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Great swashbuckling game. It takes the Barbarians of Lemuria rules and makes them better. Great additions for the genre. I did not feel anything was missing, quiet the contrary. There is so much here I could not decide If I wanted to do Pirates, Musketeers or anything else in between. But not only the rules are fantastic, there are also copious amounts of background information and plot ideas for the whole world. I mean that. Fictitious history, but still close enough to get you a good idea on how to run things in any particular area. There is even information on how to run a bit more fantastical campaign like Pirates of the Caribbean or Regime Diabolique. This is not only a rulebook, but a swashbuckling toolkit. Heartily recommended, my favorite swashbuckling game, such a fantastic work.
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It took a while, but finally the second Short Assignment for Covert Ops with the title “Olympus Rising” has been released by DWD Studios.
The 23 Page PDF has the familiar clear and good looking layout you are used to for DwD Studio Titles. While the adventure does not contain any artwork it does have several detailed, full color maps that look really good. Much better than the in from Burning Presidents did, a real jump in quality. For convenience the download ZIP contains all of them in player and Gm variants as PNG or JPG for easy rescaling and printing for your needs, or use in a Virtual TableTop like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. Something I really appreciate since most of my gaming is online these days. And it makes it easy to reuse the maps, even if you do not run the adventure as written.
I do not want to say too much about the plot, but it has a tie in with “Burning Presidents”, the first Short Assignment. It is absolutely not required to play them in order because it is a very thin link and something a lot of players may have overlooked in the original adventure anyway. Still, it ties them together nicely and also lays the groundwork to show that there is a bigger threat hidden somewhere and the players only begin to discover that in “Olympus Rising”. They won’t uncover much though and I imagine that story will continue in the next short assignment, creating a nice campaign arc.
The adventure itself is really much more location descriptions than anything else, it is correctly billed as a small sandbox adventure. The players get a mission, some information, some maps and are sent off to figure out what and how to do it on their own. An approach I absolutely prefer as it allows the players and the GM the most freedom. There are 2 main Locations to investigate and both are interesting and very fitting to the genre.
The first location has the most detail including maps of the area with patrol routes. Sadly not all areas in this first part got a map, so there is some improvisation required. However These areas are not really critical to the mission. Still, would have been nice. The mission critical areas have a description that is enough to get you going but not so much detail it suffocates you. Everything else is left up to you to fill in. All the information given is enough to have the players approach this area however they like, via, stealth, force or undercover, and the GM should be able to handle it.
The second area is a bit thin and it is a noticeable difference in the amount of details provided. This section is only 2,5 pages long, plus maps. It is assumed that this area is more of an undercover affair. There are tips on how to approach it differently as well though. The Lack of detail hurts though and it might have been better to spin the whole thing off into a separate mission, or at least give it some more space. I can´t help but feel there are things missing.
Operation “Olympus Rising” is a mixed bag. While I appreciate the sandbox approach to the adventure it does run counter to the claim of “short missions that require little preparation time for the GM”. In this regard Burning Presidents was the better of the two. Here a lot is left to the GM as the author tries to describe a relatively big mission area in as few pages as possible. All the necessary parts to run it are there, but many details you will need to deliver yourself. Depending how comfortable you are at improvisation this will be a light prep adventure for you or barely a framework you have to really invest time in. Most GMs fall somewhere in between the two extremes.
If you need more fodder for your espionage campaign go ahead and give “Olympus Rising” a whirl. It is a good product, especially at the price of 2,99 USD. The maps alone are worth the price of admission in my opinion. Still, there is some work to be done and it feels like something that has been cut out of a whole. I am eager to see the next part in the series though because it looks like they are building up to something, and I can´t wait to see what that is.
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This week finally saw a new release from the DWD Studio Folks. A small accessory for all the BareBones Spellcasters out there. I can´t comment on the physical properties of the cards as I only have the PDF.
I am fond of cards for spells and abilities since the first sets of spellcards appeared on Drivethrough back when the DnD OGL was new. I always found these a great aid at the table and this is no different. It has each spell from BBF on a separate card with the full text from the book. It is really easy to create your own Spellbook out of the PDF if you do not have the physical cards like me.
