Drop Dice

So since finishing my Remnants RPG's conclusion I have put some thought into something bigger, as a filler I am running a Star Wars game I have had in my back pocket to really build something bigger. I kind of went about it backwards, first looking for a good system thinking this would fix a lot of minor grips I have with other systems. So I began reading and digging in my library of game books, mostly looking at some of the indie games for something new or different but each system seemed a little clunky. I have always been of the mindset that game system fluff (or background/setting info) is just that fluff. It can be vary inspirational but rules is the heart of a game. So I changed my attack strategy and starting looking at more popular systems, ignoring Pathfinder because we have played that system pretty much since the launch with the same group. I am a bit burned out on the system to be honest, until Ultimate Campaign came out that is (game changer in many aspects check it out because it can be used system neutral). Beyond that my players have told me before that they like when I run a structured military/sci-fi game. So Remnants was perfect for that, but what next and what story. Remnants almost wrote itself because I was using something I had learned tooling around in forums on how to be a better GM.I used the game setting and fluffed it up even more, I had a plains princess being protected by ice tribe brothers and a greedy trades many. This was a great game, and it came to me I love anachronistic games - science fiction mixed with fantasy and maybe some weird sience in there because my player like that. So I looked at Numenera the logical move next, great system but I know my players three classes is a bit restrictive especially when my last game had six players attend regularly. So I went back to the system I was going to use before my players convinced me to run Remnants, Savage World's Deluxe Edition.

So back to youtube this time with a system in mind I found the Savage Worlds GM Hangouts moderated by Jerrod Gunning of Sin City Savages. If you have any interest in Savage World I recommend listening to his one shot of Kiss Meets the Phantom for a light hearted Savage World play-through via roll20. Beyond that if you play any system you can still benefit from listening to a good deal of the videos, they are a bit long but it doesn't feel like it they flow very well. If you want a great very serious version of sword and sorcery style play listen to Tower of the Ape from gamerstable.com. Do this after reading the rules though it will help show the flow of a game with the simple rules presented in Savage Worlds, things will start clicking. Plus its a great story.

To behonest the guys at the Savage Worlds GM Hangouts gave me a lot of good reference material that wasn't even coined or created by them. Gnome stew makes a book called Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Campaign Management while it is kind of a text book style read it has so much good info for even seasoned game masters. Another great tool that my players love even more than me is The Quiet Year. We are using a slightly modified version of the rules (minimal changes really) to create the setting for the adventure. Basically I started by telling them this would pick up in a game world we ran for about a year until they released the Elder God Chaos on the plane, now create the world after Chaos. We have made it through spring and the players have had a great time with it and its such a casual game. For reference here is our Journal up to Spring that is. This idea came directly from one of the Hangout and was mentioned by Scott W. I have my players asking to cancel my regular Star Wars game just to continue building but I have put it off because I want everyone there and schedules have been off lately. If you follow the Odyssey way to build a campaign this pretty much covers making the setting and frame work in a way that feels very organic.

So what kind of Savage Worlds Game are you planing? The kind my players want, I have a few stipulations in there but this time my players are building the world actively even before the start. My basic frame work is this:

• I want sword and sorcery feel with bits of horror similar to the Conan comic books.
• Steph wants more of a sandbox feel to the game, to "wing it more"
• Murdock wants to have character development heavy story that has direct influence to the way the world works.
• Jeremy wants to see more city based adventures and some dungeons since we have done a lot of land based games lately.
• Tom wants a massive artifice and the remains of an infrastructure of a great civilization. Something that can hint at the human potential.
• Nate wants more dungeons and climates that we dont normally use, to branch outside of temperate zone climate.
• Brendan wants depth, depth of character and depth of story.