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Still Life and Death
Publisher: Melting Point Publishing
by Matt S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/18/2018 09:43:13

This is an interesting horror adventure for use with Savage Worlds. Still Life and Death by Ben Baker from Melting Point Publishing is a 43-page pdf available on DriveThruRPG. It was released on June 14, 2017 and is their first product. Also available for pay what you want is a Character Pack which contains 8 pregenerated characters for both Seasoned and Veteran ranks.

Even though this one starts off with a typical "please help me find my missing loved one", it is a great adventure with a good twist. Inside you'll find an adventure full of cultists, zombies, and a pig-ogre. It's difficult to write a review on an adventure without spoilers but I'm gonna try.

This adventure is an investigative horror scenario with a Lovecraftian feel. It uses your normal playwright formula of three acts and three scenes with a bonus/alternate scene thrown in in act three. Included in the adventure are 5 extras and 4 wildcard NPCs. One of the things that sets these NPCs apart from other publisher's products is that Ben included what he calls Roleplay Hint's, Appearance, and History info on each one. This helps the GM get a feel for the characters so they can relate it to the players much better. It's clear he spent some time thinking about the characters and how they fit into the story.

Throughout the adventure Ben has included fictional snippets at the beginning of each scene. This kind of threw me off a bit and made me wonder why he included it, so I asked him and his response was "Regarding the Fiction sections, I think sometimes it can be difficult for a writer to really convey the mood and atmosphere they are trying to build in a game. Realistically, I’d say that however a GM wants to run any game then as long as the players enjoy it then it’s right for that particular group. But I wanted a way to help give the GM more ideas for the tone and setting, and also touch on some aspects of the larger setting that it’s not practical to do using only box text and the like. I think the Fiction parts help break up the flow of the book. Also, sometimes a group will find a way to really derail an adventure, and having some fiction to plunder for inspiration can really help a struggling GM to get the story back on track without railroading the party too heavily."

It's a bit long to be used as a convention game but I suppose you could shorten it up enough to fit into a four-hour time slot. I believe this is more suited for multiple game sessions. One thing I'm fairly certain of is that this has huge potential to be a Total Party Killer. There's potential for some combat in the first act but the next one is where the meat grinder starts with three combat encounters back to back. If the players make it to act three, they have their work cut out with another very deadly encounter that could turn into yet another encounter. You may want to run away if you get the chance!

You can read my full review at https://thoughtsofabarbarian.blogspot.com/2018/01/still-life-and-death-review.html



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Still Life and Death
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Husk: Wrath of the Swarm
Publisher: Tricky Troll Games
by Matt S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/18/2017 09:21:06

It's review time. Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a message asking if I was going to use Husk to run a game. I said what is this Husk? Then he sent me a link to DriveThruRPG and when I saw the image I said oh yeah I remember seeing Nathan Carmen post this on Google+. I must admit, I was very skeptical about purchasing this product because it seemed a little overpriced from what the product description says. I think the words "This Setting Kit provides an outline of a setting" threw me off more than anything else. At $4.00 for 23 pages the pdf will cost me $0.17 per page which I thought was a little high. So when my friend messaged me, I thought about it more and decided to buy it. I'm glad I did. These 23 pages are really good. Wait, I think I just got tricked into doing a review on this. I won't forget that Eric.

You are resistance fighters and only 30% of the populace is left. It's a dog eat dog world where only the strong survive. The alien bugs have invaded and all but wiped out the world's military organizations. There are 6 factions of resistance groups left and you belong to Unity. This group seeks to unify the human race against the invaders. You may or may not face off against the other factions. That's up to you and your GM.

Within the pages you get 4 new edges, 2 new hindrances, 2 new setting rules, an adventure generator, and a great bestiary with 7 wildcard human NPC's, 2 human Extras, and 14 alien NPC's (6 of them are wildcards). This product is labeled as a kit for an alien bug invasion setting and it is exactly that. It is a toolbox of great ideas and beasts. I highly recommend buying this pdf if you're interested in any type of science fiction. Best of all, it's for Savage Worlds and it's only $4. Go check out Husk: Wrath of the Swarm.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Husk: Wrath of the Swarm
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White Noise
Publisher: Just Insert Imagination
by Matt S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/11/2017 17:43:21

This is one of those games I've been putting off reading because I was hoping one of my friends would run it. White Noise is a short horror adventure from Just Insert Imagination written by Jamie Pierson, Eric Lamoureux, and Morne Schaap. This is a plug & play adventure designed to be a complete grab and go rpg adventure ready for a convention or a GM on the go with little prep time required.

From the get go I was stoked to dive into this adventure because I've been craving a good horror game to get into. The cover art inspires the imagination as if you're looking out the porthole of a ship or airplane which is backlit with a red warning light. The game takes place in Alaska during the cold war in 1967. The players are a part of a corporation security team sent in to "clean up messes before the public finds out." The players know that the corporation they work for is dabbling in "biochemical pharmaceuticals" and have cleaned up some of the experiments before. Their job on this mission is to fly from the corporation's headquarters in Portland to a research facility in Alaska and lock down the facility. Then they need to find out what happened and report back to Headquarters.

