Space 1889: End of a campaign

Back in the day, I bought a book called "Space 1889". At the time, I knew nothing of Steampunk or John Carter. The cover intrigued me so I picked it up and read it. It was so interesting and opened a new genre for me, one I hadn't considered before. I don't know what I really liked most about it, but it drew my eye. At a time where most RPGs were either D&D, D&D clones or Marvel Super Heroes, this was new, unique and strange.

For years, I kept referring to that book as a source of inspiration, a change-of-pace type reading.

Then at the end of last year, I joined an on-line group playing using the Savage Worlds version of the game. Two things I like together...

My character, the Vicomtesse de Vaucluse was a young French heiress whose family was closely tied to the Second Empire. She was something of a scientist, with a great love of history and science. Round that with a few skills required by the GM and I was on my way to Mars. Further inspiration for the character was a mix of Doctor Quinn Medecine Woman and Marie Currie.

Joining a group of crown agent (while herself fiercely professing her allegiance to France and not to England), she managed a number adventure over the one year I played. We dealt with a rebellion, a mind-controlling device, explored a lost monastery and faced a Cthulhoid horror, and stopped an ether flyer from crashing into Syrtis Major.

However, I found myself strapped for time and unable to give the game as much as it needed. Plus I was both very annoyed and frustrated by the final plot (it had gone on for many weeks). Plus other internal pressures meant I had to make a choice so I opted out.

I always find it bittersweet having to drop out of a game with a group that's together and working pretty well. The life of a responsible adult often sucks.

JP

Deadlands Party

Today's offering from the Reaper Bones II comes in the form of a party of Deadlands adventurers. Any Western game really, so Legends of the Old West or Victorian Sci-Fi could also use them.

The sculpt on the mad scientist is fine, but the casting I got was really bad: half of his face was completely poorly cast so I gave him a big nasty scar as his face must have been burned in one of his many colorful experiments.

I am fond of the Indiana Jones sculpt with his machete most of all. He looks good.

JP

Echoes of Origins: Shaintar, the Kinda-Organized Play

On Friday morning, my table not having gone off, and not wanting to join a table of seven players (I never play with 7, preferring to withdraw), I decided to head out and look for a random game needing players.

So as I roamed the halls, I happened on a table that had a nice display using dungeon tiles and only two players (both of whom I knew). It was a table of Shaintar, a D&D-like setting for Savage Worlds. Now I like Savage Worlds, because it does what it promises: a fast-paced game with minimal fuss (at least it has been my experience with it). I agreed to sit down and play, thus helping the table happen.

There are four things I have to say about it.

First, the setting is a Europe-like setting with each nation mapping to a rough fantasy equivalent. Not very novel, but fairly effective. New players can immediately assume stereotypes about a nation. It's fine. The adventure we played had us patrolling an area near "Russia" in an area ruled by a necromancer and the undead. The setting was easy to understand and get the feel of the place.

Second, the adventure itself was fairly straightforward. This was perhaps the weakest point for me. We had a basic plan "go investigate" and we spent most of our time fighting on the cool dungeon-tile maps. But there really was nothing more: no moral choice, no decision, no significant interaction with any NPCs. We got info-dumped after the fighting parts. I understand that we were in a kinda-war zone, but having some noteworthy information would have elevated the adventure for me. As it was, it felt really dry.

Third, the kinda-organized play part was something that intrigued me. From 2011-12, I ran what would become Legacies pretty much the same way. So I thought it was a cool idea. I may be tempted to add these events to my list of games for Origins next year. I'm undecided but keep those events in mind.

Fourth, playing D&D with Savage Worlds. As much as they don't want to say it, that is pretty much the basic of this setting. I play an elf sorcerer and quickly got the hang of it. now I will admit, I did not have many spell casting options on this character, and my melee skills... well they sucked. Still with my basic knowledge of SW (I am by no means an expert on the topic), I quickly understood what to do and how to do it. Then again, it is one of the great things about the system, that you know one you pretty much know all.

So overall, a positive experience. There are things I would do differently (obviously), but the actual offering is quite good. I would like to see more interaction and less "just combat" but I could skip past that.

JP

PS: After writing this, I realized that I did NOT have a Savage Worlds label for posts. A Crime I say. I thought I had already written about that game. Alas I had not. I need to get some more SW in my playing rotation!