Deadlands Noir - Quick Review

Got the early backer PDF for Deadlands Noir...looks freaking sweet so far. I'll have a review of it after I'm done reading it.

So far, from what I've read it's pretty amazing...It's a 145 page book. Very professional looking.

The default area is New Orleans.New York or Chicago would be a good place to run the game in the Northern States.

The era is the Depression, after the Great War. Changes to bring the game from the Deadlands steampunk/western to a more Noire/Art Deco, include changing Hucksters to Grifters, adding Voodoo, Mad Science evolves to Patent Science, making the weapons look very art deco (like I wanted to do with my Moderne Worlds of 2039.)

The Artwork is gritty, dark deco. Black & White, with red color highlights unify the feel of the art.  Many of the people have realistic looks to them. Especially since a lot of the art incorporates backers from the kickstarter if memory serves.

What's Noire without mysteries to solve. The book includes a Mystery generator, not some little one either, this is in depth and should provide dozens of great adventures. And of course since it's Savage Worlds, it's not as likely to be solved with a quick magic spell. Another great thing that since it's Savage Worlds, pulling source material from Weird War II, Realms of Cthulhu, or Rippers is easy, and can make things a lot more interesting.

More on this as I read more.

News - Hell on Earth

Well, that was fast, "Hell on Earth - Reloaded" is available for pre-order for hard-cover, and available as PDF now!!!!

News - Deadlands Hell On Earth Savage Worlds edition

Pinnacle is producing all sorts of cool stuff these days.

Besides the Dealands Noir which just got a huge Kickstarter, they're getting much closer to releasing the new Savage Worlds edition Hell on Earth: Reloaded. This is a setting which I never bought into when it was in print unfortunately...I really like what I've seen of it, as I'm a big post-apocalyptic fan, and of Deadlands, so when the two combined, I just missed it I guess, I know it was right after I got out of the Navy and I didn't have a lot of spending money...so that's why I missed out on such a great game.

Now the reloaded edition is coming...



Here's the cover art of the new edition...pretty wicked wrap-around cover...want it as a wallpaper? Check out http://www.peginc.com/shop/hell-on-earth-reloaded/

Deadlands Noir- Kickstarter Backer

So me and the boys y'know we're backin' the play by Pinnacle on this one, now it ain't no big thing, just 20 bones, and we'll be get'n some nice scratch.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/deadlands-noir

Check out these rewards...
Unlocked Rewards for Dime Novelists and Up

Here's a quick summary of what we're adding in addition to the reward levels you see on the right:
Hard Boiled in the Big Easy Audio Drama
Deadlands Noir Digital Soundtrack
Figure Flats PDF
4 x Map Flats PDF (Printable, figure-scale maps focusing on Metaire Cemetery, Old Absinthe House, Streets of the Big Easy, and the Bayou locations)
Detective's Notebook Deluxe Character Sheet PDF
Old Absinthe Blues" adventure PDF

News! Pinnacle's new secret setting revealed!

NEWS FLASH!

OK, as you've seen I had just been working on my ideas for a Free RPG...well here is one of the genres I had been kicking around in my head...Noir...

I must say I'm quite excited....I've been shying away from the whole PFRPG thing lately, I guess I'm just tired of the massive amount of stuff again...prolly just a phase, but I'm really enjoying reading other games and settings. Don't get me wrong I'm still going to pick up the Advanced Races Guide, but y'know just checking out other games, I think one reason is because I love FATE so much, and learning new systems has always given me ideas for tweaks to any game. Anyway, check out the kickstarter, I'm heading over there now!

Deadlands Noir—The Secret Setting Revealed!

The year is 1935. New Orleans is one tough lady of a town. Some say her blood-red lipstick hides a heart of gold, others say it’s black as a killin’ bruise. Colorful, but a smart man don’t say nothin’ if he can avoid it—best to let the deadly secrets of the streets roll down the gutters like dirty rainwater.

