DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
 

This product is no longer available from DriveThruRPG.com

Average Rating:4.8 / 5
Ratings Reviews Total
37 23
6 3
0 1
0 0
0 0
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Click to view
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Derrick S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/11/2017 19:34:38

Great setting. The game captures the feel of the movies of the early 80s. It was fun reading and I cant wait to run some players through.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Olivier S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/20/2016 07:37:38

One more review of B&B Golden Edition... Why should you believe me ? Why ???... The fact is : I don't play Savage Worlds. I only bought the book by curiosity !

So what can we say about this universe for SW ? Clearly, it is not original compared to other universes : mere "Sword & Sorcery". Then, what makes B&B so good ? To sum it up, B&B is not the big "never-seen-before" universe; on the contrary, in a rather classical genre, this is a plenty of excellent small ideas on how to manage this universe as a Game Master, and these rules reflect perfectly the S&S genre. Congratulations to the author, Umberto Pignatelli, who really gives the impression to have actually served as a GM. In the gaming world, there are some extremely detailed RPG universes like Middle-Earth or Tékumel (by Pr. Barker), but I must say that all rule systems failed to render the mood of these settings (including MERP for Middle-Earth). On the other hand, most of the rules contained in B&B GE are tailored for S&S, and all of this for a cheap price.

After the long presentation of the world (the Dread Sea Dominions) and of the races inhabiting it, the rules for player characters are representative of S&S tropes, let's just quote the "Damsel in Distress" hindrance or the "LOincloth Hero / Bikini Heroine" edge... Likewise, the section on magics contains valuable information, especially about Lotusmastery. Humour is present everywhere, most notably in the downtime random generator about the adventurers' carousing between two adventures. The GM section has an interesting adventure generator, working with a card deck. It is maybe too general for S&S, if we compare it to the ones in "Barbarians of Lemuria" or (this one downloadable for free) on the website of "Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyberborea", but U.Pignatelli gives clues on how to "flavour" it.

The section with the stats for Beasts & Denizens is excellent. There are not a lot of monsters, but Umberto clearly favours quality over quantity, and that's by far the better way : we don't need a menagerie of useless beasts we don't know how to introduce into an adventure but rather a few iconic creatures with all elements to captivate the players. The list of denizens is superb : nearly every kind and every (human) race you can dream of for a S&S setting.

I have only a couple of little criticisms. No scale is given for the map of the Dominions. Umberto gives in the book a clever method of "abstract navigation" and explained elswhere that a scale would break the sense of mystery in the Dominions' geography. OK, but I keep on thinking that a GM needs a scaled map, for a realistic view of the background, even if the players will never use it. Another point (found in other books of the series) is that not all of the "heroic concepts" suggested for player characters is found in the "Denizens" section : in my view, this would provide some guidelines for the creation of such "heroic concepts" for a player.

To conclude, at nearly every page, U.Pignatelli gives advice on how to get a better experience of the game. At this rate, the Pdf book is definitely worth its (cheap) price !



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by A customer [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/17/2016 12:49:14

The ultimate pulp Barbarians setting for savageWorlds and one of the best crafted Low fantasy Worlds i know.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Stephane G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/04/2015 13:04:30

I've been playing in this setting for about a year now, and I love it. My friends and I have great fun. As with all things Savage, its Fast Furious Fun. We can concentrate on the action and the story, and not on the minutia of rules.

And you can have dungeon crawls or wilderness exploration or city based intrigue. You could be fighting giant scorpions in the ruined desert temple one session. Facing off against a black wizards' lackeys in the bowels of his dark lair. Or contend with the cut-throat deals in the back alleys of a large city.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Paxton K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/11/2015 12:06:03

I really wanted a Savage Worlds barbarian setting. This covers it; but except for some new Edges and hindrances, falls flat.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Black K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/09/2014 18:56:12

As a big fan of classic sword & sorcery, I really love Beasts & Barbarians. In my opinion, it is the best sword & sorcery rpg product on the market for a variety of reasons:

  1. Most importantly, the mechanics work very well. Savage Worlds is already an excellent system for pulp adventure: it's fast, simple, and fun, without being dumbed down. Beasts & Barbarians was obviously written with the Savage Worlds rules system in mind, and features a great variety of cleverly designed edges and hindrances that ooze with Sword & Sorcery flavour. For example, the Loincloth Hero/Bikini Heroine edge lets you make a free soak roll for each wounding attack as long as you are unarmored. This makes a bare-chested barbarian feel very different from a heavily armored hoplite, while remaining effective in combat. The magic system is also well-designed to emulate sword & sorcery literature. Even if you prefer using another setting like Conan's Hyborian Age or Morten Braten's Xoth, it's worth getting this book just for the mechanics.

