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[BESM 4] Solo Anime Adventures
Publisher: Dyskami Publishing Company
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/25/2022 20:11:23

I've used a LOT of solo play engines, both as randomizers to interpret as a GM, AND to play games without any GM at all. While I favor simple card based methods (Such as my trusty GM's Apprentice Deck), sometimes I lack the finger dexterity to shuffle for one reason or another (Usually because i got hurt or slept wrong on my hand), or I want something that is a better fit for an uncommon or mixed genre game, or simply don't have the deck handy at the moment.

This is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to work with than the Mythic GM Emulator, because it puts a lot less into making it an intricate set of steps and procedures (again, using interpretation and yes/no questions, like this does) to model the "normal" progression of a GM'd game. This makes it both less robust in regards to recurring themes or characters AND significantly faster at going from asking what happens to KNOWING what happened.

Your average solo Roleplaying game doesn't need Mythic GM Emulator levels of intricacy and complexity to determine "does the orc attack my bard", or "Are there killbots in the room I'm entering", but it does need unlikely stuff in life to be suitably unlikely in games, so it's very close to ideal. Easily my top two Solo engines I've used with BESM.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
[BESM 4] Solo Anime Adventures
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Savage Worlds Wargaming
Publisher: BPB Games
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/08/2019 22:56:39

I ran this as a wargame for 2, with custom small unit rules (1 Squad of hand picked extras, 1 hand picked Wild Card) for myself and a newbie to the savage worlds system at a local game store.

Though my lack of pre-game setup and the amount of talking we did about various systems and campaigns and settings (OSR and classic TTRPGs mostly) made it take about 45 minutes to set up (Most of that was the conversation), I believe that we could have been ready in as little as 10 minutes, and the game lasted about 35 with small unit rules.

Everything worked very well (A credit to two things: The fact it layered itself over the top of the already great Savage Worlds rules minimalistically and with a light touch only where needed, and to the quality of the pre-generated units), and we had a really fun time. The best part is, he's that much more likely to join my future campaigns, because by using the Savage Worlds rules for a wargame, I had the perfect icebreaker to get people interested in the system for RPG play.

I have very little complaints about the product, especially given the Pay What You Want pricing scheme. The product is worth $2-$5 to me and I plan on chipping in as soon as I can afford to do so, likely next month.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Savage Worlds Wargaming
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Titan Effect RPG
Publisher: Knight Errant Media
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/31/2018 22:58:17

Disclaimer: Review is based on an extensive read-through and an understanding of Savage Worlds used to predict how the rules work on paper, but no actual play. Once I have played this I will update my review, but for now keep in mind that I have yet to actually run this.

Note: I recieved this book as a reward for backing Titan Effect on Kickstarter. I am still waiting on the release of the print copy, which I am entitled to as a backer according to my pledge level.

Summary

Titan Effect is a solid setting and an excellent product, promising intrigue and danger byproxy for your players.

Setting:

Titan Effect is an RPG setting that wears it's inspiration proudly and openly.The course of the setting's history in WW2 is has organizations and themes similar to the Proto-BPRD in Hellboy (Movie Version), post-WW2 reads much like the Metal Gear saga timeline from it's Origins in MGS3 to the beginning portion of MGS4 (and the implications of all of it), with shades of The Philosophers from the time before MGS3 in that series setting. There are low-key versions of supers elements from X-Men mixed liberally into this package, and it is blended to create a unique-feeling and excellently crafted fusion of all of those elements. No effort is made to hide where this setting's ideas came from (Indeed, the appendix in the book includes a segment on every major inspiration to the setting!), instead an effort is made to make them feel fresh and unique in their combination.

Mechanics

Titan Effect has a lot to work with here, and most of it is very well designed. In addition to leveraging the fast ruleset of Savage Worlds and the customization of its Superpowers Companion, Titan Effect includes alterations and additions to the formula that are very useful even in other games (Such as Equipment Points - Rename those to Wealth Points or Resource Points, fold purchases worth under $50, basic needs, and cost of living into fluff information, and you have a simple abstract resource system), and the selection of new edges, hindrances, and gear are very helpful for the setting. The weapons and armor are even useful in any modern game period, given they include custom stats for things like the P90 or other high profile weapons of the 20th and early 21st century. (Note: Equipment Points are the default option, but can be easily converted back to costs and values in Savage Worlds Dollars with the included guidelines if needed)

GM Tools

Titan Effect has one of my favorite GM Tools in a setting book: A random mission/adventure generator, which will no doubt help GMs that have run out of ideas for sessions or are pressed for time. Additionally, things like information clearences are excellently explained, allowing players gated but immediate access to important information as needed for a session. Finally, the GM is given options for custom setting rules, drugs, and equipment that will help to challenge expert players.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Titan Effect RPG
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Tabletop Gaming Guide to: Ground Warfare (SWADE)
Publisher: Mystical Throne Entertainment
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 21:21:36

Unlike the Ultimate Characters Guide, the Ultimate Mass Battle Guide is pretty well balanced for the most part, with the systems it adds being nice and generally not overly favoring one side or the other without very good reasons. It IS very overcomplicated for Savage Worlds (I actually have played and run GURPS with little issue;And even enjoy occasionally creating GURPS characters in my spare time; and yet I had a lot of trouble understanding how the additions to mass battles in this book are used), which means that it may defeat the purpose of Mass Battles as a way to speed up play, and will be very difficult to explain to others or even understand how to use it.

Unfortunately, this and the Ultimate Characters Guide do not give me much confidence in how this publisher handles Savage Worlds, so I will be avoiding purchasing books by them in the future.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Tabletop Gaming Guide to: Ground Warfare (SWADE)
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Ultimate Characters Guide (Savage Worlds)
Publisher: Mystical Throne Entertainment
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 21:16:09

I feel like while this book has a lot of really great ideas, the execution of those ideas is either sub-par or terrible. most of the edges are either very underpowered or very overpowered, often outperforming other edges with higher rank requirements or much more intensive prerequisites. The Complimentary Skills rule allows Self-Assists, which makes little sense in most cases (even those it's quoted as being used for), the way Knowledge Skills give a flat bonus to things is not only unbalanced, but guarenteed to remove any need to roll save to figure out if the player rolled snake eyes.

So why isn't this review for one star? Because the parts that refer to rules, edges, hindrances, racial abilities etcetera from the core book are by and large very well done, so long as they aren't used with the rules, edges, hindrances, or racial abilities from this book.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Ultimate Characters Guide (Savage Worlds)
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Thrilling Tales 2nd Edition (Savage Worlds)
Publisher: Adamant Entertainment
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 21:11:30

Everything in this book is absolutely perfect for portraying the pulps as most people know them, though there is ONE small problem.

The prices for items are absurdly low. I like to think that Savage Worlds (like most other generic systems with gear listed by dollar value) abstracts what the value of $1 is... and this is very true of all the "X Companion" books that Pinnacle itself has come out with. Thrilling tales however has the option of a .38 detective special for a mere $25, which is WAY too cheap given the default $500 starting cash, and the usual value of a nearly equivelent pistol bottoming out at between $100 and $200 in the core book.

To clarify, this makes two MREs or K-Rations, plus one canteen equal in cost to a .38 detective special. That's not exactly realistic in any setting, and it makes food utterly not worth purchasing if you have anything above a D4 in Survival. I generally just change the prices to fit the ones in core books, but the fact this makes it necessary to do so means one less star.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Thrilling Tales 2nd Edition (Savage Worlds)
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Creator Reply:
To be absolutely clear, the prices presented in Thrilling Tales 2nd Edition (Savage Worlds) are historically accurate, not abstracted. The prices were taken from various period sources of the 1930s. Whereas this does mean that the prices do not compare easily with those in the Pinnacle core releases, they are true to the period of the game. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
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Apocalypse Unleashed
Publisher: Daring Entertainment
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 21:03:52

This book, first of all, does not cover mechanics and core post apocolyptic setting creation guidelines. That's 100% Apocolypse Campaign Guide stuff.

Instead, this covers simple, basic outlines of settings that are made with the stuff in the Apocolypse Campaign Guide. It does this job just fine, but it still feels like it's missing something for all that.

As a hillarious sidenote, my softcover copy seems to have had an entire second book put in there for some reason, not even slightly related to gaming (In fact, it's a workbook for some christian church. I'm not joking, that actually happened). This is probably a bug in the printer/distributor's presses, but thankfully none of the actual book I purchased was cut out. All that's changed is that I have to skip past an entire second book to get to the first page of the one I'm reviewing.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Apocalypse Unleashed
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Creator Reply:
Wow. Yeah, the "second book" is definitely an odd bug from the printer. I can't even fathom how that happened (I ordered three proofs for each of the two Apocalypse books, so it definitely isn't a regular thing). Well, I hope the workbook was entertaining. :) Now I actually wish I had a copy of that mess-up, just to see it. Best Regards, Lee F. Szczepanik, Jr.
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Apocalypse Campaign Guide
Publisher: Daring Entertainment
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 21:00:12

This book is, simply put, extremely useful. A lot of attention to detail for each type of apocolypse listed (and there are a LOT of those in the book) is present. A crafting system that seems like it should have been included with the core Savage Worlds book is present within this book, and zombie and vampire race creation rules complete with point values for making PC Races (Which means that you can finally make PC Vampire Races that match the ones in the horror companion for versitility). Settlement Management rules are also present, which are extremely versitile and useful for way more than just post apocolyptic games.

This book is my vote for Unofficial Post Apocolyptic Companion, 100%.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Apocalypse Campaign Guide
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Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden
Publisher: Kyoudai Games
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 20:54:16

I have to say that this is probably one of the most in-depth, detailed, and unique fantasy settings out there. The level of depth is extremely detailed, putting most first party D&D settings to shame (I haven't purchased many setting books for Savage Worlds, so I can't judge it by that standard yet) Mechanically speaking, the book is sound, and not too complex to run either (Only a very slight amount of complexity increase compared to my simpler Savage Worlds games, which tend to use a single companion book and the core rules at most).

Having purchased the hardcover, I can definitely say it's worth the extra money over the softcover or PDF. It's virtually indistinguishable in print quality from the 3E era D&D books, save that the pages aren't glossy. This is more the distributor's doing, but it certainly makes it worth the extra cash.

Finally, if you're buying this, try to get ahold of a copy of the Fantasy Companion for Savage Worlds if you haven't already got it. Savage Thunderscape includes data on things that work from the basis of that (Though they are easy enough to not use), making it optional but highly recommended to have it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Savage Thunderscape: the World of Aden
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Mage: The Ascension (Revised)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2011 22:09:58

I bought this hoping for a functional product. I got (first three downloads) a product that didn't work at all in adobe reader. Then I downloaded it a fourth time and it worked, but the first seven pages were missing. There's some serious server-end problems here, a disturbing trend since I started buying the old world documents.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Mage: The Ascension (Revised)
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Vampire: The Masquerade - Revised Edition
Publisher: White Wolf
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2011 22:08:09

I tried downloading this and 1/2 the pages were missing from the download. Probably some form of corruption on the way to here. I really want this product, I just can't see why it doesn't work when I get it.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Vampire: The Masquerade - Revised Edition
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Mage: The Ascension (Second Edition)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2011 22:06:21

Six downloads later, I don't even have a functioning book. There's some serious problems with the servers here.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Mage: The Ascension (Second Edition)
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