Framework Update

I had some time to work on my Savage Worlds framework recently fixing a few issues and adding some additional functionality.

I've been asked a number of time about custom lists and I've finally put those in. This is an optional function that won't show up unless the GM adds custom lists to his setting. You do this with a new macro called EditSettingsList. This creates the following dialog box.

Enter whatever lists you want. Next, bring up a character sheet. You should see a new link titled 'Other'. Click this to add values from the lists you created as the GM.

After you Submit, the character sheet should show the selected values.

I also changed the Weapon Use function to give the ability to reload at any time. Find the ColtM1911 above, you now see a (number). This is the number of shots fired. If you select the weapon you now have a Reload option.

In addition, I've added a few things to the output of trait tests in the chat window. It now shows what modifiers went into the roll. I also fixed the bug with trait modifiers. The SS Officer has a -6 to hit due to range, wounds, fatigue, and autofire. You can now see this on the output.

I have the file out for testing. I'll let it bake a week then fold it into the main campaign file for distribution.

Update:
We tested this file on Tuesday during our normal bi-weekly game. It worked fine. The download link is
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6038607/TROLLWARE.zip

You can find instructions for on the full framework here
http://rptroll.blogspot.com/p/savage-worlds-framework-for-maptool.html

Shane Lacy Hensley visits San Diego, shares stories, ideas, and drops some hints!

Shane Lacy Hensley, creator of Savage Worlds, visited one of San Diego's FLGS: Game Empire on Saturday, May 4th.

At first I tried to think of an event in San Diego that would merit such attention. Was it a Deadlands tournament at Game Empire? No, they had flyers sharing Shane's visit up for the past two weeks but no mention of anything other than the visit.

Was it the Gaslight Gathering, a Steampunk convention with a gaming room open all weekend? No.

So what was it?

Well, at 1pm I discovered Shane was just here to visit his old gaming buddy from College, Richard Speakman. Luckily for us, Richard asked if Shane wanted to visit his favorite gaming store and Shane said yes bringing free Deadlands Comics for Free Comic Book day to boot.  He also wanted to sit and visit with the local Savage Worlds Fans. 

Once we all had our game books signed, Shane sat at the big middle gaming table and answered  questions, listened to our ideas, and shared stories. Before we get to some of the new fast, furious, and fun stuff Shane shared, I had to ask Richard if he had any stories from the old days. 

He offered "How about the first Deadlands session?"

"Excellent", I said. "Tell me!"

Here's the recap:   Back in 1990-91, Shane, Richard, and several others were rpg gamers and college students at Virginia Tech. They liked Westerns but there weren't other wild west games other than Boot Hill . So Shane created his own western adventure for his group but it wasn't like Boot Hill.

The adventure was tough by anyone's standards. One by one each of the characters died. The game ended after the last character took a dirt nap. Shane told them "Don't tear up your characters. Bring them back with you next time."

"It was then we discovered 'the Prospector' and what it means to be Harrowed," Richard explained. And thus began one of the most successful independent gaming lines of our time and the motivator for Shane to create Pinnacle Inc in 1994.

Q&A (a very abbreviated assortment as I could remember)

Question: Are there any types of games you think Savage Worlds doesn't really fit?
Answer: Not really. If you wanted to play a game like GURPS, where there's a rule for everything then SW probably isn't the game for you. Settings give you the freedom to customize so its as flexible as you want.

Question: How do you handle puzzles within a game without bringing the game to a halt when a player just doesn't get it?
Answer: That's not a rules issue but a GM fiat. You'll have to judge how it moves the game along. If it stops it, maybe just a simple roll to see if he figures it out, then move on.

Question: What was going thru a Kickstarter like and would you do it again?

Answer: It was great and unlike many others, we made money on it.  We're looking to do another at the end of the year (see below).

Question: What are some upcoming projects now you're full time again at Pinnacle:

Answer (in no particular order):

• Weird War: Rome
• Weird War I
• Sci-fi Companion
• A NEW Savage Worlds Sci-fi Setting coming to Kickstarter at the end of the year. If you liked Star Frontiers, you'll love this. ( I cannot wait for this. Our old gang loved Star Frontiers)
• A Solo Savage Worlds adventure
• And so much more in Deadlands!

Then Shane asked us questions:

Question: Do you guys like big books or smaller ones?
Answer(s): Me: I like the big books as I like to read thru the wealth of stories. Others(the majority): Prefer smaller books as they're easier to carry around. Simple rules sets allow us to create our own extended parts of the settings.

Question: Do you all want more rules about using downtime to add to character back-stories?
Answer(s): Various yesses and comments on the positives of interludes. More is better.
Shane follow up: Well, good. Because we've got some of that coming.

[My apologies for all the great ideas and conversation I didn't capture. Anyone else that was there, please share!]

Some fun Trivia
I couldn't end without sharing a personal bit of trivia I discovered: Did I mention Shane speaks Russian?  Part of his Master's in Special Operations included Russian. After discovering his MA in Special OPs, I mentioned my degree was a BA in Russian and my grand dreams of working in the State Department. He quickly asked "Vwi govarete pa-rusky?" "Da, plo-ha, govaru pa-rusky!" I responded*. The guy is just plain cool.  [* You speak Russian? Yes, badly I speak Russian!]

Last Thoughts

"What's This?!!? - Our own homebrew setting of course!

Shane shared that the friendships in gaming are what it's all about. Richard and his old gang at Virginia Tech created great memories and were a large part of his future career. One of those friendships was why he made time to come out and visit.

