Gaslight, Savage Worlds setting (Review)

I am a HUGE fan of roleplaying in the victorian era. I'm a HUGE fan of Victorian horror. I'm a HUGE fan of sherlock Holmes.

I'm a HUGE fan of Gaslight. A victorian era fantasy setting for Savage Worlds. Published by Battlefield press, Inc. Although it weighs in at only 80 pages it covers a lot of groud in those 80 pages. Packed full of inspiration and useful information. My copy is a POD from Rpgnow.com. The covers are strong, the binding seems more than adequate, and the paper is heavy weight. Every bit of the book is quality. The art looks to be mostly from free sources. None of the art looks cheesy or out of place. It's plentiful enough to give the book a nice feel. And is well layed out and appropriate for its placement.

Chapter 1: (pages 1-27)
This chapter covers two major subjects. The world of gaslight, victorian themes for your game.
The second is Organizations and secret societies, from Holmes' Baker street irregulars to the secretive MI 7. Covered with (in my opinion) just the right information. Enough to inspire but not enough that it rambles on.

Chapter 2: (pages 29-43)
This chapter is all about making characters in the gaslight setting. Covering concepts, races, edges, and hindrances.
I find the races to be pretty interesting. Ratlings, Humans, Vampires, Werewolf, and Wildlings.
Each races is covered in a lot of detail. I love that it doesn't just give you a few racial packages and a sentence or two and leave you to it. It really fleshed them out with personality, description, relations, lands, religion, language, names, and adventures before getting to racial edges and flaws. Very nicely done in my opinion.

Chapter 3: (45-49)
This is a very small chapter entitled Worldly goods. Most of this chapter is menu style of charts with the goods and services avalible in the Gaslight setting. It's by no means exhaustive, but I feel it covers enough ground to get the job done. Every bit of it useful.

Chapter 4: (51-52)
This even shorter section is all about handling wealth and social status. Two very important topics in any Victorian setting.

Chapter 5: (53-54)
Beyond the veil is all about powers. Which one fits in which category. Which race or archtype is allowed which power. This is one area of the book I will say I disagree with. With the right trappings any power should be open to any type. But it's never bad to have options. If you so choose to introduce restrictions on powers it would not be a bad way to go.

Chapter 6: (pg 55-72)
This huge section is the Gazetteer of the Gaslight setting. Location by location of the world described in the Gaslight setting. So many great adventure seeds in here. I can't read this chapter without gleeming at least a little inspiration from it. Next is a timeline of the Gaslight world. From 1859 to 1901, again full of inspiring little nuggets.

Chapter 7: (pg 73-80)
The reliquary is full of wonderous items that can be found within the Gaslight world. The Ark of the covenant, crystal skulls, the holy grail, and the playing cards of wild just to name a few. This was one of my favorite parts to sit and read. Inspiration on every page. If the reliquary has any short coming, its that its too short. I would love to have even more.

Small but mighty. Gaslight is exactly what I like in a setting. Inspiring and useful. I didn't feel like I was reading a text book or some academic showing off. Hoping to see more in this line in the future.

Proficiency (Hacking) D&D 5E

I'm really loving the modular nature of the 5E D&D system. The great thing about modular systems is the ability to remove or change parts of the system. Sometimes to "fix" a part of the system. Sometimes it's to mold the system to get "the right feel" for a given campaign.

One such part of the 5E D&D system is the proficiency system. It would be very easy to customize it to taste. One could change out skills or even expand or restrict the number of proficient skills based on class, race, or background and not unbalance the game.

I'm also a very big fan of the DMG optional rule of being proficient in some abilities scores rather than skills. Much like my beloved Castles and crusades. Would be just as easy to also add proficiency bonus to any roll that just "makes sense" based on the characters Race, Class, or Background.

If you wanted to run a simplified (even more simple) version of Basic D&D you could ditch skills and just add Proficiency bonus to all rolls and just use that and ability bonuses. giving a +2 bonus to any roll that is covered under the class of the character, Like a rogue picking locks or moving silent.

Some may even like the DMG optional rule of rolling a die rather than use a proficiency bonus. This too has some potential for hacking. For example, rather than adding bonuses for class or other sources you could give a type of advantage/disadvantage by allowing more than one Proficiency die to be rolled. Picking the the best or worst one rolled.

Using the system to run modern of future games would be very easy. After all it's easy for me to treat a computer use as a tool proficiency. Using a car could be as well, after all  piloting a boat is in D&D.

There are so many ways to make the system 'your' system. Proficiency is a big part of the over all 5E system. Nothing would add more flavor or customization than hack the proficiency system.

Cyper system character creation. So good!

I realized tonight that I love the Cypher system way of creating characters. I always thought it was nifty. Lately Im finding my players are more and more in favor pregens, They seem to have no motivation for character creation. If Character creation is more involved rolling abilities, than pick a class and race they just don't want to mess with it.

The other night the true beauty of the Cypher system stepped up and took a bow.

I keep talking about running the Diablo II AD&D dungeons as a cypher system game. One of my players and I was discussing it at length when he suddenly starts flipping through the players guides and players options for Numenera and The strange.

He suddenly gets a wicked grin. "I know what I want to play"

"Oh yeah? What" I asked

"I'll play a Clever Nano who Throws Boulders" he says with a wicked grin.

I wasn't sure what to think, "Throws Boulders? Isn't that more of a Glaive ability?"

My player still grinning says, "I'm an earth bender"

"Damn cool" About all I could say.

Why I still Castles & Crusades.

I've ranted before about how I'm constantly purging my gaming books. If any books/system sits on my shelf for any long period of time I get rid of them.

Today I was looking over my C&C books and something dawned on me. Although I haven't run C&C in a while I've been using the books constantly.

When I ran my Swords & wizardry game. It was a C&C adventure I ran.
When I ran basic fantasy game I used the codex books. When I ran my last 3e game I borrowed heavily from many C&C book and used bluffside as the setting. Even now in my 5E game I using many of my C&C books.

Without even mentioning the core mechanic of the system (Siege engine) Castles & crusades is a d20 system designed using the srd to replicate the feel of older editions of D&D. This makes it a middle ground system. Compatible with very little work with old school editions and its clones. Compatible with most everything with material from the d20 era games. And even close enough to draw inspiration and resources for use with 5E.

As for the core mechanics that make up the siege engine. They are modular enough to change to taste. The castle keepers guide has a lot of options for changing the siege engine to the system that works best for your style and preference. Most of the core rules of 5E were already in use in C&C. Other 5E mechanics like inspiration, advantage, and disadvantage could all be used in C&C with little to no changes. Flexability through being modular.

I might like a lot of different games. I run a lot of other games. But it seems C&C has become a major tool in my tool box. Not just another game.

Cards, Initiative (Savage Worlds)

Cards for initiative is often one of those "oddities" or in some people's words "gimmicks", of Savage Worlds that take some getting used to for new players. I for one have grown to love using playing cards and I would like to go over the key points of why I do.

Handing out a card to each player who in turn acts in order based on value is one of the most honest straight forward methods of initiative I've ever used. Its can't be manipulated or min-maxed. It never gets more complicated. And its a great visual reminder of who goes when. And it can crit! Drawing a joker gives you an effect akin to "critical rolling" on initiative. Everyone has an equal chance in every initiative to shine and an equal chance to be awesome....what is not to like?

The Savage worlds system for initiative can still be "gamed". There are ways to better your draw with edges that for example allow a player to draw two cards and pick one. These Edges don't add complication or manipulate the system in a way that guarantees their superiority over others. It just makes them better at what they have chosen to be good at.

The one criticism I do see time and again is that initiative is not tied to Agility or pace. That faster characters should have an advantage. My reply is that those (as mentioned above) who choose to take edges to act quicker can do so. That is who there character is, it should be part of the character beyond just attribute or skill.