  2. There are a lot of well-written adventures and supplements to support the setting. If you're busy like me and don't have much time to come up with your own adventures, there are plenty of published ones to chose from. Even if you don't use the published lore for Beasts & Barbarians, the adventures easily adapt to other setting; just change up some names and you're good to go.

  3. The setting lore feels familiar but fresh. Beasts & Barbarians doesn't reinvent the wheel: its world has all the important sword & sorcery tropes you expect to see, like Amazons, barbarians, horse-nomads, and vile sorcerers, but it doesn't just plagiarize existing sword & sorcery lore. There's a section devoted to each culture, to give you a feel for how to roleplay them. This is very nice for GMs who just want a pre-made world to use, so that they can focus on running the adventures and roleplaying.

If you're a fan of sword & sorcery, I can't recommend this setting book highly enough. If you are currently playing a reskinned D&D or Pathfinder game to get your sword & sorcery fix, as I once did, I encourage you to give Beasts & Barbarians a try instead.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Kevin K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/22/2014 21:46:08

What a great read!!! Such a world to explore and vast history to explain. Beasts & Barbarians is a great setting for Savage Worlds. A definite Swords & Sorcery look at fantasy in Savage Worlds. B&B gives you more than a setting, they also pave the way for small group/single player interaction within a table-top RPG. The artwork is beautiful and the writing tasteful when portraying such a dark world. So many cultures and depicted in this setting that they truly emphasis a full world to explore and entertain. I heart-fully endorse this setting and can't wait to play in it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Jeffrey C. L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/23/2014 08:44:04

Ok,

Where to begin. I was just a kid when Conan the Barbarian movie came out on the TV for the first time. And since that day, those style of movies really shaped and formed my visions and views on the Dark, Gritty, Sword and Sorcery style of RPGs.

I truly do, love the style of dark fantasy settings. Over the years, I have been playing various forms of RPGs systems and in the past few years have pretty much migrated all my games over to the Savage Worlds system, which as far I think is the best system out there.

So, over they last few years I have been searching for a dark gritty fantasy setting, and I really didnt pay much attention to Beast and Barbarians at first.. But after some time, I decided to ask around and everyone I spoke to pointed me towards this setting.

So I took the plunge and bought it.. and you know it turned out to be the Best RPG buy in the last year for sure.

First of all, the artwork through out the book is awesome!

The book describes a setting, which fits the feeling, atmosphere, and darkness of what the old style conan movies betrayed to me as a kid. But it does it in such a way that you dont see a copy and paste with new names but it actually transports you to the lands in which the books describe. Which is very well done, I might add.

There is a lot of information on the setting, but not to much where you can not add your own ideas and you need to worry about it not working with the already established cannon.

The new edges, hindrances , and skills in the book capture the feel for this style of genre superbly. Also, what really makes this book shine (for me) is that they take full advantage of the flexibility of Savage Worlds and make go well past any set expectation you think you are gonna get ahead of time.

The book also offers a great GM section, gives great advice and support in running your games. Based on what I have read, the author must be a true fan of the setting as he covered aspects that makes this genre so unique in a dark fantasy rpg.

Hats off!

Pros: Book is well laid out. Artwork really captures the feeling of the setting. Very flexible setting, allowing lots of room for your own person touches. Great background story overall. Chocker blocked full of info and useful stuff. Good GM support. Great Read, if you are just looking for setting info!

Its a great book. Buy it...



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Andreas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/15/2014 07:45:10

[please excuse possible spelling or grammar issues in the following review, English is not my native language]

Beasts & Barbarians is a wonderfully done Sword & Sorcery-Setting for Savage Worlds.