The set also contains one card for each of the spellcasting skills. Not as useful as the spellcards in my view but a good addition nonetheless and a practical handout to give to a player if they do not have the rulebook.
But this is not only a rehash of already available material, the deck also contains two totally new spells and one spell that was previously only published in Decahedron, the D00lite Fanzine, plus one entirely new spellcaster skill, the Elementalist.
The two new spells fill a gap in the already available powers that I did miss from the original BBF release. The first is the mind control spell “Dominion” and the second one is “Conjure”, a spell to call forth mundane items. And finally, “Commune”, as the name suggests a spell to communicate. Not only with the living but also with the dead. While the last one was available from the magazine already, it is nice to have all official spells in one place.
The new skill “Elementalist” is again a strongly themed skill with interesting abilities that make it a worthwhile addition to the available skills and not a mere extra skill for an extra skill sake.
While the price for the card deck plus PDF of 6,99 USD is very reasonable, I feel 5,99 USD for the PDF only is a bit steep. But if shipping is no issue for you, simply go for the great valued 6,99 USD Card and PDF Bundle. I now regret I did not go for that immediately, even though I would have had to pay extra shipping. Live and learn.
No matter if you are a BBF DM or player, this set of cards will be useful for you, as it allows for quick reference during play without the need to crack open the Rulebook. Recommended.
Originally posted on http://www.chaotic-gm.com
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How useful this book is depends on what your games focus is. As the title suggests this is only useful if your fantasy campaign features cities or towns. I have not read all of it yet, I believe it would be counterproductive to do so. There are 100 entries which color a city or town. They range from NPC encounters to catastrophic events. Some are roleplaying encounters, other very much a war in the making, others funny. There are a ton of great ideas in there. There was nothing on my first skim through that stood out as bad. I think they under market it a bit. Because essentially these are 100 quests that can happen in a town. There are no stats of course but just enough information to get the ball rolling quickly and they are generic enough to not interfere with the established world order of your campaign. I highly recommend it! But if you are a person that is very well prepped and does not need random interference in the story line this will be pretty useless to you except may be the 10 city maps. Others charge this kind of money for the maps alone, so it could be bargain for you if you need some neat maps for small towns.
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I like the map, fantastic work on that one. Alas there is no grid less version sadly which costs it one star rating for my use.
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Another great Village map. This time it also contains a grid less version that makes it even better to use. I appreciate the style that is unusual for village maps and a bit dark fantasy with a Nothern/Viking touch.
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I have bought this for 3 Dollar and for that money it is a steal. The Portraits are of good quality and as the name suggests in a sketch art style, one I personally preferr to too detailed images. They are a mix of male and female classic pulp characters and villains. I will get a lot of use out of this for any pulp game I will run the future and I hope the other teased releases like Fantasy and Sci-Fi will see the light of day soon.
The only thing I do not like is that there is the word "Adventure" in the typical Indiana Jones Font at the bottom of the images and covering a bit of the sketch. There is also the Artists name and copyright notice on each card below the portrait. I wish I could turn these off as I find this distracting and in case of the covering part it limits their use in various games and genres somewhat. But that is nitpicky for 3 bucks. When I would have paid 10 USD I would be a bit angry.
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Creator Reply: |
Good to hear you liked the cards and got a good deal nabbing them during our holiday season sale. Be sure to check out our other products as well and thanks again. |
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This is a great interlude adventure with a Northern/Viking touch. There are surprisingly few of these around and I am glad I found it. The adventure could work in a variety of settings with minor tweaks however. It has a believable Storyline, interesting NPCs and locations too. The included Battlemaps alone are worth the price! There is a great hall, 2 snow covered Village squares, a frozen river and finally a mysterious stone circle. They look fantastic and there is even a diagram for each map showing where the PCs and the enemies are when a scene begins. The Layout is very readable and simply looks good. It is a very professional product. At 2,99 it is a great value for your dollars but for 0,99 it is a total steal! I will definitely check out the other products from KromeDragon and keep an eye out for future products. I wish there where more small publishers with this level of quality around. I just wish this would be available for Savage Worlds too so I could skip the conversion process.
