Irongate is a solid product. This looks to be a fun mini-plot point campaign (8 plot points) that has a rich back story and a bunch of interesting things to do. I will try to keep this spoiler free as much as possible but there will be a one spoiler below which i will mark accordingly. I purchased this product for 9.99 and basing the review on that value.

PROS:

• For players it seems like a fun mini-plot point campaign that will give them plenty to do, savage worlds style! Iconic fights, car chases, salvaging/looting, exploration etc. All the core savage worlds goodness is in here.
• Tie-ins to Last Parsec (jump corp) are on point and immersive. For heroes that enjoy LP they will feel right at home (at least at the beginning--see next point)
• In the 'before you play' section it warns potential GM's that the players need to be on board for this sort of campaign since they will be 'stuck' on a prison planet. I thought this was a nice reminder that the GM might want ot run this but you really need to make sure the players are 'in' on this type of campaign since it has the potential to 'confine' the heroes.
• Core Savage world goodness: Several dramatic tasks (2 in the core PP, 1 in a random event), a social conflict (even though its called a social combat in the adventure), several chase opportunities, a mission generator, lots of roleplaying/NPC interactions available which are core to the story.
• Strong sandbox feel/potential. The sand box is not huge but it is on point with this size of product. 96 pages. 3 thorougly detailed regions with encounters, hazards and event lists unique to those region and, of course a decent bestiary to accomodate. In addition, there are 2 'areas' (specific locations/buildings/sites) each detailed out since they will be most likely visited during the adventure.
• Setting Rules: The setting rules really bring the package together by rounding out the feel of the campaign, including a new 'favors' system. Essentially, the Favors setting rules, the Salvaging Rules, mission generator and 3 regions area/encounters tables are the core of the 'sand box'. All, IMO, are decent size and detailed enough that this alone could provide hours of awesome savage worlds iconic play!
• For Veteran and/or creative GM's there is plenty of room (and encouraged by author) to insert your own Savage tales, stories and adventures as needed. The world is detailed enough that it should give you enough seeds to build whatever you would like here.

NEUTRAL (or just random thoughts to help your purchase consideration)

• There are way more plot points than the actual savage tales. There are 2 savage tales which is surprising to me. This is in the neutral section just because it was surprising not because its a pro or a con. FYI.
• It seems to me that a good chunk of the campaign, outside of the PP's, is composed of the Mission Generator, Salvaging, gaining favor with various factions (ala the Favors system) and exploring the 3 regions, instead of the traditional Savage Tales to accomodate. So, again this is not a mark for or against, its more of an FYI. IMO, this seems like a fun style to play in (since i posted this in the PROs section).

CONS: Ok here is a SPOILER area. I only have 1 (minor CON). I will post a spoiler free version of it first then i will post a spoiler version.

Spoiler Free CON:

• There are a couple of Plot Points that seem to be railroady. They are PP's that must be run (due to story consistency) and make certain conditions happen to the heroes--which IMO, some may not like. I mark this in the CON section because these PP's seem very railroady to me. Which for a sandbox, IMO, should not heve these types of PP's.

Overall, this is a solid Savage worlds product that will provide many hours of Savage Worlds goodness!

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SPOILER CON: 2 of the PPs seems very railroady.

• There is a PP where the heroes get 'caught' essentially. Not captured but their cover is blown. This isn't an optional PP--it just happens. In addition. a subsequent PP (down the line) makes assumptions that the PC's get caught and are written accordingly. This really breaks the sandboxy nature of the campaign IMO. In fact, the PP as a whole seems to be written very much in the traditional 'adventure' style where: this happens, then this happens, then this happens. Which really breaks my heart because savage worlds PP's are sandboxy by design and this seems to break this mold. In fact, the sandbox stuff doesn't really kick in until PP 4;--see point 6 under PROS. It really gives a feel that the sandbox is optional and not required. I do think this is easily 'fixable' and veteran GM's will easily be able to adjust the game to the playstyle of the players but i just wanted to make a note of this since it was surprising and a little disappointing.

I love how they have balanced the power of fear and the power of the characters. In too many games one just overwhelms the other but in Savage Worlds it is done really well.

Since the release of the original Deadlands RPG, it's been one of my favorite games. It's a great western/horror blend with a dash of steampunk (full disclosure--I'm not a big steampunk fan), but it all works well together to make a great setting. One of the most attractive features of Deadlands is its system, which involves resolving some features of the game with hands of poker and using cards to determine initiative. This fits very well with the wild west theme, given the prevelance of poker in old-west movies--and this makes Deadlands one of the most fitting settings for the Savage World system. It helps that the game's original rules were the basis for the Savage World gaming system, of course.

The setting of Deadlands is an alternative history in which a cataclysmic event brings magic and monsters back to the world, and much of the supernatural activity is centered in the American West--which is still a point of contention between the USA and Confederacy, given that the war never ended in this reality. Territories are disputed for the supernatural mineral--ghost rock--that is used to build technological wonders. Players are given a lot of leeway in building characters, and can play pretty much any sort of character found in a Western, such as gunslingers, cattle rustlers, and Native American braves--but also can play supernatural characters if they pick an edge (a character feature in Savage Worlds terms) that gives them the ability to use magic. This makes character creation very flexible, and there are a lot of options for players, including things like nuns and preachers with divine power, Kung-Fu monks, Native American shaman, vudu priests, mad scientists who create technological wonders, and sorcerors called 'huxters', who use decks of cards to work their magic.

The Savage Worlds system provides a set of generic rules on which individual settings build their own additions. Deadlands does so very nicely--especially in the rules for magic, which give a list of magic power options, and how they manifest by caster class. For example, the 'armor' power for a for a player with divine powers will manifest in attacks simply missing them, but the same power for shaman will appear as a shimmering war vest, while a mad scientist will simply wear a bullet-proof vest. Deadlands plays close attention to this sort of flair in their games. The writing does a great job of evoking the old west, with it's use of wild west vocabulary such as using terms like shootin' iron instead of 'gun'), and the renaming of Savage Worlds' 'bennies' as 'fate chips'--poker chips that grant benefits on rolls, with some expanded rules for different colored chips, which again evokes the popularity of poker in Westerns.

Overall, like the original Deadlands RPG, Deadlands Reloaded does a great job of building an old west fantasty setting, and giving it rules that thematically fit the setting. That has always been Deadland's strength, and it contiues to be the case with this edition.

Read the complete review at Geeksagogo.com!

It's nice to have minis that exactly match the things you'll encounter in 50 Fathoms. There are about 14 characters, 20 warriors of various types, and some giant spiders and creatures unique to 50 Fathoms. Many have a dozen copies on a page, so you can print up a fight pretty easily.

The enclosing boxes for humanoids are 31mm tall. The tall Atani and the short (5 foot) Grael are the same height.

31mm looks a little small against Reaper and Pathfinder minis, and you can scale these up about 10% before the edges get cropped. I wish the layout had supported 20% zoom without cropping. These also look small against ArcKnight's excellent 2D plastic pirate minis.

The art could be more defined, but it's certainly adequate to the task and this set is worth purchasing if you play with minis.