The book begins with a hand drawn map of the dominions which is immediately followed by the book of lore. It gives an overview over lost and existing kingdoms, followed by a description of the different races (which are all human). As Howards hyborean age, there is a resemblance towards the ancient cultures of Europe, Asia and northern Africa. This makes describing the game world quiet easy, since anyone can relate to those realms quite easily, which I like.

Character creation explains changes to hindrances and edges and which ones are not used in the setting. Then there are about 30 new hindrances and edges which nicely set the sword & sorcery touch of the game (my personal favorites are the hindrance damsel in distress and the edges ghoulblooded and loincloth hero).

The next chapter introduces three arcane backgrounds, which replace those found in SW. Lotusmastery is the art of making powers usable as potions by brewing them with ingredients won from the lotus plants (and is the only arcane background offering magic healing). Sorcery is more or less classic magic (I love the related failure table, where the dark gods demand their tribute, wonderful idea). Path of Enlightenment is the mystical martial arts of far eastern monks with mostly self affecting powers. This is complemented by a modified version of Summon Ally and four new powers (Analyze Foe, Draining Touch, Ledgerdemain, Poison).

The chapter gear covers weapons, armour and other equipment common in the dominions. It is mentioned which metals are used by which cultures. Iron is only commonly used within the iron empire, otherwise bronze is most common. The more primitive and barbaric cultures even use stone, bone and wood. This can be used to great effect during dramatic moments, because a weapon can brake if used against weapons or armour made of a stronger material. The magic metal in this setting would be steel, granting weapons the ability to be armour piercing and armour to be lighter and tougher.

The players guide part is concluded by some setting rules and the “After the Adventure”-chart, where players can optionally draw a single card and, depending on colour and value, see what happens between adventures (this can even lead to another adventure, much room for creativity here).

The GM-section begins with an introduction on how to set the tone in sword & sorcery adventures, how to play with only few players, alternative healing rules and other gm-stuff.

The relics chapter describes the magical items of Beasts & Barbarians and reminds the gm that they should be scarce, of limited use or plot relevant.

The adventure generator is a true gem within the book. One can create a whole adventure by simply drawing four cards, look up what parameters depending on value and colour are given and flesh things out. A wonderful tool which I really like.

The bestiary covers some additional animal and monsters and features a lot of npc-opponents sorted by their origin.

Finally there is the introductory adventure “Night of the branded Devils”, which is not a short one (can easily fill 2-3 evenings) and covers nearly anything one can expect from an introductory adventure.

Beasts and Barbarians is a wonderful sourcebook which really shows the authors love and knowledge of the sword & sorcery genre in all its appearances (movies, comics and the classic pulp tales). I can recommend it to anyone interested in the genre.

P.S. There are several supplements available to further flesh out the setting:

Beasts of the Dominions: ten new monsters embedded in their own savage tale each, plus a new group of potential villains, the disciples of the black temple. Nice sourcebook.

Tattered Banners - Bandit Lords and Mercenary Captains: a sourcebook covering bandit and mercenary companies and how players can manage them, new mass battle rules and a chapter covering conquest point campaigns (allowing conquest-centered campaigns). Good source for many SW-settings.

Jalizar – City of Thieves: as much a sourcebook to Jalizar as a thief/assassin companion with new equipment, Jalizar specific setting rules and extensive history for a more urban campaign, new creatures etc. Wonderful stuff.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by collin s. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/17/2013 16:46:18

I have yet to play B&B but I've used the adventure generator it contains twice to generate successful adventures, one for a Barbarians of Lemuria session and the other for a Mutant Future one. A lot of cool concepts are contained in B&B that can be used with other Sword and Sorcery games as well as other SW settings. That being said, even though I have yet to play it on it's own it looks really good as a SW campaign setting. Recommended.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Kristopher R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/11/2013 16:02:04

I bought Beast and Barbarians Gold Edition as part of the GRAmel starter set. I am so glad I did!! It captures the Sword and Sorcery Genre perfectly. It explains the genre so even a complete novice can get it but does not feel cumbersome or overwhelming. There is no dead weight or filler in this book but it isn't pure crunch either. If you have any interest if capturing the feel of Conan or other sword and sorcery settings in your game I strongly advise you get this book.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Morgan S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/02/2013 12:25:50

I bought the B&B starter bundle and was so immensely impressed with this great sword & sorcery setting that i bought almost everything else for B & B. It is griity, has so much intrigues and best of all, will keep the players on their toes. It is indeed Conan meets Kull, just with a little more grit. The layout on the books are easily followed with beautiful illustrations that reaaly gives you tons of ideas for great campaigns.

