Starting up the Skiff, 6 hours of juice to begin moving.
• 8pm - Left
• 8:15pm - DEATH ORM, knocks Floyd stupid and nearly kills Ssof. StarRider takes Greater Corruption to destroy the beast, but in return grows a crab claw. 
• 8:30pm - Battle ceases, party cuts into the Death Orm revealing a plasma torch and some greenstone shards in addition to a lacquered helm, and a death orm hide shield. 
• 9pm - Party sets out again.
• 9:15pm - The heroes encounter a party of 12 kith scouts a mile away. 
• 9:30pm - No encounter
• 9:45pm - No encounter, however party sees a depression in the sand to the south. 
• The party comes across the Orm Pit and the Orm Mother.
• Team not sure what it is at first.
• Gastronomix fires a pair of crossbow bolts into the sand, and something rumbles.
• Ssof places his vibrating mace against the sand, and the rumbling continues. 
• Ssof casts Second Sight. Figures out that something at the bottom is pretty dangerous. 
• Party gets close, lowers Gastronomix down. 
• Gastronomix got eaten, the party was in combat. 
• StarRider goes crazy, casting a massive Magic Missile (28)
• Floyd pilots the craft away, and the Orm Mother retreats.
• The party ends the evening at 10:30pm, with 3 1/2 hours of power left on the skiff. 

Quotes

"What are we playing tonight? Tonight we're playing a Fantasy Age reskin of 9 1/2 Weeks." - Judge James.

"... the spice..." - Alex whispers. 

"In his absence, someone has to scream." - Ssof channeling his inner Screaming Otto.

"I'm tied off around my waist, like a piece of ham, or bait of sorts." - The last description of Gastronomix. 

"I feel like its especially appropriate that the guy who has a culinary themed name is eaten by a sandworm." - Marc

In Memoriam 

• Gastronomix, eaten by the Orm Mother. 

Legends of the Great SCOT 

The Free Company successfully completed the Great Sunken City Omnibus Tour. Care to find out about their previous quests? Follow the links below to greatness...

• Perils of the Sunken City, Part One
• Perils of the Sunken City, Part Two
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part One
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Two
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Three
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Four
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Five
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Six
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Seven
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part One
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part Two
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part Three
• Return to Slither's End
• Lair of the Mist Men, Part One
• Lair of the Mist Men, Part Two

As always, Die Rodney!

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Kickstarter!

Click here to go straight to the Kickstarter!

With the new Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Kickstarter in full swing, I thought I'd chat a bit about my introduction to the system.

Let's take a journey back to May, 2012.

I was in the waning months of a 3 1/2 year long D&D Ravenloft/Planescape weekly online campaign that had started in 3.5 and transitioned quickly to 4E. Our party level was in the high 20's, and I had promised from the get go a full 1st to 30th experience. It was a wonderful experience, but I could tell that several members of our group were burning out a bit on the 4E system mechanics. 

Personally, I was burning out on D&D as a whole.

I really wanted to try something different...

Really, really different!

More specifically, I wanted to explore something either a steampunk or dieselpunk. One of my favorite settings of all time is FASA's Crimson Skies. I love the video games, and love the miniatures game even more. I had painfully crafted a conversion to D20 Modern in the mid-2000's, leading to a fun but short lived campaign. But wouldn't it be awesome if I could grab something that would let me run something similar, but without all the heavy lifting and rules rewriting? Maybe I could run a Crimson Skies RPG!

Turning to the internet, I took a look to see what all was out there. I fished through the countless D20 versions of games, but I really wanted to stay away from the old D&D mechanics. I wanted something that would just "run" straight out of the book.

I kept seeing people on forums talking about a game called "Savage Worlds." Digging a bit deeper, I learned that Savage Worlds was designed by the same folks who created the only non-D&D/D20 game I had played in the mid-2000's: Shane Hensley and Pinnacle Entertainment Group. I adored both Deadlands and Deadlands: Hell on Earth, so I set out to have a look at Savage Worlds.

I strolled into Phantom of the Attic in Pittsburgh after work on a Monday. I clearly remember the day, because the next morning I had a long drive to Atlantic City for a three day work trip to Atlantic City. Needing some good reading material, I started picking through the books on Phantom's shelves. It didn't take me long to discover Savage Worlds. The big, sturdy hardback Deluxe Edition was featured prominently on the shelf. Picking it up, I saw the four setting "emblems" on the logo:

A sword an shield. A skull. A ray gun. An airship.

Wait... an airship?! There was an airship on the cover of the book? 

Does it sound shallow that the airship symbol totally rocked my world?

I spent about 15 minutes flipping through the book. I loved the art and the presentation of mechanics, so it was an easy purchase. I bought the book, and over the course of the next few day I read it cover to cover. I was hooked! 

Check out that sweet airship on the far right!

Like so many other Savages, it didn't take long for me to build up a tower of Savage Worlds sourcebooks. 

My very first purchase was Thrilling Tales, which I read during our trip to Disney World a week later. I then picked up (in very quick succession) Realms of Cthulhu, Weird War II, the Horror Companion, Space 1889, and Rippers. I read and loved each one, and after a few months of research, kicked off my very first Savage Worlds campaign. An avid mash-up fan, I crunched together Rippers, Space 1889, and Realms of Cthulhu, with a few dashes of Deadlands tech, to create a steampunk, Dr. Who inspired campaign I called "Clockwork."

There were many other campaigns and one-shots during the six years that I've played this game.

• Our Clockwork investigators explored the Isle of Dread and took down a unit of time-traveling Nazis. 
• I ran an Accursed bedtime stories campaign with the kiddos, after making characters around a summer fire. Did the same thing with The Last Parsec.
• We played 50 Fathoms on a beach in Delaware with the kids.
• We used Savage Worlds as a skirmish game for Disney Infinity and Skylanders figures.
• I turned Downton Abbey into a super hero setting for Weird War I. 

Actually, after Googling "Living 4 Crits Savage Worlds", I've realized two important things. First, I've played a LOT of really, really cool sessions of Savage Worlds. Second, my kids have grown up playing this game... which is just kinda cool.

We're still playing Savage Worlds, and we plan to continue another six years. 

You should be too.

I'm super excited for everything I'm seeing in the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, so if you haven't checked it out yet, drop what you're doing and follow this link. If you have any questions about the system, the settings (oh, all the great settings!) or anything Savage Worlds, and would like to get some of my feedback, just hit me up. 

Hell, if you want to see some of the mechanics in play cuz you've never tried it before, who knows... maybe I'll run a quick online session for you between now and the end of the Kickstarter.

You just gotta ask me nice!