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From my blog http://www.chaotic-gm.com
Olympian Breed Is a new product from Palewolf Publising. This is a dual release with the first , free, PDF focusing on the characters and the second PDF containing the first adventure in an ongoing. What is it about? As the name suggest the story is set in ancient times. To quote from their website:
“These adventures take place in the age of heroes before Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. You are transported to a fantastic era when demigods roamed the world slaying horrifying titans and fulfilling ominous prophecies. Within these tales, you explore all the classic themes that are so prevalent in Greek mythology such as, heroism, faith, love, tragedy, generosity, and sacrifice. This is an age of myth, before the beginning of recorded Greek history, where great heroes clashed against the darkest of terrors. Throughout the game, the players fight to overcome their own human trappings and prove to be more than just mere mortals. They also discover that their Godly parents are far more human than they were lead to believe.”
It is written for the Explorer Edition of the rules and requires the Fantasy Companion for the Monsters and the Supers Powers Companion for the characters. Compatibility to the Savage Worlds Deluxe rules is not a problem but I wish they would have specifically referenced the latest edition of the rules or at least acknowledged them.
The Looks
The PDF´s are professionally designed and the production value is good throughout. The artwork fits and is not overburdening the presentation. It is just enough to start your imagination. There is nothing extraordinary springing to mind but it all fits well together and the PDF is pleasing on the eyes. They are not bookmarked in any way but due to the small page count that is not much of an issue.
The Contents
Olympian Breed - Setting & Character Creation Guide
The Setting guide is available for free from DrivethruRPG. It has a total of eight pages. One Page is the Cover, one page is a map of antique Greece and 2 Pages for the character sheet. So the real content is more like three and a half pages as about half the space of one page is taken up by an art piece.
The first page gives a short introduction into the era, the characters and the area. This description is very short and contains no specifics and only short references to places and people. If you are not too familiar with greek lore you need to visit the local library or do some further Internet research to really build a world to play in.
The Historic Map is nice to look at and shows you the area around Greece. It is an antique real world map and as such has no references to Mythical Greece. I am no scholar and would put it in the 1800 maybe? It also seems color coded but there is no explanation of the colors anywhere.
Character Creation section basically tells you to use the Super Powers companion to build your characters and replaces the Super Powers Edge with a new one that has some extra flavor added for the setting but essentially works similar. Besides this change there are no new edges and only one new Major Hindrance, “Destiny” which is exactly what it says.
Next up is a short equipment list of three weapons and five armor pieces. The weapons: Dory Spear, Trident and Xiphos “Short Sword” are iconic for the age and a good addition to the basic armory from the Explorers Edition. Same for the armor, the Aspis Shield is a staple of the time as is the Thracian Helmet or a Sculpted Leather or Bronze Armor. They are mostly illustrated and all have a short description.
The last page is referring to character backgrounds and is a list of eleven question to ask your players about their characters. Nothing extraordinary but gives some direction for the characters fitting the era of ancient heroes and puts them on a path.
And finally the character sheet takes up the last two pages. It looks good and has enough space for all your character information needs.
Olympian Breed: Act One
The first adventure for Olympian Breed is available for 4,99 $ at DrivethruRPG. From the seven page PDF one page is the cover and the last Page is left blank.
The used artwork is serviceable but seems a step down from the works used in the Character Creation guide.
I will not go into details of the story to not spoil anything. The adventure is more of an encounter. It consists of a short introduction to the area, some important NPCs, a fight and a send off. There are no plans for any of the areas nor are there any paper miniatures for any of the monsters. The stat blocks contain all necessary information to run this event. There is a nice sidebar explaining what needs to happen during the encounter. This is a good idea as it keeps the GM focused on the tasks that need to be accomplished for the story, even if it is not really complex in this case.
Overall the offering is a bit meager as the background is described but not in any detail. Why are the characters there? What do they do? There is a table for rumors but there is no mention anywhere that the players actually have a reason or place to look for them or why they would. There is a lot of world building left to the GM to flesh out the area and make an adventure out of these pages.
Conclusion
As you may be able to tell already I am overall disappointed in these PDF. The character guide is free so the value of that PDF is good. It seems more like well represented notes to get you started to create your own ancient setting then a real setting guide however.