It is well worth the investment, and will give me and my players countless of gamingtime.

/Mogge



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Niels A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/11/2013 13:19:40

If you are looking for a fantasy setting where Conan and Kull would be proud to adventure in and if you are looking for a fantasy setting that would place your characters in situations fresh out of Frank Frazetta paintings, then Beasts and Barbarians is for you. Beasts and Barbarians has decadent crumbling empires, lost jungle civilizations, scheming sorcerers, wandering warrior monks, an island ruled by Amazons, demon worshipping horsemen that would make Genghis Khan proud, independent free cities rules teaming with rogues and thieves, and, of course, barbarians. Reading the Beasts and Barbarians core book, like a good novel, really can take you into another world. One of the first things that struck me about Beasts and Barbarians was the wonderful map at the beginning of the book. It immediately conveys the feeling that you are picking up a sword and sorcery novel from the 70’s or 80’s. It reminded me of the first time I opened a Conan paperback and found the map of the Hyborean age or when I opened Micheal Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné and looked upon the map of Elric’s world. The map really set the tone of setting and the rest of the book did not disappoint. Beasts and Barbarians is RICH with ideas and details. The book lays out the history of the world and the various cultures that have arisen over the course of time. Every culture is given a significant write up with more than enough information for a player to create a character with that cultural back ground. Along with the cultural background, there are details about archetypes, new edges and optional rules that can be applied when running a campaign set in the world of Barbarians and Beasts. If you enjoy sword and sorcery novels and Frank Frazetta paintings, I would highly recommend checking out Beasts and Barbarians. The setting is written for Savage Worlds but I could easily see taking the setting and adapting it to any rule set that you want.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Creator Reply:
Thank you, Niels!
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Tyler D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/07/2013 12:18:06

I picked up the Beasts and Barbarians Starter Bundle during the GM Day Sale, and I couldn't be happier. The amount of work and great writing in this book is amazing. I'm new to Savage Worlds and needed a good, fully realized setting to introduce my players to the system and this is perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Definitely worth the money. Get it and swing a sword at something! A++



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Creator Reply:
Thank you very much Tyler for your kind words! And I hope you`ll get our other products - for that line or for other lines.
pixel_trans.gif
Beasts & Barbarians Golden Edition
Publisher: GRAmel
by Brennan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/14/2012 06:53:40

Really, what I want to say is "thank you" to GRAMEL. This is a wonderful, rich setting with great information and amazing support. What I particularly like is the ability of the author to capture the essence of Swords and Sorcery, yet provide some unique twists to a world that is somehow incredibly "relatable". The cultures have easy to explain analogs in our world, but none of them are straight knock-offs. The backstory is interesting and doesn't require a massive suspension of disbelief to buy into. The modifications to mechanics always seem to add to the game rather than unnecessarily bog it down.

While I have tinkered with the setting a small amount, each of my own modifications have been based on flavor and personal preference rather than the actual need to correct something. Make no mistake -- this product is fully and completely playable out of the box. Couple it with one of the short free adventures and you can have several hours of great game-play ready to go in no-time -- and yet, feel like there's a whole world left to uncover. Truly one of the best purchases I've made.

In terms of migration, because of some of the "plug and play" nature of Savage Worlds, it might be hard to migrate this to another system unless the system can handle low magic worlds-- but it absolutely could be done.

I also want to tell a little story... I've reached out for some additional information from GRAMEL a couple of times. Not only did I get quick responses, but when I posted in a player-seeking-player forum on the Savage Worlds boards that I was going to be running B&B, the author (based in Italy) created himself a meetup.com account, subscribed to the Portland area gamers group and posted a "good luck and have a great time" type of message to my game... My players LOVED hearing that and everyone felt like GRAMEL was taking real interest in the success of our particular game. Can't get much better than that, as far as I'm concerned.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 15 (of 27 reviews) Result Pages:  1  2  [Next >>] 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates