So far I've only read through the Savage Worlds version of the adventures, and they're great. The NPC's all have good motivations, and the way the demons are treated really lets the GM lean into some tropes to help with RPing them. This also gives them simple clear motivations to guide things if the player's go off the rails a bit. I also appreciate that things aren't overly scripted, there's plenty of foom for everyone at the table to guide the action.

Well worth the money, I hsould check out all the other goodies that came with it.

Every so often, a supplement comes along that sets a new bar, and in electronic RPG supplements innovation and progress almost always comes in the direction of flexibility and usefulness. 0one Games' amazing layered PDF maps set a new standard for interactivity in map supplements. Champions' San Angelo: City of Heroes let you click to change the supplement from one game system to another. And I have to say, Deadly Seven pushes flexibility and usefulness about as far as you can expect. RPG publishers should take careful note of the many ways that Deadly Seven uses its format to help play this exciting, horrific story at the table.

First, let's note that you get a d20 Modern version, a Savage Worlds version, and a True20 version (my favorite). You get clue cards related to some of the more detailed investigations that can be handed over to the players. You get maps. You get character sheets. You get absolutely everything you can get in order to help you lay out the situation for the players.

But even within these materials there are even more features. The supplement contains hyperlinks - just click on a character (or demon's) name and you'll go straight to a description of that character. Click on the name of a place and you'll go to where that place is described. The supplement is heavily bookmarked as well.

On top of that, the supplement contains many organizational charts - such as a relationship map showing who is connected to who and how - crucial for developing realistic-feeling mysteries.

And this isn't just icing - the supplement itself uses these interlocked features to a stunning degree, by presenting a multifaceted investigation/mystery into several psychiatric patients who become possessed to varying degrees by demons. Without going into spoiler territory, I just want to mention that the structure of this supplement should be something that everyone writing or running mysteries should read: after a single incident/puzzle brings the player characters into investigating the situation, some of the other demons begin to respond and target the PCs. From there, the investigation is wide open - the players can pursue different leads in different ways. It's also unique because the scientist whose brilliant idea led to the possessions is actually a pretty mild mannered guy who doesn't believe in the supernatural (this is fine with the demons). Each of the demons has their own timeline that's detailed in the sidebar of their section, and depending on where and how the PCs intervene, they may respond in different ways.

There's also a detailed section on the 7 Deadly Sins as they were understood in medieval times and some new possession and exorcism guidelines that help add some flavor to the terrifying power. There's a sort of possession FAQ with the questions answered in "orthodox, progressivist and quasi-scientific" ways, which is amazing, since different PCs may come at possession from different perspectives. There's even a list of medical conditions that might be confused with possession, to help with laying in red herrings or for blinkered NPC doctors to suggest. And if that's not enough there are historical accounts of possession and hauntings!

It is simply ludicrous how far this supplement goes to create a fully fleshed out world which the players can dig around in and pursue terribly evil monsters. And the demons are monstrous - cannibalism and rape just scratch the surface here. Your players will want to end this menace and will be amazed at how far they can go pursuing it.

If you poked me with a sharp stick over and over and demanded that I tell you something about this to improve it would be that the file names used for the various versions all show up on rpgnow as "The_Deadly_Seven", meaning you have to download all three to find which game system you want. It's a common mistake many publishers make. But this is nitpicking. It's one of the best supplements on the site because of its innovative use of the many advantages of electronic RPG creation. If you want to see what I'm always on about in my other reviews - about how just scanning your dumb print product and putting it up is not good enough - Deadly Seven will show you just how good games can be here.

I honestly have to say Panik Productions goes the extra mile here. It’s meant to be used with any system, but there’s already THREE versions of each the book and NPC/enemy character stat sheets, one written for each of the d20 Modern, True20, and Savage Worlds systems. It’s appreciated to have options ready right out of the gate. The included 5 maps have layers to turn on and off a grid, the cars, furniture, or the room labels. They are nicely detailed, and general enough to be used over and over. There’s also “clue cards” that are great to add to the immersion for the players, giving them something to hold, study, and sort when trying to figure out what to ask/do/try next. The book itself is organized well with both overt and subtle threats. There’s timelines for the overarching story, a relationship chart that easily shows all the connections, and motives and emotions explained for the NPCs, both big and small. Later there are further ideas and explanations for expanding upon what’s given.
A brand new GM may have trouble with the behind-the-scenes stuff that can be challenging to keep track of – but if you’re not worried about “off-screen” NPCs having actions and consequences dependent on in-game outcomes, and just run everything straight, then there shouldn’t be any problems. Furthermore, although conflict can come up a-plenty, it’s not really what this module is about, and therefore may not be best used with more combat-oriented players. There’s a lot of time that will be spent investigating, discussing, planning, and engaging in dialog, and someone just looking for a good smash-‘em-up will bore easily. But I love the theme, the NPC characters have personality that you’re able to run with, the battles are appropriate with guidelines to make them scalable, and it’s just exciting to read all the ideas and want to expose the players, little by little, to what’s happening around them. Easily the best buy I’ve gotten here in a long time, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something new to play.

WHAT WORKS: A very multilayered module that isn’t a railroad. Some great examples of how to do different types of adventures in Savage Worlds, such as an investigation. The Possession sourcebook is comprehensive as well. The NPCs are all generally well written…surprisingly so, in some cases. The PCs not only decide how successful each mission is, but even the end result in most cases.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: The organization can be a bit dodgy at first, especially when you realize that the various threats can easily run over the tops of each other (and probably will). The adult content is pretty hard to remove, and will limit the audience because of it. If you run just the threats with no interruption, the common links of each case could get repetitive.

CONCLUSION: A very nice product with lots of variety, great handouts and examples about how to tackle different scenarios in Savage Worlds. In addition, the product takes advantage of the digital medium with layers utilized to switch between rules sets in the adventure, helpful “How Tos” for the Clue Cards and making the pages printer friendly. Deadly Seven is a great example of a scenario that has no assumed outcome, positive or negative, for the encounters, leaving all of that entirely in the hands of the PCs. Well worth checking out if you don’t mind some sex, drugs and violence in your games.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2012/08/tommys-take-on-deadly-seven.html