I'm a huge fan of Street Wolves. The 80s synthwave aesthetic hits me hard, and the writing is quite good. On the weird West side of things, Sagas & Six-Guns is the Viking Old West setting I didn't know I needed until I found it.
Thank you so much for this. I grabbed the SWADE core book and I haven't even tried running it because it seemed like something was missing. I didn't know what setting to get. I think I'll try deadlands.
You are very welcome. The thing that makes SWADE great is also what makes it difficult to get started. It can effectively do so many different games, there is a bit of analysis paralysis. Since I have gone through many of the different settings so thoroughly, I felt like I had some insight here that could help someone new to the game. Thanks for watching, and good luck with the Dead West!
I'm a massive fan of ETU/Pinebox Middle School, but Pathfinder and Deadlands definitely are on my top 5 - the upcoming Han Cluster finishing out that list.
ETU is one that I’d be playing if I had the group, but that style of game doesn’t lend itself as well to a sandbox solo experience. Have not seen the Han Cluster, but I will look into that. Savage Pathfinder is my next group campaign, but we may run it outside of Golarion (I gave them the choice of Athas, homebrew, or Golarion). Either way, looking forward to switching from Pathfinder 2e to Savage PF full time. 😀
I dissagree with "the bad" in savage pathfinder, i would say "the different" - class edges are not bad, in fact i think that is the single most value proposition of Savage pathfinder and on top of that they did them 100% optional. Most current RPG players are use to classes and having edge classes are a hugeeeee help when onboarding those players. - the higher power level is not necessarily a bad thing, is to better portrait the DnD-esque fantasy superhero.
I spoke ineffectively, I intended to mean that “potentially” bad, similar to how I framed the earlier entries in the video. I intended to show that the classes would not be appealing to all players, potentially a negative for some groups looking to “escape” the d20 line. If you get a chance to watch my Savage Pathfinder video, I think you will likely find I am fairly complimentary of using the class feats as a conversion tool for folks that are accustomed to D&D (similar to how you suggested in your post). Sorry for the confusion, but I actually don’t think we disagree here, I think I just worded it poorly.
SW is so flexible. It was the only system I ran for a few years pre-Pandemic. I ran fantasy, supers, and a weird-modern campaign inspired by Warehouse 13 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The one official setting I lament never running is The Last Parsec. The issue is that besides my brother and I, none of our gaming troupe want to play Sci-Fi (which pains because I love Sci-Fi). PS: I backed Rifts on Kickstarter back in 2016. Still have the books, but never played it.
SWADE is a toolbox that has very few limiting factors. It does so many genres well, it was a natural fit for a kitchen sink game like Rifts. I have not checked out Last Parsec, like you my group is not into the sci fi thing.
@@booksbricksandboards783 Their disinterest in Sci-Fi pains me Justin, it truly does. After purchasing Stars Without Number, I created several solar systems, dozens of planets, and wrote story ideas for an episodic and sandbox space opera....and I was met with a collective "Meh". C'est la vie.
That is truly frustrating I’m sure…. The way I got my guys to play (and enjoy) SWON was when I ran them through Keep on the Borderlands, playing it off as a Westworld style resort for guests to “play” as fantasy heroes. The players were hired to clean out the caves of chaos to allow expansion of the resort. I think, because it was an iconic fantasy module, they were willing to shoot orcs with laser guns 😀
@@AceneDean Heya Dean, I didn't run it solo: I ran it with my brother and two lifelong/childhood friends who I've been slinging dice with since the late 80s. The three of them were members of a clandestine organization with more pull/clout/fiat than the FBI or CIA, however, would partner up during a crisis. The agency conscripted the best and brightest (the Talent) and individuals capable of psionic or magical prowess (the Sensitives). They received missions to secure powerful artifacts before rival agencies (or nations) could secure them or before a layman got in over her/his head and caused a catastrophe. Thanks to the SW system, they were incredibly diverse characters: One player took Leadership Edges and the Linguist Edge; another took the Arcane Background and casted spells with fun trappings (i.e. eating an Atomic Fireball to cast Fireball); another buddy was a Hard to Kill/Brawler whirling death machine.