The Adventure however is another matter. Story and content wise I am left with the feeling this is basically a blown up one sheet with some added flavor and background sold for the price of a full adventure. I hate to write something negative but this PDF is overpriced for the content delivered. There are many other adventure PDF out there that cost one or two dollars more but have ten times the content including maps and some even paper miniatures. As it is I can not recommend this adventure to anyone unless you specifically look for a short encounter set in ancient Greece.
[EDIT] With the change in Price to 2,99 I have amended my scoring. The Price is more reasonable for what is delivered now too. Still a bit short on the content but a bit easier to forgive as the production values are good and the writing excellent.[/EDIT]
They already announced the next part in the adventure series and I hope they will improve on the base they have laid. The writing is great and the context is given in an easy to digest format. I get the feeling the writer knows his mythology very well. I wish Palewolf Publishing the best for the future and will continue to keep an eye on their releases as the writing hints at great things to come.
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From my blog http://www.chaotic-gm.com
Olympian Breed Is a new product from Palewolf Publising. This is a dual release with the first , free, PDF focusing on the characters and the second PDF containing the first adventure in an ongoing. What is it about? As the name suggest the story is set in ancient times. To quote from their website:
“These adventures take place in the age of heroes before Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. You are transported to a fantastic era when demigods roamed the world slaying horrifying titans and fulfilling ominous prophecies. Within these tales, you explore all the classic themes that are so prevalent in Greek mythology such as, heroism, faith, love, tragedy, generosity, and sacrifice. This is an age of myth, before the beginning of recorded Greek history, where great heroes clashed against the darkest of terrors. Throughout the game, the players fight to overcome their own human trappings and prove to be more than just mere mortals. They also discover that their Godly parents are far more human than they were lead to believe.”
It is written for the Explorer Edition of the rules and requires the Fantasy Companion for the Monsters and the Supers Powers Companion for the characters. Compatibility to the Savage Worlds Deluxe rules is not a problem but I wish they would have specifically referenced the latest edition of the rules or at least acknowledged them.
The Looks
The PDF´s are professionally designed and the production value is good throughout. The artwork fits and is not overburdening the presentation. It is just enough to start your imagination. There is nothing extraordinary springing to mind but it all fits well together and the PDF is pleasing on the eyes. They are not bookmarked in any way but due to the small page count that is not much of an issue.
The Contents
Olympian Breed - Setting & Character Creation Guide
The Setting guide is available for free from DrivethruRPG. It has a total of eight pages. One Page is the Cover, one page is a map of antique Greece and 2 Pages for the character sheet. So the real content is more like three and a half pages as about half the space of one page is taken up by an art piece.
The first page gives a short introduction into the era, the characters and the area. This description is very short and contains no specifics and only short references to places and people. If you are not too familiar with greek lore you need to visit the local library or do some further Internet research to really build a world to play in.
The Historic Map is nice to look at and shows you the area around Greece. It is an antique real world map and as such has no references to Mythical Greece. I am no scholar and would put it in the 1800 maybe? It also seems color coded but there is no explanation of the colors anywhere.
Character Creation section basically tells you to use the Super Powers companion to build your characters and replaces the Super Powers Edge with a new one that has some extra flavor added for the setting but essentially works similar. Besides this change there are no new edges and only one new Major Hindrance, “Destiny” which is exactly what it says.
Next up is a short equipment list of three weapons and five armor pieces. The weapons: Dory Spear, Trident and Xiphos “Short Sword” are iconic for the age and a good addition to the basic armory from the Explorers Edition. Same for the armor, the Aspis Shield is a staple of the time as is the Thracian Helmet or a Sculpted Leather or Bronze Armor. They are mostly illustrated and all have a short description.
The last page is referring to character backgrounds and is a list of eleven question to ask your players about their characters. Nothing extraordinary but gives some direction for the characters fitting the era of ancient heroes and puts them on a path.
And finally the character sheet takes up the last two pages. It looks good and has enough space for all your character information needs.
Olympian Breed: Act One
The first adventure for Olympian Breed is available for 4,99 $ at DrivethruRPG. From the seven page PDF one page is the cover and the last Page is left blank.