White Noise uses the setting rules of Blood & Guts, Jokers Wild, and Gritty Damage. It wouldn't be a horror game if Gritty Damage was missing. With chances of infection after each wound, a player has the possibility to pick up a mutation from the included Mutation Table (I would prefer to use the Mutation Deck from JII). After the introduction there are 4 scenes for the players to go through. This should be enough for a 3 to 4 hour game session provided that the players at the table don't just rush through each location. This is where the GM really needs to manage the game progression.

There is a good story plot and background info but it just feels as if it's unfinished. Within the two documents provided, there are some worker journal handouts, but no mention in the adventure of when or where to distribute them. I have no doubt that most GM's have enough creativity to figure out how to make this adventure work.

Both documents contain 5 pre-generated character sheets. No, you don't get 10 different characters. There are two different versions of the same 5 characters. Both sets of characters look good but one set clearly has a different layout so you can easily separate them from each other (you'll see what I mean if you get this pdf). The character sheets look really, really good. I love the dot matrix form feed paper used as the background. Each character is unique and they also come with a secret. After each player picks their character the GM is instructed to hand out the secrets to the respective player. My personal favorite secret is Bamm's. I don't want to give away any spoilers on the player secrets.

Out of all of their PnP games this is the only one that appears to be slightly disorganized. In this adventure you get a cover page, 2 pages of backstory and adventure, a one page Mutation Table, a one page sonar map of the Alaskan area, 2 pages of basic figure flats, 2 pages of Worker Journal handouts, 3 pages of table tents, and 6 pages of pre-generated characters.

As usual, Just Insert Imagination has set the bar high with excellent artwork and layout. Plenty of supplements make this adventure convention ready. It is pay what you want so I encourage you to pick it up and form your own conclusions.

I would give this one 7 out of 10.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
White Noise
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Aliens vs Rednecks
Publisher: Just Insert Imagination
by Matt S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/12/2017 18:50:41

Aliens vs Rednecks is Just Insert Imagination's newest entry in what they're calling a "plug & play adventure". This latest adventure is their 5th in this line of PnP adventure series. The other PnP adventures from JII are Fuhgeddaboudit!, Size Matters, Badabing Badaboom!, and White Noise (which will be reviewed later). Coming soon to this line of adventures will be Ashen Thorns, a "spooky and creepy, perfect for a dark night with the wind howling outside." PnP adventure.

I've been resisting the urge to read this adventure in the hopes that I would get to play in it beforehand. Oh well, at least I can say I tried. The basic synopsis of this adventure written by Eric Lamoureux and Harrison Hunt, is that the Klarrgian aliens are in danger of being extinct and they need to abduct a human female named Jenny. She is believed to be the only gene carrier that can save the planet Klarrg from a plague. This beauty pageant queen is somewhere in the town of Jefferson and the aliens can't leave without her.

This adventure introduces a couple of new setting rules, Hold mah beer! and The Xeno Shroud. Basically, they’re rules for in game drinking and allowing the aliens to walk around amongst the humans unnoticed by the townsfolk. If you haven't already figured it out yet, the players will be playing the roles of the inept aliens attempting to abduct Jenny. In this PnP there are a total of 9 scenes/plot twists with my favorite being Just Ridiculous. Another identical race of aliens unknown as Qlarrgians are after Jenny for the exact same reason as the Klarrgians.

AvR is a 20 page PDF which includes a cover page, 3 pages of adventure with NPC’s, a town map, 2 pages of basic figure flats, 5 pre-generated character sheets, a blank character sheet, 5 pre-generated table tents, a blank table tent, and a one page advertisement of JII products.

Overall, I’m really digging this adventure. I mean, who doesn’t want to be an awkward bungling alien searching for (in the voice of Forrest Gump) Jen-ay in the backwoods town of Jefferson. Some of the things I like about this game are the Alienudes, an alien inspired version of interludes and the Klarrgian slang included (which are also on the table tents for easy player access). As usual, the artwork is fantastic and I only have one gripe. That is the page layout on pages 2-4. They tried to make those pages look like an open book laid flat so you can see the crease in the middle of the page. To me it looks like everything is slightly squished on those pages. This gripe is not a major thing at all. It is merely a personal preference on my part.

Depending on the players at your table, this game will be a hillarious, gut ripping, and flatulence inducing alien adventure to remeber for a long time. I’m giving this one 4 out of 5 Jalizaran Moons.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Aliens vs Rednecks
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Fuhgeddaboudit! Fifth Anniversary Edition (SWADE)
Publisher: Just Insert Imagination
by MATTHEW S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/30/2016 11:24:41

If you like Mob movies then this is the game for you!

This game is great for new players, as it involves a lot of the basic rules and also has a chasee scene. The pregenerated characters are fully fleshed out which makes this great for a one shot or a con game. You can also use this as a mini campaign because there are enough scenes to have 2-3 three hour sessions.

Not convinced yet? Check out the youtube video. Disclaimer, this video is for mature audiences and has adult language.

I gave it 5 stars because of it's versatility, ease of use (little to no preperation time), and fun factor. Lets face it, everyone wants to talk like a Gumbah!

Fast! Furious! Fun!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fuhgeddaboudit! Fifth Anniversary Edition (SWADE)
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