I shared how our old gaming gang began in the late 1970's and we have kept in touch ever since. Although I left gaming in 1989, the friendships endured over time and distance.

In 2007 we discovered Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition and Maptool, We've been gaming ever since. Most of the old gang meets virtually with some new blood added as well.

Our new group has members from New Jersey, 3 parts of Texas, me in So. California, and our GM in Washington State with heavy Canadian overtones, eh.  It was fun to show Shane our home-brew campaign that is now 227 pages of blood, sweat, and tears by our GM, John Riggs. We've had a blast saving the world and kicking Nazi butt.

I can see why so many folks who meet Shane comment on what a great, down to earth guy he is. I can't say enough good things about him. Who takes a couple of hours of personal vacation time to visit the local gamers and just sit and visit? 

Thanks Shane! You rock.

Review Airship

Product: Fantasy Maps - Airship
Publisher: D20 Cartographer
People: Joshua Bennett
Price: $2.99

Yet another map from D20 Cartographer that is absolutely beautiful. The map comes in five sections including the main deck, lower decks, and two rooms in the stern representing the captain's quarters and an officer's area.

The write-ups for the maps were nice as well. Too often map packs contain only maps. D20 Cartographer does an excellent job of providing some written flare to guide that GM in the direction of adventure.

For VTT users, the package comes with 48 jpgs representing the decks and various items found on the ship, from ballistas to the captain's bed. The reusable objects can stay in your graphics library for future use on other maps. The artwork is fantastic but D20 Cartographer added a little something extra for MapTool, a campaign file complete with teleport pads which take you from deck to deck.

Note that although this is a fantasy map, it would make a great Martian Sky Galleon for Space 1889, either the classic version or the Savage Worlds version, Red Sands.

Overall a superlative effort and well worth the price of $2.99.

Related Links
D20 Cartographer Reviews
D20 Cartographer on DriveThru
Space 1889: Red Sands

Free RPG Art from Devin Night

Our friend Devin Night recently posted that he's had a busy month. The great thing about Devin being busy is that he shares the spoils of his creativity with samples of his artwork. We encourage you to visit February Work on his blog. It comes with 18 illustrations and 16 new tokens for personal use in your favorite Virtual Table Top (VTT) or other online game.

Also note that Devin will do custom tokens for hire. We've used him several times for our online Savage Worlds games and story illustrations. He's quick, professional, and understands the needs of VTTs and authors. Devin also provides free artwork to open source products like MapTool giving those projects a much needed boost.

So drop by, snag some stuff, and support Devin in his endeavors. He's one of the good guys.

Related Links for Devin Night:
Devin Night Interview
Products on DriveThruRPG
Immortal Nights - Site containing token store, professional illustrations, illustration school, and more.

Pulp Magazine Cover Fun

I found a great site the other day thanks to Shane Hensley. Pulp-O-Mizer has an amazing resource for generating your own pulp magazine covers. You simply plug in your headings and titles, select some art work and Viola! You've got pulpy goodness.

The site also offers serial fiction with loads of other content. I'm impressed most with the artwork, however. The main site, Thrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual, contains all sorts of resources for the pulp lover in all of use but most its a site that contains the stories of Bradley W. Schenck. The web site contains all his stories for free but you can also purchase non-electronic versions, if you like.

There are now two different kinds of stories on the site. The first are interactive, branching stories. The second kind are non-interactive, serial stories. The two have a lot in common regarding plot line and art.

The interactive stories have about three or four paragraphs of text followed by a set of actions. Your choice of paths dictates where the story goes next. Over all its lots of fun and a great time waster. You'll also be treated to some outstanding artwork.

The really great discovery was to find that almost all the artwork is draggable into TokenTool for use in MapTool. You can take any of the character portraits

This is a great pulp resource regardless of whether you're looking for some pulpy adventures, seeking artwork for your Savage Worlds game, or looking for tokens. I can't recommend it highly enough.  

Pimping Savage Worlds

This month's RPG Blog Carnival theme is 'Pimp a Game' and there seems little doubt as to the subject of our entry. Savage Worlds remains our go-to system of choice for its flexibility and playability across every genre we've tried. Its combination of fast combat resolution, flexible powers system, and easy character management make it perfect for the time-crunched gamer.

When I was young and single I had time to dive into endless tomes and supplements finding that just right combination of abilities and skills for my character concept. Too often, however, I was playing someone else's character concept that I had to shoe-horn an idea into. Still, that was fine. I had time and friends.

Deadlands Noir - A New Savage Worlds Setting by Pinnacle via Kickstarter! Part 1 of 3

Welcome to the Savage Troll's entry for January's RPG Blog Carnival. This month's carnival theme is New Beginnings so it seems only appropriate to highlight a new Savage Setting from Pinnacle Entertainment Group:  Deadlands Noir. Think "Raymond Chandler does Deadlands" and you get the idea.

DLN PreRelease and New Orleans Map

Words: John Goff, Shane Hensley, Clint Black, and Sean Preston

Pictures: Cheyenne Wright, Aaron Acevedo, Jordan Peacock, and Mercenary Art Studio

Pages: 144

Price: $19.99 ( .pdf on DTRPG )

Blurb: Deadlands Noir is a pen-and-paper roleplaying game set in the world of Pinnacle Entertainment’s award-winning Deadlands universe. It includes new Edges, Hindrances, and powers, as well as new rules for handling detective work, the state of the Union and the CSA in the Depression-era, a complete Plot Point campaign, and of course, more monsters and ghouls than you can shake a smoking .45 at.  Deadlands Noir is not a complete game. It requires the Savage Worlds core rules to play.