The used artwork is serviceable but seems a step down from the works used in the Character Creation guide.
I will not go into details of the story to not spoil anything. The adventure is more of an encounter. It consists of a short introduction to the area, some important NPCs, a fight and a send off. There are no plans for any of the areas nor are there any paper miniatures for any of the monsters. The stat blocks contain all necessary information to run this event. There is a nice sidebar explaining what needs to happen during the encounter. This is a good idea as it keeps the GM focused on the tasks that need to be accomplished for the story, even if it is not really complex in this case.
Overall the offering is a bit meager as the background is described but not in any detail. Why are the characters there? What do they do? There is a table for rumors but there is no mention anywhere that the players actually have a reason or place to look for them or why they would. There is a lot of world building left to the GM to flesh out the area and make an adventure out of these pages.
Conclusion
As you may be able to tell already I am overall disappointed in these PDF. The character guide is free so the value of that PDF is good. It seems more like well represented notes to get you started to create your own ancient setting then a real setting guide however.
The Adventure however is another matter. Story and content wise I am left with the feeling this is basically a blown up one sheet with some added flavor and background sold for the price of a full adventure. I hate to write something negative but this PDF is overpriced for the content delivered. There are many other adventure PDF out there that cost one or two dollars more but have ten times the content including maps and some even paper miniatures. As it is I can not recommend this adventure to anyone unless you specifically look for a short encounter set in ancient Greece.
[EDIT] With the change in Price to 2,99 I have amended my scoring. The Price is more reasonable for what is delivered now too. Still a bit short on the content but a bit easier to forgive as the production values are good and the writing excellent.[/EDIT]
They already announced the next part in the adventure series and I hope they will improve on the base they have laid. The writing is great and the context is given in an easy to digest format. I get the feeling the writer knows his mythology very well. I wish Palewolf Publishing the best for the future and will continue to keep an eye on their releases as the writing hints at great things to come.
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-The looks:
Beasts and Barbarians is a 76 pages PDF file. The usual layer options are present and it is fully bookmarked. I have the habit of scanning the table of contents of any new RPG book I buy to get an overview of the contents and to check if there is something that stand out as interesting to me. However there is no table of contents here. The book starts with the introduction to the setting. A quick flip through reveals the table of contents is at the end of the book, after the index on the last few pages. An odd layout choice that I first found weird but got used to. If you read it at the screen it does even matter less.
The books artwork is of varying quality from very good to mediocre, while the good is definitely in the majority. Do not let the cover image fool you! Gramel is working on a replacement. The layout is nothing extraordinary but works well.
-The inner values:
Beasts and Barbarians opens to a short welcome note on the first page, proudly proclaiming some of the features of this setting book:
-Thirty new Edges
-Three arcane backgrounds
-Dozens of new weapons, armors, and mounts
-A simple but elegant system to develop your characters between sessions and to manage their wealth.
And of course more!
On the opposite side is a full-page map of the setting area, the Dread Sea Dominions. The Map is hand drawn and has many little details that already bring the setting to life and evoke several adventure hooks simply by small images of statues or monsters.
After a short introduction to the setting the Book of Lore Chapter begins. These 25 Pages hold everything you need to know about the Setting. At first it explores the history of the area and explains how the dread sea got its name. They also describe how the current countries and borders formed. There is a lot happening and one thing is certain after reading it: The place has a dark, twisted and violent history. The timeline begins with the destruction of an ancient empire, ends with its successors in decline, and covers about 2500 years. It is a detailed timeline and almost too much so for my taste.
The next section introduces the inhabitants of the Dread Sea Dominion with a bit more detail. Each of the seven described cultures is unique and none feel superfluous. Every Culture is a more or less fictitious version of an ancient, real world culture. You immediately have a strong visual image and can at least rudimentary imagine how to play a certain culture. See the picture below for the illustrations.
There are two more cultures: The Caleds, wood dwellers with powerful druids, and Pigmies. They are not meant for player characters and are subject of further publications.
The descriptions are very interesting, there are no statistics or modifiers for the cultures however. I prefer some modifiers through culture, like favored skills or similar small tweaks that satisfy the number crunchers and differentiates cultures in-game besides roleplaying. Right now race is only a cosmetic choice.