Also I would argue that basing Initiative off Agility or fighting skill is double dipping. You get all the benefits of that attribute or skill plus a bonus to initiative. Its a short road that leads to min-maxing and dump stats. Rather than building a character from the concept up.

Also no other attribute/skill really makes much sense in Savage Worlds to limit or boost your "attack speed". Agility? Agility is eye to hand coordination and nimbleness. I'm sure in some small way it is a bit of quickness. But to say every person who is nimble or good coordination is quick in a fight is kind of a stretch. And to me its a hard argument to say its the ruling factor anyway. What about Pace? Pace is speed alright, but it's rather walking speed. Speed can be effected by a lot of factors. Most of all size effects speed. I'm not willing to belive walking speed should effect how quick you are in acting in combat.

After really thinking about it I do belive effects that manipulate initiative are best as edges. Detached from raw abilities and skills. Rather its attached to your character concept....which I think is just fine.

Attributes (Savage Worlds)

I've seen it asked many times. "If most active rolls in savage worlds is made on a skill roll, then why even have attribute scores?"

Lets take a look at attribute scores in the context of their function in Savage Worlds. What do they do? And are they pulling their weight as a function of the system.

First the most obvious. Attributes act as a limiter to skills who fall under their category. Climbing is a strength based skill, so buying climbing at a level greater than the characters rank in strength will cost two points each, rather than one.

Second attribute scores are factor in to derived attributes and formula. like toughness, as well as rolled along side a secondary die as melee damage. Attribute scores are a mesure of raw power or focus like range of a spell or limit for cyber tolerance.

Another often overlooked function of attributes is "saving throws". Overcome restraints? Strength roll. Dodge a bolder? Agility roll. Resist hypnosis?  Spirit roll. Resist poisons? Vigor roll.

I for one believe attributes pull their own weight. Their effect on savage worlds may not be as obvious and upfront as skills. But their effect and uses are no less important.

Trappings (Savage Worlds)

Trappings is one of the concepts in Savage Worlds that most people don't take to right away. They take a little bit of work to get the hang of. It was a concept I had trouble fully grasping at first. As a matter of fact it was a major hurdle for me, the one thing I didnt like about Savage Worlds at first glance. I felt powers were too generic. Once I got a good grasp on how trappings work I found that I prefer to use them in everything.

It's easy to think of trappings as differences between types of powers like psionics or magic. That its the source of the power that adds the flavor. When in fact they are just the root of the trapping.

Trappings should not just embody the type of powers, but also accent or flavor the power based on your character concept.

As an example lets take the power Entangle. Entangle cost two power points and targets a single enemy to restrain. For two extra points it targets everyone in a medium area. Depending on the power source Entangle can be a mages hold monster spell, a super heroes web slinging, a mad scientists glue bombes, or even a psychics force field encasing someone. Taking it a bit further trappings can have effects beyond just being reskinned powers.
For example, one of my players is a Druid. As a matter of fact he is a Druid in every game I run. His Druid has Entangle. His trapping for the spell is roots and vines that shoot from the ground grabbing its target.
In one game the party was trying to escape from a castle while being unseen. The players had his druid climb to the wall and look over the edge and ask. "Could I cast Entangle on the ramparts? Have the vines attach to them and the rest the party can climb down?" Not just could he..he got a bennie for his cool idea. After all it fit the trapping so why not.

I've taken it a bit further and allowed a more freeform use of trappings as well. In another game the Druids players had entangled a theif who was trying to get away with an artifact. The Druids player asked "instead of using the 2power points to area effect can I instead spend the 2 to pull the target to me?" I allowed it....why not?

Same as entangle as a glue grenade could be used by other characters. Or even rigged to trapps or rolled into a room. Basically any maneuver that one could pull with a hand grenade.

Trappings are not just a reskinning of a power. But rather think of powers as liquids. And trappings are different shapped bottles.  If you pour the power into the shape of a grenade, treat it like a grenade. Not just a grenade in name only. If its shaped like a gun use aiming and cover rules. If its a jet of flames use the flame thrower special rules to light targets on fire. Give trapping substance. Give them effect.