So tonight I finished the player campaign guide for my 1867 setting, which is an alt-history/superhero setting that it looks like I'll be running with Savage Worlds. There's no system data in here, but it is a pretty good representation of the sort of handout I like to do for larger campaigns. You can download the 20-page pdf here, and are free to do whatever you like with it, fwiw:
https://sites.google.com/site/zacksrpgstuff/files/1867.pdf (https://sites.google.com/site/zacksrpgstuff/files/1867.pdf)
For me, I love reading about the American Civil War, I love alternate history, and I love superheroes. The players I've pitched the idea to are enthusiastic, and I can't wait to see how the game goes. I've got a Microlite74 one-shot I'm doing first, but should have our initial 1867 session at the end of the month. I am immensely excited at the prospect!
where in the hell is Cornelious Vanderbilt???? Where is his wealth and the ships he loaned?
(love it, and a period I dealt with a lot)
Quote from: LordVreeg;614418where in the hell is Cornelious Vanderbilt???? Where is his wealth and the ships he loaned?
(love it, and a period I dealt with a lot)
Oh man, I have an NPC list a mile long I didn't include (the PCs will find out soon enough!). The Vanderbilts, the Pinkertons, Ollie Winchester, Mark Twain, Devil Anse Hatfield, and plenty more. So, so much fun. :)
Quote from: Zachary The First;614422Oh man, I have an NPC list a mile long I didn't include (the PCs will find out soon enough!). The Vanderbilts, the Pinkertons, Ollie Winchester, Mark Twain, Devil Anse Hatfield, and plenty more. So, so much fun. :)
Ok, no stress... having read enough about the time (more due to my economic studies of late), figured he'd be building some sort of crazy ships for the side of the Union.
Good stuff. All compliments
Thanks very much! Always a pleasure to find someone interested in that period, as well!
Man, I wish I could play...
Quote from: Silverlion;614488Man, I wish I could play...
Me, too, but I will be GMing instead. :)
I need to go through the SavWo powers list and make sure there's nothing too world-breaking. I'm looking at a low-powered, lower-tier X-Men/2nd tier Justice League sort of power level; nothing cosmic.
Some of the players are already talking about character histories and the like, which makes me very happy. It's such an amazing time period, filled with such larger-than-life personalities, I think it'll be very easy to create some very vibrant tie-ins.
What powers system are you using the Superhero Companion/Necessary Evil?
Quote from: Zachary The First;614528Me, too, but I will be GMing instead. :)
I need to go through the SavWo powers list and make sure there's nothing too world-breaking. I'm looking at a low-powered, lower-tier X-Men/2nd tier Justice League sort of power level; nothing cosmic.
Some of the players are already talking about character histories and the like, which makes me very happy. It's such an amazing time period, filled with such larger-than-life personalities, I think it'll be very easy to create some very vibrant tie-ins.
Frankly, the time period is built for it.
Are you thinking Beast, Luke Cage, the Creeper, Moon KNight level?
Quote from: Zachary The First;614528Me, too, but I will be GMing instead. :)
I need to go through the SavWo powers list and make sure there's nothing too world-breaking. I'm looking at a low-powered, lower-tier X-Men/2nd tier Justice League sort of power level; nothing cosmic.
Some of the players are already talking about character histories and the like, which makes me very happy. It's such an amazing time period, filled with such larger-than-life personalities, I think it'll be very easy to create some very vibrant tie-ins.
The biggest thing to worry about is Super Sorcery. It can turn its user into a Swiss Army Knife. In some situations, that's a great thing. With the wrong player in the wrong group, that can be a bad thing, especially since you can "borrow" up to your level in Super Sorcery to generate effects.
It is balanced somewhat by the Backlash table (the chance of Backlash rises the more power you borrow) as well as the penalty for rolling a 1 on the Spellcasting Die.
You're lucky to have players who are willing to read a 20-page document in preparation ;).
Quote from: Tommy Brownell;614853The biggest thing to worry about is Super Sorcery. It can turn its user into a Swiss Army Knife. In some situations, that's a great thing. With the wrong player in the wrong group, that can be a bad thing, especially since you can "borrow" up to your level in Super Sorcery to generate effects.
It is balanced somewhat by the Backlash table (the chance of Backlash rises the more power you borrow) as well as the penalty for rolling a 1 on the Spellcasting Die.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm keeping things very low-level on Powers, so that's the sort of thing I need to be aware of.
Quote from: LordVreeg;614748Frankly, the time period is built for it.
Are you thinking Beast, Luke Cage, the Creeper, Moon KNight level?
Definitely lower level. I'm talking like Cyclops, Jubilee, Spike, Nightcrawler.
Quote from: Silverlion;614742What powers system are you using the Superhero Companion/Necessary Evil?
I'm using the powers from just the Deluxe Edition. I've narrowed down the available list to just Novice/Seasoned Powers, and took out a few that were too magic-oriented or didn't fit.
Quote from: HombreLoboDomesticado;614858You're lucky to have players who are willing to read a 20-page document in preparation ;).
Isn't that the truth! :)
I have a Microlite one-shot today; we'll start 1867 in two Sundays. So I'm going to give each of them a player campaign guide to read between now and then.
If you're just using Deluxe Edition, then Super Sorcery isn't an issue. That said, unless you alter the Arcane Background a bit, then Super Powers are really underpowered in Savage Worlds...like, lower than you're planning on.
Also, the Super Powers Companion doesn't use Power Point pools to use your powers, making it vastly superior to the standard rules, IMO.
Quote from: HombreLoboDomesticado;614858You're lucky to have players who are willing to read a 20-page document in preparation ;).
0r a 1165 page wiki
Quote from: Tommy Brownell;615348If you're just using Deluxe Edition, then Super Sorcery isn't an issue. That said, unless you alter the Arcane Background a bit, then Super Powers are really underpowered in Savage Worlds...like, lower than you're planning on.
Also, the Super Powers Companion doesn't use Power Point pools to use your powers, making it vastly superior to the standard rules, IMO.
Hmm, we'll have to see how it goes. I really don't want to jump in too much investment-wise until I've seen how the system goes. Is there a fix/tweak you'd recommend re: Powers in just the Deluxe Explorer's book?
Rather than use Power Points, I was thinking of doing a fatigue-based system.
Something like:
Basically, make a (Spirit?) roll to use your powers.
If the roll fails, you gain a level of fatigue and your powers do not work. If it fails with a 1, you are Shaken.
This might be better than tracking Power Points, and would seem to fit in better with the SavWo idea. Thoughts on this, or alternate ideas? They are supposed to be low-level powers, but I don't want them useless.
Quote from: Zachary The First;615532Rather than use Power Points, I was thinking of doing a fatigue-based system.
Something like:
Basically, make a (Spirit?) roll to use your powers.
If the roll fails, you gain a level of fatigue and your powers do not work. If it fails with a 1, you are Shaken.
This might be better than tracking Power Points, and would seem to fit in better with the SavWo idea. Thoughts on this, or alternate ideas? They are supposed to be low-level powers, but I don't want them useless.
Deluxe Edition has a decent No Power Points option you may want to look at.
Quote from: Tommy Brownell;615788Deluxe Edition has a decent No Power Points option you may want to look at.
Thanks, I may have missed it (EDIT: Found it!). That sounds like it fits SavWo better.
I don't have a lot of experience with Savage Worlds, but it seems like everything is pretty smooth and light on the bookkeeping, then you have this bolted-on Power Points system. It just seems a bit out of step with everything else--although I also know several settings don't use Power Points, in any case.