The following part in the Book of Lore chapter describes the overall way of life. It is a short summary of the technology available, the spoken languages, and practiced religions. It is a short section but again enough to give you a good idea of the current life in this world.
After a short text about the dominant climates in the Dread Sea Dominions the gazetteer begins. The descriptions of the various lands are short but evocative. Each ends with a special note. A place, tradition or event from the area, something that adds flavor and works as a plot hook at the same time. This is a very nice touch. The described landscapes are varied and range from the frozen mountains in the north through fertile farmland, savanna, and desert to steaming jungles in the south. There is enough area to explore and to recreate every possible classic Sword and Sorcery adventure. It is easy to inject the areas with a life of your own design too as the descriptions leave a lot of room for a GM to fill with his own ideas.
One thing that is missing from all descriptions is scale and distance. Even the world map has none. The designer explained on the pinnacle Forums that this is on purpose. For one the map is supposedly drawn by an NPC Explorer we will hear more about in future releases. And it allows the GM to scale the world as he needs it for his campaign.
With the gazetteer the background information for the setting is complete and the sections on game mechanics begin.
They start off by listing several Heroic Concepts, short descriptions that give you an idea about the kind of heroes that travel the Dread Sea Dominion. They read as you would expect for a Sword & Sorcery setting and contain every major archetype of the genre, no surprises there. Sadly they did not take the SWD approach and did not actually stat up these archetypes . It would have been a great starting point for player characters and NPCs alike.
Character creation follows the Savage Worlds Deluxe rules and there are no new skills in this setting. There are 4 new hindrances however. They all are fitting for the background. Several edges are modified, some rather heavily. For example the Ace edge now includes riding instead of piloting and is split in three separate edges, one for each affected skill.
While reading through the edges I realized the writer understated the numbers of new edges in his opening words. There are even more than stated: 33 + 3 Arcane backgrounds, not 30. This sounds like a lot of new edges, but if you break them down into the categories it is much more reasonable: 7 background edges, 7 combat edges, 7 power edges, 9 professional edges and 3 weird edges. As far as I can tell they did not duplicate already existing edges but rather created new and interesting choices.
The background edges fit the setting really well and tie in neatly with the cultures and history. Combat edges give us new abilities fitting for such a barbaric world. The most iconic one is the “Loincloth Hero/Bikini Heroine” Edge. It is an interesting take on the naked warrior problem by giving the character free soak rolls. It sounds a bit too powerful on paper but it is hard to tell without a play test. All power edges are of course linked to the new Arcane Backgrounds. The Gramel designers also created some really interesting professional edges that mesh neatly with the background. Even the weird edges are useful throughout.
The next chapter covers the Magic of the setting. As advertised there are three new arcane backgrounds: Lotusmastery, Sorcery, and Path of Enlightenment.
A Lotusmaster is an alchemist who creates concoctions out of the various deadly lotus plants that bind the specific powers in powders or potions.
The art of sorcery is truly dangerous to the user and can leave him permanently scarred.
The path of Enlightenment is the only AB that does not have access to any offensive spells. A character with this arcane background does not cast spells in the usual sense but is more of a shaolin monk. His powers are special abilities and extraordinary moves.
For these new backgrounds there are 4 new powers available. Each one is useful in itself and they seem in line with the core powers. All in all the Magic is very Sword and Sorcerish, with a hint of danger or secrecy. I really like their approach to the Lotus master, it is an interesting alchemy variant. There are very stylish example trappings for each AB that are a very good starting point to create your own.
After Magic comes the chapter for the more mundane things : Weapons, Armor, Items, Animals etc. Everything a fledgling adventurer needs to survive this dangerous world. There are weapons and armors for everything you could need. Interestingly they grouped the armor simply into light/medium/heavy without describing specific armors. Not sure I like that as it lacks flavor. That is not an issue with the weapons, the list is full of new and culture specific toys. I like that listing a lot, it is comprehensive without being bloated.