This hard-boiled new setting brings the gritty history of the Deadlands world into the 1930s, giving you the shades of gray only a world of noir can deliver. Study the dangerous art of private detection in the city of New Orleans, solve whodunnits where both suspects and victims shoot back, venture into the gator-filled sludge of Louisiana’s deadly bayous, and learn just what the killer known only as “Stone” is doing in the Big Easy.

Deadlands Noir is also our first foray into Kickstarter. Even if you’re somehow not interested in the dizzying array of fabulous perks available, be sure to check out the first installment of the illustrated audio drama Hard Boiled in the Big Easy.

Since we first leaked a teaser about the new setting last Tuesday, we’ve been running a contest on our Facebook page to guess the name of the new setting. Give it a look-seefor an explanation of the various clues and whether anyone guessed it correctly.

Review - Savage Worlds Deluxe

Here we go, I picked up the Deluxe edition of Savage Worlds a while back. So here's the review.

Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition
Produced by Studio 2 publishing under license from Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Savage Worlds is a Fast! Furious! and Fun! rules system for any genre of roleplaying game. Create your own setting, convert an existing one, or pick up one of our amazing worlds like Deadlands, Slipstream, or Weird War II.The rules give players plenty of depth to create their characters and keep bookkeeping to a minimum for the game master. If you're looking for a game that's fast and easy to set up, run, and play, Savage Worlds is for you! 

Savage Worlds Deluxe is the newest edition, providing an update to the third printing of Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition. It includes rules updates, new rules material, new art, more examples, an expanded Setting Rules section, Designer Notes to give you an insight into the development, and much more. It does not, however, invalidate prior printings of the rules, which you can continue enjoy.

This is a hardcover printed book. Full color, full-size (8.5" x 11" pages), 160 pages.

What you get: You get a 160 page full color full-sized hard-bound book.

Main Review: There are pros and cons to this edition. Full-size books are good at attracting attention, and can actually make neophytes excited when they look at the book. Con, the $29.99 price tag versus the $9.99 price tag. Larger format and higher page counts give lots of room to add more stuff. Much of the Explorer Edition Review remains valid, the rule set really only has some minor tweaks, but is effectively the same system with some streamlined changes, especially the removal of the "guts" skill. 

If you're already familiar with Savage Worlds I'm sure you've already made your decision about the Deluxe edition. If you're new to the system just know that the game is Fast, Fun & Furious. The system can cover nearly any genre, but tends to break-down if you want truly powerful games. (Savage Suzeraine has rules covering higher power games, but even those rules can't cover mega-powerful combat, for that you need the Superpowers Companion.)

With the extra space in the book, they added an archetypes section, which lets new players pick an archetype and roll. New race options for characters, including a build your own race section, similar to what many other systems already had. 

Cost: $29.99 Print edition. $19.99 PDF @ Drive-thru

Value: I really feel that Pinnacle took a step in the wrong direction by driving the price-point so much higher. If Paizo can set the bar for a 500+ page book that retails for $49.99 at $9.99 for the PDF, Pinnacle should as well. If the price is too high people won't buy it, they'll steal it, because they're already feeling ripped off. I hope they return a smaller book for $9.99. Perhaps a Deluxe Explorer's Guide...There's enough new info in the books to justify the print copy, I can't bring myself to get a PDF of a book I have if it's too expensive. 

Artwork: Savage Worlds was already know for reusing artwork, this manual comes with lots of new art though. Pretty nice artwork, though it does have some reprints, which is fine because they work with the system. 

Family Rating: PG, for visual content (some artwork is mildly graphic)

Overall: 

of 20

It's good, but the wrong size.

Note: I will be adding additional content to this review as I continue to read the book, and note the changes. 

Comprehensive list of changes: (in work):

Guts skill removed in base

More races added

Race creation rules added

Chase rules added

Dramatic Tasks skill checks

Interludes added

Edges expanded to be more comprehensive

Optional rules by setting included