It’s been five years since I first read Savage Worlds and until rather recently my experience was left to that of an appreciative reader. I’m certain some of you know this experience. You have something and want to run (or play), and paid good money for it, but everyone in your group is non-pulsed… That’s recently changed since my longtime friend and Fantasy Grounds GM introduced Savage Rifts (reviewed here) and Deadlands into our somewhat regular sessions. This Review is a brief delve into Deadlands Players and Marshals, Reloaded handbooks for Savage Worlds.
Deadlands offers an alternative history, and horror themed setting in the wild and weird west (late 1800’s). The civil war concluded in a draw. The confederate states didn’t join the union, and America is split into six separate nations. The dead walk, things go bump in the night and by no mere coincidence, the discovery of a mysterious mineral, Ghost Rock which is worth a bit more than its weight in gold, fuels many of the “modern” innovations of this weird west setting.
The setting encourages a very specific type of game. Player characters will likely be a part of a secret agency, discovering and going about battling supernatural horrors. While also, keeping somewhat of a tight lip in regards to the horrors they face. The biggest point being that if ordinary folks learn too much about these supernatural threats, this increases evil’s influence on humanity. I’m paraphrasing, but essentially that’s the premise. With this, Deadlands serves up a handful of interesting character Archetypes, setting specific Hindrances, Edges and Powers; as well as equipment, weapons and (magical, ghost rock powered) Infernal Devices.
Tacked onto the Savage Worlds ruleset are few elements, which distinguish Deadlands. First, is the concept and measure of Grit, each characters capability to stay their nerve and avoid (mechanic) penalties, versus any potential horrors. As anyone familiar with Savage Worlds knows modifiers (+1, +2) carry much more significance than most systems. Grit is important in regards to each character’s Guts Check. Deadlands incorporates Fate Chips (three colors of poker chips) instead of bennies. Though the application is a bit different and expanded; Fate Chips carry the same idea: modify rolls, remove conditions.
Two elements we haven’t yet utilized are the guidelines for gun duels and gambling. Our group and our character builds are emphasized with investigative horror in mind. Also, we found the re-emphasis in this ruleset in regards to Taunt and Intimidate carried enough mechanical significance that we’ve stuck to that. What’s written just hasn’t hit our table, yet.
Both the Deadlands Players Guide and the Marshal’s Handbook are full color PDFs with hyperlinked Table of Contents. Art is plentiful and great at giving the vibe of the material. Text is standard two column format. Both of these books are decent as to layout, but will require sometime for adequate familiarity.
Though I’m relatively certain it’s a design choice about the only major criticism I have for these products was that the best elements of the setting, are left to the Marshals Handbook; you can run your own take on the basic setting from the Players Handbook, but you’ll be missing the biggest and best ideas of running this material.
Overall, if you enjoy Savage Worlds and desire to run a horror themed wild west setting, or even ( I would guess) just strip out some of the horror for a straight up wild west RPG, I certainly recommend giving Deadlands a shot.
Disclosure: This review uses affiliate links. The Deadlands Players Guide is a Savage Worlds setting. A Savage Worlds core book is required to run this setting.
contributed by Jeff Duncan
Deadlands offers an alternative history, and horror themed setting in the wild and weird west (late 1800’s). The civil war concluded in a draw. The confederate states didn’t join the union, and America is split into six separate nations. The dead walk, things go bump in the night and by no mere coincidence, the discovery of a mysterious mineral, Ghost Rock which is worth a bit more than its weight in gold, fuels many of the “modern” innovations of this weird west setting.
The setting encourages a very specific type of game. Player characters will likely be a part of a secret agency, discovering and going about battling supernatural horrors. While also, keeping somewhat of a tight lip in regards to the horrors they face. The biggest point being that if ordinary folks learn too much about these supernatural threats, this increases evil’s influence on humanity. I’m paraphrasing, but essentially that’s the premise. With this, Deadlands serves up a handful of interesting character Archetypes, setting specific Hindrances, Edges and Powers; as well as equipment, weapons and (magical, ghost rock powered) Infernal Devices.
Tacked onto the Savage Worlds ruleset are few elements, which distinguish Deadlands. First, is the concept and measure of Grit, each characters capability to stay their nerve and avoid (mechanic) penalties, versus any potential horrors. As anyone familiar with Savage Worlds knows modifiers (+1, +2) carry much more significance than most systems. Grit is important in regards to each character’s Guts Check. Deadlands incorporates Fate Chips (three colors of poker chips) instead of bennies. Though the application is a bit different and expanded; Fate Chips carry the same idea: modify rolls, remove conditions.
Two elements we haven’t yet utilized are the guidelines for gun duels and gambling. Our group and our character builds are emphasized with investigative horror in mind. Also, we found the re-emphasis in this ruleset in regards to Taunt and Intimidate carried enough mechanical significance that we’ve stuck to that. What’s written just hasn’t hit our table, yet.
Both the Deadlands Players Guide and the Marshal’s Handbook are full color PDFs with hyperlinked Table of Contents. Art is plentiful and great at giving the vibe of the material. Text is standard two column format. Both of these books are decent as to layout, but will require sometime for adequate familiarity.
Though I’m relatively certain it’s a design choice about the only major criticism I have for these products was that the best elements of the setting, are left to the Marshals Handbook; you can run your own take on the basic setting from the Players Handbook, but you’ll be missing the biggest and best ideas of running this material.
Overall, if you enjoy Savage Worlds and desire to run a horror themed wild west setting, or even ( I would guess) just strip out some of the horror for a straight up wild west RPG, I certainly recommend giving Deadlands a shot.
Disclosure: This review uses affiliate links. The Deadlands Players Guide is a Savage Worlds setting. A Savage Worlds core book is required to run this setting.
contributed by Jeff Duncan
... So, we keep playing D&D. 
