Q. What happens if you do damage to a shaken opponent?
A. This is probably the single hardest thing in Savage Worlds to get right, mostly because the example combats in the book — even the Deluxe book — don’t do a good job of elaborating on the “multiple wounds while shaken” scenario. My lunchtime group did this wrong for years. Continue reading Damaging a Shaken Opponent
“Gotham’s time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we’ve performed for centuries. Gotham… must be destroyed.” — Ra’s Al Ghul, Batman Begins
A generic source book for the 1930s, including a timeline, fashion, slang, the Great Depression, common equipment and gear, and (of course) the obligatory Nazis.
Qapla. Dah tlhingan hol mu ghom a dalegh. Qawhaqvam chenmohlu di wiqipe diya ohvad ponglu. Ach jinmolvamvad Saghbe law tlhingan hol, dis, oh mevmohlu. Ach dis jar wa mahcha dich wikia jinmoldaq vihta. Hov lengvad chenmohlu tlhingan hol e ej dah oh ghojtah ghot law. Qapbej holvam wicha meh, qawhaqvam chenmohlu . Tahjaj wo, tahjaj hol Sov qawhaq tlhab oh ej ghitlhmey diqonmeh tlhingan hol wilo. Ghitlhmey chenmohlah ej chohlah tlhingan hol jatlhlahbogh hoch ghotpu e. Wej tin Sov qawhaqvam, ach ghurli e witul. Dah ghitlhmey ngas. Vay daghel danehchugh, vaj tachdaq maghom.
The Wardens have dispatched an expeditionary force to the Brazilian rain forest to seek out the legendary Eye of Kilquato, a yellow gem that can rumored to control reptiles.
The advance team headed up river aboard the Amazonia, captained by an American ex-pat named “Captain Ron”. The ship ran afoul of river pirates who rammed their ship in a desperate attempt at taking her. The impact shattered the attacking speed boat, and made a mess of the Amazonia’s stern.
Fortunately the rest of the Warden team, who had commissioned the ship The River Star, soon caught up with the advance team. Together they boarded the River Star and headed deeper into the rain forest.
“It’s not who I am underneath… but what I do … that defines me.” — Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins
It’s 1937. Nazi Germany is in ascendency, having consolidated power around Adolf Hitler, passed the noxious Nuremburg Laws in 1936 and re-militarized the Rhineland in 1965. The annexation of Austria is mere months away. Imperial Japan is at war, having invaded China and occupied Shanghai.
In America, the Depression rages on, with millions out of work despite President Roosevelt’s best efforts with the New Deal. The spectre of war in Europe has everyone on edge, though some — including hero Charles Lindbergh — speak highly of the Nazi regime.
The heroes are members of the Wardens, a loosely-knit secret society with offices in New York, London, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. It is an organization comprised of men and women of action — troubleshooters, adventurers, and mystics — who have sworn an oath to protect the innocent from threats both mundane and magical.
“How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?” — Verbal, The Usual Suspects
“Creepy Carcass” McGinnis is an Australian veteran of Gallipoli and other really bad places back in the Great War, he is now a Mercenary serving-for-hire in some of the worst hellholes around the world, from South American Juntas, to African colonial dictators, and Pacific Rim pocket imperialists. Along the way he’s picked up a few tricks, and a healthy perspective on the Human Condition (and a bunch of one-liners). Somewhere there might be a hero lurking in him, but for now he’d rather throw a punch than get in touch with his “feelings”.
“In the absence of light, darkness prevails. There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back.” — Professor Trevor ‘Broom’ Bruttenholm, Hellboy
Called “Sid” by most people who deign to talk to him (a play on the pronunciation of his last name), Hividar Macid is a small, slight, sickly looking man who looks younger than his approximately 30 years. And, as a Kurd from western Turkey, he is obviously a foreigner just about everywhere he goes. His family fled Turkey to avoid the reprisals following the Kurdish uprisings in the late 20’s/early 30’s, and he found himself in London.
Father Cameron Dovenney (Robin Hood by way of Blues Brothers) never attended proper seminary school, but acquired his faith at his father’s side. A nomadic priest without a house of worship or congregation, the senior Dovenney led his wife and son throughout the most destitute parts of North and South America, providing “spiritual wealth and enlightenment” to the poor and uncivilized.
Archibald Buchanan was a promising graduate from Yale University but when the war to end all wars broke out in Europe he enlisted with the British Army to fight the Hun. He was a successful pilot, achieving the rank of “Ace”, until he was shot down deep over Germany. Despite a severely injured leg, he learned to survive in the shadows and after several months he managed to sneak his way back over the front line. On the way he saw some horrible things that scarred him and left him changed. After the war he had trouble integrating back into American society and he fled to the far corners of the earth, where he now works as a pilot and sometimes as an adventurer for hire.
Rikard Greystone grew up in a prestigious circus that travelled extensively in Europe and the mysterious Orient. As a result, Rikard had an early exposure to other cultures and today speaks a surprising number of languages with great fluency (Edge: Linguist). Rikard also developed prodigious skill as an acrobat and learned the secrets of Oriental combat.
Rikard grew up with a strong connection to his family and his extended family in the Circus (Hindrance: Loyal). As a kind hearted boy Rikard also found it nearly impossible to say no to people in need, often sharing food with the hungry and helping the people of whatever region he visited in any way he could (Hindrance: Heroic).
When Rikard grew older his family persuaded him that the circus life was too limited for someone so gifted. A wealthy benefactor of the Circus offered to sponsor Rikard’s education and at the tender age of 16 Rikard attended Yale University where his linguistic skills and exposure to other cultures led him to study world history, archaeology and religion.
Sadly, while Rikard was at University, a mysterious criminal organization in Budapest assaulted the Circus, killing many of its members, including Rikard’s family. Devastated, Rikard turned to the study of Criminology and vowed to bring these shadowy criminals to justice and to do so honorably, without resorting to their crudely violent methods (Vow: Never Take a Human Life).
After a short stint as a police detective in New York City, where Rikard honed his investigatory skills, Rikard left the police force behind and embarked on the life of a private investigator, tracking down leads to the shadowy criminals who slew his family.
The Reverend Sir Arthur Boundless studied religion at Oxford before choosing to fight for king and country in the British Army. He ultimately rose to the rank of major until his military career was cut short thanks to a bullet in the leg. The wound never healed quite right. It was just as well; the wound gave him a reason to muster out of the military and continue his academic studies into comparative religions. He eventually came to the States thanks to the offer of a professorship at Yale. Continue reading The Reverend Sir Arthur Boundless