Savage Worlds is a generic set of RPG rules that can be applied to many genres and settings, be they purely historical, or set in fantasy or sci-fi worlds. Savage Worlds largely based on the rules for the Wild West horror game, Deadlands (which you can play under these rules!), and has been expanded into a system that can be applied to any setting. This system is known for its use of different polyhedral dice to represent a character's ability and skill level (1d4 for the lowest, through 1d12 for highest), and playing cards to represent combat initiative order. Players roll their die to meet a target number, and the game uses exploding dice--they get re-rolled and the result added if they come up with the highest result. Playing cards are handed out at the start of combat and players act in order of the value of their cards. The mechanics of the game are, for the most part, good and easy to understand, though there are a few small issues with some aspects. The use of exploding dice creates some irregularities in terms of probability. For example, players rolling a d8 to have a slightly better chance of rolling a 10 (by rolling an 8 and then re-rolling to hit at least a 2) than player rolling a d10, even though a d8 attribute is supposed to be the weaker of the two. This only happens in limited circumstances and only accounts for a small difference. Playing cards determining initiative is a very interesting and unique mechanic that can make combat more dynamic than in other games. This use of different die types for ability/skill rolls, and playing cards really sets Savage Worlds apart from other gaming systems that typically have you rolling the same d6s or d20 repeatedly and adding a modifier, but these mechanics do add a bit of overhead to gameplay. Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition's main strength is that it somehow blends versatility and brevity. It's a relatively short book for an RPG rulebook, but it gives you so much, and it's easy to get a game going. You don't even need to read through the entire 160 or so pages to be able to run a game--and you'll be able to run games in multiple settings once you know the basic rules. The game even includes 5 adventures, two set in medieval fantasy worlds, two modern-day settings (one with a horror twist, and the other with a crime theme), and another in outer-space. There's enough material to create your own setting and adventures. There are rules for pretty much anything you want to do, from melee with ancient weapons, to piloting space ships, to magic. It even has some nice rules for modern-day combat tactics, such as supressive fire, and semi-automatic weapons. Though Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition offers a great place to start, the system is enhanced by settings that expand upon the base rules. Once you learn the rules, pick up some sourcebooks and setting guides that offer setting-specific rules and rich background material for your adventures. We look forward to reviewing some of these settings in the future.

Read the full review at GeeksaGogo.com!

PDF does match printed copy from the collectors box set.

It is an interesting setting to play in, with well though rules to make it feel different even at mechanical level, and playing very differently to how modern times’ monster hunters would. I wrote a more detailed review here.

It is not perfect for every story and genre, but it is quite good for most, specially any adventure oriented setting or theme, to introduce people to the hobby. Good with long campaigns and very good when planning one-shots with all one-sheets around. Here is a more detailed review.

This is the best generic system I've ever played or read. It's simple to teach to new players (I've taught people to play who have never even played video game rpgs) and quick to run: you can run interesting tactical battles with 20 adversaries per side that go just as quickly as a typical D&D fight with 5 players vs 5 monsters. It's very flexible and easy to hack for almost any sort of game you want to run, from space opera to old school dungeon crawling.

Still a comic-book setting without much in the way of sense, style, or substance. Much like Rifts, they hurl everything into one setting: Old West, Occult, the saddest steampunk avalible, and anything else they can think of.

JUdicious editing and adult leadership would have taken a promising concept and produced two great settings.

This is an excellent set of rules. Well written and easy to understand, it will make play run smoothly, quickly and efficiently. A simple task resolution system that applies to combat it lends itself to both narrative play and combat resolution.

Skills are grouped into easy to adapt sets and hinderances and edges are explained in a coincise manner. Purchasing equipment and dealing damage is done in a straightforward way.

They have several settings already fleshed out (Deadlands Reloaded, Solomon Kane, Weird War, Ripper, Space 1889, etc) and it can easily be adapted to any sandbox setting with a minimum of effort.

I really like these rules and I glad I ran across them.

A great resource for pulp sci-fi. Whether you're running Flash Gordon, Slipstream, or some other setting, there's a ton of nice edges, hindrances, gear, creatures, and adventure ideas to mine from this book. The art is beautiful, and I especially like all the clippings from the comics everywhere.

A wonderful Retro 'Rockets and Rayguns' style SciFi RPG. Look no further for Flash Gordon style adventures in a well thought out pulp setting covered in plot hooks.

A half dozen pulp-scifi style species to play as with good roleplaying details for each

A Large gazeteer of the Slipstream setting

A complete plot point campaign

A dozen 'Savage Tales' suitable for oneshots, sidequests or random encounters.

A random adventure generator

A large bestiary of pulp-scifi baddies and monsters

Full colour art throughout. The PDF is bookmarked.

Man! What a gip! The author(s) made no attempt to impose any soert of internal consistancy on the material. They juat took the lazy way out an slapped down ahost of out-dated and silly ideas with no thought to making it appealing to a new gneration! What a dissapointment. Also...where are the rocketships !?!

Solid work with a good variety of wierd vs wild and historical, as everyone else has mentioned. My only gripe is that rather than one of the outstanding pieces of artwork, if they could have included a player friendly route map. It would have helped focus the group on the progress they are making. A helpful addition when running a "traveling" style adventure in any genre.