Picked up the dead tree version of the Horror Companion at Dragon's Lair, my local FLGS/FLCS (along with the latest issue of "The Lone Ranger") today. Looking forward to reading it.
Agreed. Edges seem to be over used to define settings. It's especially unfortunate when they are redundant and cover mechanics that are already covered by an existing edge that just needed a trappings suggestion.
I really liked the Horror Companion. The only thing I'd have liked to have seen represented more thoroughly is the zombie sub genre. Some scavenging tables/rules and suggestions for horde encounters would have been great.
It's my favorite companion, and it felt like an improvement over the already impressive toolkits.
For me, the new monster races did a lot to push it over the top, as Deadlands Classic had vampirism and lycanthropy options that just weren't available in Savage Worlds until now.
I'm very happy with the monster races, but the big seller for me is the binding and summoning rules and powers. My two dream projects are a Regency Romance/Gothic Horror setting (for which the races will come in handy) and a Heian Japan setting inspired by the Onmyoji films (for which the new magic is a must-have). The Horror Companion has given me the tools I need -- and led to a conversation with my FLGS clerk in which I learned he's picking up Savage Worlds as his new game system!
Yeah, why they didn't pluck the scavenging tables from Zombie Run is beyond me. Ah, well.
Incidentally, for those - like SoS Michael - who do like zombie stuff...have you checked out War of the Dead from Daring Entertainment? 52 week campaign and I started off reviewing the first half, took over as editor on the second half.
I've been considering getting into the War of the Dead releases for awhile now just to add to the collection. I thought the same thing about just grabbing those elements from the Zombie Run book. I have both books so the information is available, it's just that having it all in one place is nice.
Sean, there's an Onmyoji arcane background in Iron Dynasty. I love those films. It would require almost no work to drop the minimal steampunk elements from ID and switch maps out from Konoyo to Japan. Really the only area that you might throw some elbow grease into would be the class system. ID shoots from the hip reference honor/class. I could see easily running an ID Onmyoji themed game set in Japan with very little tweaking.
I actually got in on the pre-order for ID. It has some great chanbara-themed Edges, but I thought the Onmyoji edges were kinda generic wizardry by another name. The films I referenced above involve far more invoking of spirits, similar to the Makoto of ID.
13 new edges. That's awesome. Most third-party publishers put way too many damned edges in their products.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Edges seem to be over used to define settings. It's especially unfortunate when they are redundant and cover mechanics that are already covered by an existing edge that just needed a trappings suggestion.
DeleteI really liked the Horror Companion. The only thing I'd have liked to have seen represented more thoroughly is the zombie sub genre. Some scavenging tables/rules and suggestions for horde encounters would have been great.
I'm not a zombie fan, but I have to agree. Scrounging rules and hordes would be useful for a few horror sub-genres.
DeleteIt's my favorite companion, and it felt like an improvement over the already impressive toolkits.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the new monster races did a lot to push it over the top, as Deadlands Classic had vampirism and lycanthropy options that just weren't available in Savage Worlds until now.
I'm very happy with the monster races, but the big seller for me is the binding and summoning rules and powers. My two dream projects are a Regency Romance/Gothic Horror setting (for which the races will come in handy) and a Heian Japan setting inspired by the Onmyoji films (for which the new magic is a must-have). The Horror Companion has given me the tools I need -- and led to a conversation with my FLGS clerk in which I learned he's picking up Savage Worlds as his new game system!
DeleteYeah, why they didn't pluck the scavenging tables from Zombie Run is beyond me. Ah, well.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, for those - like SoS Michael - who do like zombie stuff...have you checked out War of the Dead from Daring Entertainment? 52 week campaign and I started off reviewing the first half, took over as editor on the second half.
I've been considering getting into the War of the Dead releases for awhile now just to add to the collection. I thought the same thing about just grabbing those elements from the Zombie Run book. I have both books so the information is available, it's just that having it all in one place is nice.
ReplyDeleteSean, there's an Onmyoji arcane background in Iron Dynasty. I love those films. It would require almost no work to drop the minimal steampunk elements from ID and switch maps out from Konoyo to Japan. Really the only area that you might throw some elbow grease into would be the class system. ID shoots from the hip reference honor/class. I could see easily running an ID Onmyoji themed game set in Japan with very little tweaking.
I actually got in on the pre-order for ID. It has some great chanbara-themed Edges, but I thought the Onmyoji edges were kinda generic wizardry by another name. The films I referenced above involve far more invoking of spirits, similar to the Makoto of ID.
DeleteThe Makoto in ID and how they interact with kami are definitely much closer to the portrayal of Seimei and the other Onmyoji in the movies.
ReplyDelete