Month: February 2019
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School’s Out – Now What?
Last night was the final session of the Roll20 ETU campaign we’ve been running since October 2017 (final blog post coming soon!). What’s next for the Roll20 Gang? Here’s a clue: That’s right, not content with exploring portals to alternate dimensions in ETU, the Roll20 Gang is headed for RIFTS Earth! But wait, there’s more… starting with…
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Legion of Liberty Design Notes: Superhumans and History
One significant worldbuilding challenge for Legion of Liberty was deciding how much the existence of superhumans would have changed history. Early on, we decided that superpowers were confined to the New World, meaning that they would have had no significant effect on European history until 1492. Afterwards, however, would the history of colonization have gone…
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Savage Malifaux Session 2: The Star Theatre
Having made it to Malifaux at last, Anna Mae, Bal, Bernard, Providence, Zai, and the escaped convict Cesar (who is posing as the dead puppeteer, Vito Sessa) have been detained by the Guild for questioning about what happened to the other passengers on their train from Earth. As they wait, hot and irritated, Malifaux City…
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Legion of Liberty Design Note: Mass Battles
Developing a setting based on a historical, large scale war requires that the gamemaster consider how the players will participate in major battles. Fortunately, Savage Worlds provides a great starter framework with the Mass Battle rules. However, in the world of Legion of Liberty, superhumans are more powerful on a battlefield than, say, even a…
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Savage Malifaux Session 1: Into the Breach
Roasting in the noonday sun, passengers gather at the train station in the fortified Guild outpost of Breachtown. First, they had to finagle permission to board the Iron Ram, the locomotive that carries people and supplies through the Breach from Earth to Malifaux; now, they shuffle slowly through the security line. When the red-and-grey-clad…
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Legion of Liberty Design Note: Arcane Backgrounds
Once we had the initial concept of superheroes in the American Revolution, the next major mechanical question was how to model the superpowers. Savage Worlds offers at least three obvious alternatives for superpowers between Deluxe and Adventure editions – Arcane Background: Superpowers from Deluxe, Arcane Background: Gifted from Adventure, and the Superpowers Companion. Of the…
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Savage Malifaux: Meet the Characters: One-Glove Bernard
Character Name: “One-Glove” BernardPlayer: SteveProfession: Gremlin pugilist and aspiring rocketeer Very few Gremlins have ever seen the blue skies of Earth, Gremlin-kind being in general banned from Earth (and most polite company), but Bernard has made the crossing many times. When Walt Mannic, dressed in his purple sequined tailcoat and top hat, encountered “One…
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Savage Malifaux: Meet the Characters: Zai
Character Name: ZaiPlayer Name: LaraProfession: Illusionist She is the Incomprehensible Butterfly, Master of Prestidigitation, Virtuoso of Dreams, Sovereign of Your Reverie. When she struts into the spotlight, Zai’s mussed pageboy hair might be pink, purple, or indigo; her sinuous arms draped with fur stoles, or silk kimonos, or glittering chain mail, or bridal veils…
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ETU Actual Play with the Roll20 Gang: Graduation Day
After their shared nightmare on Walpurgis Night, the students want nothing more than to bunker down and prepare for the Convergence (and ensuing demonic apocalypse). Unfortunately, instead of cleaning swords, firearms, and Zippo Lighters from Hell, they must smile and nod at their excited families, who are bubbling over with enthusiasm about graduation. After lunch,…
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Savage Malifaux: Meet the Characters: Anna Mae Hawkins
Player: LillieName: Anna Mae HawkinsProfession: Anthropologist Although short of stature, Anna Mae is a striking presence, with an elegant Gibson Girl hairstyle and a large pair of spectacles necessary for a life of squinting at footnotes in academic texts. The first woman in her family to attend college, Anna Mae studied anthropology at Bennett…