I have designed my own fantasy setting using primarily FC and 50 Fathoms as guide posts but the one thing I include that I think has brought me some fun is elements of the Horror Companion. I don't think it is something I would work solely from but I do like it for flavoring, like salt and pepper.
I have the PDF of the newest version of the Horror Companion, and I think it has a great bestiary and I like the setting rule options in it. I can see lots of application to fantasy.
@@booksbricksandboards783 I feel like horror can be applied to nearly any other genre. Look at "Alien" or "Young Frankenstein". The thing that makes SWADE awesome is that it supplies the tools for a GM to make nearly anything they want to. I've been involved with this hobby since 1978 and only a few systems have managed to do something like this that I am aware of.
There are a few good “universal” systems, but in my opinion, Savage Worlds does it best. GURPS, Cypher, Genesys, and Basic RPG are some of the bigger ones. Some of them just don’t handle some things as smooth as I’d want. I started in ‘85 when the neighbor introduced me to the Red Box. Played that for a few years, then we started playing 2e for about 10 years. Since then I have played each edition of D&D and a lot of third party games. Savage Worlds is, at this point, my favorite RPG system.
SWADE yeasssshhhh No surprise for Pathfinder. Suspected it would be your first pick XD I would (like some) like one for Starfinder, but it won't happen. I was surprised you didn't mention the superhero universe. Otter : I'm European it is far from my taste XD I especially enjoy : - Last Parsec : it's your typical space adventuring stuff - Interface 3.0 : it is your typical cyberpunk stuff (i alternate with Cities without Numbers) - Space 1889 : Steampunk and space - Savage Battlelord : that's your Starship trooper obviously Deadlands... I haven't explored the pirate settings, and I am not sure if I will go there or pirate borg. Or alternate, like I do for Cyberpunk.. For Shadowrun there is an extension: Sprawlrunner, but I’m not too fond of it. So I run my own set of rules based on Swade and interface 3.0
Pralinor, welcome back! 😀 The supers campaign would be very close, my only issue there is that it was a little less heavy on the world building side than I would like for a campaign setting, but quality wise it is right in the mix. I can see where Holler would be harder to get into for someone that has never seen that type of culture (the good and the bad). I have family that is part of it, so seeing it displayed so fairly and interestingly is really appealing. If nothing else, it gives us a reason to see a more nuanced take on “hillbilly culture”. Last Parsec keeps popping up in the comments, so I must need to take a look at that! Have a great day Pralinor!
Deadlands is great, also like Pathfinder but my favorite SWADE setting is probably Legion of Liberty since I'm a huge fan of anything Revolution/Founding Fathers. I would also say All For One: Regime Diabolique but honestly whenever I play that I use the Ubiquity version so maybe I don't include it on a purely SW list.
I had no idea that this existed, but just read the Crowdfunding page on it after your comment. Sounds very interesting. Another thing to add to my, “need to get and read” list! Thanks for the heads up!
You should read the GrimJack comic books or take a look at the old (old, *OLD,* 1983 old 😉) Lords of Creation game from Avalon Hill if you want a setting that explains "kitchen sink" game settings without being ridiculously, idiotically overpowered. Personally, I'm having a *BLAST* trying to adapt the Fading Suns setting to Savage Worlds. 😁
I will take a look sometime, giving my wallet a rest for a bit😉. I really like what Pinnacle did with Rifts in Savage Worlds. I think it took the best parts and made them better.
@@booksbricksandboards783 Don't get me wrong; I *LOVED* Rifts when it was produced by Palladium, and would probably love Rifts SW (I loved The Mechanoids even more, but that's beside the point). 😁 I was simply responding to your comments about the lack of game balance, which was also a huge problem with the Palladium game. BTW you can probably download the entire Grimjack comic series in PDF dirt cheap or even free. Not certain about the legality, but First Comics, the company that created it, is long outta business. Its writer is still alive and kickin', though, which is why I'm unsure of how legal it is to download the series without payment.
Oh yeah, balance, even in Savage Worlds, is NOT something Rifts even pretends to achieve😀. I will take a look at Grimjack. I like old comics(a lot more than new ones), I have the original Marvel Conan line in color paperback.