Next up: Setting rules. There aren´t many. But what is there is interesting, like “Savings” and the “After Adventure Events”. The Saving rules basically explain how the characters never have much money as they usually spend or lose it all between adventures. Do not worry if the characters find a huge statue of massive gold. They still wont have enough in a few days time. Tying in with the "Savings" rule is the “After the Adventure Event Table”. A player can draw a card between adventures to find out what their characters where up to. There are good and bad things in it and the result usually leaves the character with a temporary effect, hindrance, or edge for the next adventure. It is a clever addition and can help inspire interim stories and even small plot hooks.
Finally we have reached the Game Master Appendix. This section has some quick tips on how to GM the game and some examples on challenging the players besides combat. It also has information on how to play campaigns with different group sizes and how to tweak the setting to your liking. The most hilarious Combat edge I have read so far is also found here: Barbarian Belch (Combat Edge). It is part of a paragraph about humorous games, the first time I see such a section in a setting book. The tips are helpful but nothing groundbreaking. It is interesting to note how adaptable this setting is.
The GM section also includes a list of 20 Relics for your players to find. Some evil and some powerful and most of them interesting but not necessary harmless. The list is a good start to build your own relics and enough to get your game started.
Finally there is a short monster primer. with only 11 Monsters this is not a huge list but a varied one. It gives a great first impression of the dangers the characters will encounter in the future. Together with the SWD there is enough here to start a campaign.
-Conclusion:
I like Beats and Barbarians. The history, culture and land descriptions are comprehensive enough, so you can just pick up and play in the Dread Sea Dominion. Most of this setting is immediately familiar and seems almost generic in its nature. The Dread Sea is vague enough so I can project my own ideas into it and does not suffocate me in details. That is the way I prefer my source books. The genericness is one of it`s strength and makes the book a good resource for your own Sword and Sorcery Campaign. But as I stated at several points during my review there are areas where they missed opportunities to make it even more comprehensive.
At the current price of 6,99 USD it is good purchase. Gramel also seems committed to Beasts and Barbarians and stated they aim for regular new releases. There area already two free adventures available to get you started right away. You can find these and other free goodies at their homepage for Beasts and Barbarians. I was hesitant to buy it at first but overall I am glad I did.
If you liked this review visit me at http://www.chaotic-gm.com
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Hello World!
This time I am trying my hands at a review for the Temporal Probability Agency (TPA) supplement from Apathy Games. What once was a Savage Worlds Blog is now a Game Studio and Savage Worlds Licensee.
Their first release is actually two items in one package : the "Agent' s Handbook", which has all the basic rules for the setting, and "To Predict and Serve Act 1: A Function of Probability" the first act of their campaign. This review is only about the "Agent' s Handbook". Lets find out what the Temporal Propability Agency is and have a look at the books content.
The Looks:
The "Agent's Handbook" comes as a 29 Page PDF File. It is fully bookmarked for easy on-screen navigation. There are several layer options to turn off for ink-friendly Printing. The interior design and layout is great and can easily match the best out there. They use a very subtle blue for headers, sidebars and Information of note which breaks up a page and is pleasing on the eyes. This makes reading the book a breeze and a joy to look at. It clearly shows that there is a lot of work in the visual design and layout, everything is professional. The interior BW Artwork is good. The style is consistent throughout the book without any big variations in terms of quality either. The whole document has a paper file feeling, with the background as a file folder and some Pictures, Notes and other material seemingly "taped in". Very fitting to the setting, evocative and still very easy to read.
The inner Values:
What is the Temporal Probability Agency? The first thing you will see on the inside of the cover is the "New Agent Primer" In one Page you pretty much get the idea what this might be about.
Characters
Becoming an Agent
Page 1-16
The section opens with a short story of how the life normal persons is thrown upside down because she is suddenly part of a TPA Mission. This is a good piece of fluff at the right place as it sets the mood and gets you right into the world. It then goes straight to Character Creation. There are no surprises as they use the Savage Worlds Engine without any changes. This Section also has New Hindrances, Edges and Gear.
The number of Hindrances (3) and Edges (8) is not inflationary. I find that positive as "Edgecreep" is sometimes an issue in other products. You will be disappointed if you are looking for a supplement with lots of new edges or hindrances . What is there is good however. All Edges fit the setting presented and simply by reading you will be able to imagine scenarios where they will be useful. They are all valuable to have and do not feel redundant. They also took care to offer something new to a variety of character concepts.
