Horror lies at the heart of Savage Worlds. The game began as a stripped down version of Deadlands that was used as a miniatures ruleset. It’s spent the last two decades evolving into a fast playing RPG that works with or without tactical minis combat. Deadlands came full circle to the rules in 2006 but there are other horror settings like Weird Wars and Pinebox, TX that use Savage Worlds to drive play. Many of these settings use the pulp action feel for horror that’s scary but fallible. You might end up with a fresh scar or a powertool for a hand, but you can send the monsters back to Hell for a while. The Horror Companion is set as a toolbox for enterprising Game Masters looking to expand their options or build their own modern monster hunting campaign. Pinnacle sent me home from GameHole Con with a review copy. Is it a graveyard smash? Let’s play to find out.
The book offers a lot of player options. The designers use the excellent Savage Worlds ancestry creation suite to give players monstrous choices. Instead of mortal hunters, players can choose to play angels, demons, vampire, ghosts, werewolves and more. There are also several Arcane Backgrounds that deliver mortals touched by power like warlocks, mediums and voodoo priests. There are also some edges that monster hunters can use. Some of my favorites here include the Gallows Humor Edge which uses Taunt instead of Guts as the skill to resist Fear and the Veteran of the Dark World which gives a character a leg up on advances to play a more experienced hunter at the start in exchange for a nasty extra Hindrance that reflects how being on the hunt has damaged their character. There are also rules for building the safe haven for all the characters, be it a cool library full of occult books, a dark castle full of mysterious rooms or even a compound protected by a mix of practical traps and magic warding. Some of these bits have seen play in other games or other companions, but it’s nice to see them here for groups coming into Savage Worlds for the first time.
Game Masters have a lot of material to work with as well. Most of the magic items here are of the cursed variety, each one a plot hook ready for the players to hunt down and take out of the hands of some misguided fool. There’s also a chapter full of horror advice that offers some ideas for pacing and how to set the mood at the table. While the advice is solid, I would have liked some more detailed discussion about safety rules at the table. Horror games can be very challenging to get right in this regard. Savage Worlds has shifted into a direction that encourages players and GMs to talk about their game and it seems like a missed opportunity to make sure everyone is on the same page before heads start to roll.
My favorite part of the Horror Companion is the bestiary. These monsters span classic creatures, one inspired by folklore and even some original creations. These bag guys are most obviously useful in a campaign built with the book but they also are a great fit with Savage Settings like Deadlands. I also feel like they could be useful in any modern monster horror game like World Of Darkness or Monster of the Week. The book encourages this idea with the Cthulhu Mythos section features a collaboration with Chaosium and a shout out to try Call of Cthulhu.
Bottom line: If you’re looking for a modern horror role playing game, Savage Worlds Horror Companion is chock full of sharp tools to build a monster hunting machine. If you’ve already got a favorite game in this style, it might be worth picking up fo some fresh ideas to add into that campaign.
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