The Gear section is all of 3 Pages. Normal Weapons like Pistols and Rifles are simply listed in a single sidebar with all the necessary Information. The rest of the items are new and specific to the setting. They use the space to describe each in detail with illustrations. Substantial room is given to the descriptions of different Uniforms for TPA agents. Yes, you are not simply a secret James Bond kind of Agent. You are wearing a uniform and you are wearing it proud! Focus is also put on the nonlethal weapons instead of the guns. This subtly reinforces that the agents do not have a license to kill.
After this section the pregenerated Characters are listed. Each is presented in two different formats. One is the familiar Statblock I described in an earlier post, fully filled out like in most other publications. Additionally each has a partial Build that lists what kind of adjustments can still be made to a template to complete it. This could be helpful for a quick start when you have players that are a bit familiar with SW but don´t want to create their own character from scratch. I would use the partial Statblocks during a convention or for a one shot. It makes it easy for players to take a pregen and make him his own without any fuss. I was a bit disappointed that only four of the eight total pregenerated characters are illustrated. Mostly because I like the Illustrations and would appreciate to see more. The four illustrated are the same Characters as the ones on the cover. From Left to right: The Gadgeteer, the Patriot, the Wireman and the Cowboy. Additionally you have the Boxer, the Dropout, the Scalpel and the Stuntman. There is one pregen for most of the basic Charactertypes out there but all with a certain own charme and indeed character!
About the TPA
A brief introduction for the new agent
Pages 17-24
Again the section begins with a short story that gives us a glimpse into the life of another operative of the TPA. I would have expected the GM section here, but it does not contain any GM exclusive information. It first describes how an agent gets promoted, how you receive missions and the necessary gear to complete them. It explains what a "Laundry List" is: the To Do list of the field agents that clearly states what has to be done.
This list is integral to the game. Basically the players get a list of arbitrary and unrelated goals to complete. This could be anything from simply buying a newspaper in a specific place at a specific time to picking a fight with a specific person to breaking into a place and stealing something on a specific date or... you get the idea. The possibilities are endless and the goals can be as mundane or as exciting as you want them to be.
It gives very specific goals but how the players reach them is absolutely open. It is encouraged to be as creative as possible with absolutely no restrictions on approaches. The fun part is that the players need to reach these goals exactly as described on the list, no matter what happens. This is an interesting twist on the usual adventure Formula that should lead to some exciting scenarios. Buying a newspaper could suddenly become a heart pounding race through the city to get to the place in time while stuck in traffic.
Afterwards it shortly explains how Agents interact with the Law and how time works in this setting. The latter is not unimportant to understand how the tasks at hand and actions today affect the future. The last pages of the book are about the title giving Organization itself. A short history and description of the TPA and its structure complete this chapter. The back of the book has an Index that is very thorough for such a small book.
Conclusion:
The Setting is an interesting one. You do not need much to imagine the world this plays in, as it is basically alternative now. On the spot recruited agents are a prefect set up to basically drop your players into the following Campaign without them knowing what is really going on. You can really simply pick up the book and play it straight away. The writing is clear and to the point but still remains evocative enough to give you a feeling of the setting. It actually has a lot of quirky humor (Uniforms? Really?) but is never silly.
In a few places the writing seemed a bit odd. You begin reading a paragraph in a very cold, almost analytical sounding tone and ends in some humorous remark. This might have been done on purpose though and is a minor nit-pick in an overall great product.
The TPA Agent´s Handbook is a quick and interesting read, thanks to the great layout and writing. After a quick look at the Campaign part it seems to hold up equally well. I did not have the chance to fully read it so I cannot offer more that this for now. All in all I am really impressed with their first PDF and look forward to their future releases. At 5 Dollars this is great value-for-money, I am glad I bought it!
Read you soon @ http://www.chaotic-gm.com!
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I never was a huge Fan of Pulp RPG but this converted me! Great inspiring book. I especially love the Adventure generator which really does inspire and delivers weird, exciting, pulpy adventures and the NPCs for it too. Great overall job!
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