New Year New Game Sale: Savage Worlds Recommendations!

  The New Year New Game sale is on at DrivethruRPG, and here's the offers I recommend.

Whether you've never played Savage Worlds, or you're a veteran looking for something cool, here we go!

SAVAGE WORLDS ADVENTURE EDITION

Well, the core game is on sale,  and if you were on the fence, this a great time to grab the PDF for a reduced price. The latest edition, released three years ago, is a distillation of almost 20 years of gaming, and is my go-to rule system when I'm looking for something different from OSR games. I love the modularity of it, and the potential to bring to the table any kind of action-oriented adventures and settings I can think of.

AND SUPPLEMENTS

Despite the promotion is supposed to be about new games, a lot of supplements made it through the mysterious DrivethruRPG automatic selection and are on offer:

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition: Mini Settings - If you missed this, it's worth checking at a special price: four mini settings complete with setting rules and savage tales! 

Deadlands the Weird West - Arguably Savage Worlds' most popular setting. This is the latest edition, released in 2020, and features a retconned version of a setting that is incredibly rich and deep, combining horror, steampunk, and alternate history into an exploding mix.

Rippers Resurrected Players Guide - Victorian era monster hunters, willing to pay the ultimate price and sacrifice their humanity using rippertech in order to win the war against the forces of darkness. Gothic horror meets Van Helsing action, with one hell of a plot point campaign.

Crystal Heart - The fantasy setting with heroes changing their hearts with crystals to gain more power, includes a full plot point campaign.

Burning Seas of Hell - A mini setting (30 pages) with pirate, swashbuckling action, in hell!

Tropicana - A contemporary setting of action heroes, special agents and troubleshooters in San José, a (fictional) Caribbean state consisting of a tropical metropolis, its wild jungle hinterland and a small archipelago of paradise islands. Written by Mauro Longo and me, Tropicana is currently yours for less than $3!

Toy Troopers - War action, but with animated toys, fighting inside a house! A title that has received little attention so far, but worth considering for fun games!

Titan Effect - A superhero/spy thriller setting with lots of high tech gadgets and pyschic powers to fight against global conspiracies in the present day, as part of the SPEAR (Special Executive Assault and Recon).

Heroes of Terra: The Mushroom War - A Super Mario-inspired fantasy setting!

Nothing caught your interest? Well, you can still browse the 4270 titles included in the sale, and the 122 in the Savage Worlds category!

Into Savage Worlds? Check out my other Savage Worlds posts!

10 QUESTIONS TO, ENNIES SPECIAL: Mauro Longo & Two Little Mice

This is a special interview! Today we chat with Mauro Longo, the mind behind Brancalonia the Spaghetti Fantasy RPG, and the Two Little Mice team, who gave us Broken Compass. Why am I interviewing them together? Because they have a lot in common, such as being Italian and having won a bunch of Ennie Awards two weeks ago!

Brancalonia got the Gold Award for the Best Electronic Book category, and three more Silver Awards for Best Setting, Best Writing and Product of the Year, while Broken Compass received a Silver Ennie for Best Production Values. 

Mauro Longo is an old time friend of mine: we played RPGs together for years, and we wrote together the Savage Worlds settings Ultima Forsan and Tropicana, and the Old-School zine series Lands of Legends. He’s also worked on internationally acclaimed RPG projects such as Lex Arcana and Inferno, and is also a novelist and a Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks author.

Two Little Mice actually is three -regular sized- people: Rico Sirignano, Simone Formicola and Daniela Giubellini. Before Broken Compass, they created the fairy-themed Household RPG, which won the Italian RPG of the Year 2019 award, the Parsifal graphic novel, and the Anime e Sangue urban fantasy series (available on Amazon Prime Video). And today’s news is the TLM team has just been acquired by the board game colossus CMON!

1 Hello Mauro, Rico, Simone and Daniela! So, how does it feel to be nominated for the Ennie Awards? And then to actually win? Did you see it coming? What was your reaction? Italian RPGs had received a few nominations in the past, but this year Italy totalled five Ennies, which is a record. Do you see a trend in that? What are your plans to keep winning?

Mauro: Well, as you can imagine, it was OUTSTANDING and we don’t have plans for that :D . Of course, we submitted our game to the judges, “with our hat in our hands” like we say, hoping for 1-2 nominations. We didn’t see the four nominations coming, nor the four awards we got. We actually spent the night (3 a.m in Italy) watching the streaming together with the TLM team and our shared joy was a real thing. In one moment, we all passed from our national RPG scene to the world top level… What a night! 

There is a trend: an internal Italian trend. Starting with Ultima Forsan, then with Lex Arcana, Broken Compass, Valraven, Inferno, Lands of Legends, Not the End and similar Italian games, Italian game designers are transcending the national border and bringing our games to the rest of the world. We didn’t have the strength to arrive on the English speaking marketplace before, we have it now. And the whole thing will escalate quickly.

TLM: Being nominated for the Ennie Awards was thrilling, and winning a silver medal was way beyond our wildest expectations. This is one of the greatest awards for games, and we only stepped into the gaming sector three years ago.

In the last years Italian role-playing games are proving well received even beyond our borders, thanks to some very successful KickStarter campaigns. We hope that the recognition awarded to Broken Compass and Brancalonia will contribute to bring even more attention to our niche and help the Italian gaming industry to grow.

2 Ok, just in case someone reading this doesn’t know your games, could you please pitch them for us here in, like, 10 lines?

Mauro: Brancalonia is a “spaghetti fantasy” setting for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s set in an unheroic, picaresque and roguish version of Medieval Italy, a world that quotes, collects, and mixes references from contemporary Italian fiction and over a hundred works of Italian fantasy tradition, pop culture, and collective imagery – like Collodi’s Pinocchio, Orlando Furioso, Calvino’s fiction, fairy tales, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the “Spaghetti Western” films. In Brancalonia, all the player characters are knaves, members of a Free Company of mercenaries, rogues and rascals, engaged in questionable jobs across the various domains of what is left of an ancient kingdom now in ruins.

TLM: Broken Compass is a pulp adventure game inspired by the classics of the genre like Uncharted, Indiana Jones, and Tomb Raider. When playing Broken Compass you step into the role of an Adventurer, someone who braves the dangers of the world in search of a Treasure and will have to face a terrible and dangerous Rival to get it. The best things about Broken Compass are that it’s very easy to pick up, simple to learn and play, even online, and the great attention to details that gained it the Silver ENnie for Best Production Values.

3 Tell us about your specific jobs. What are your roles and your areas of expertise? How does your creative and productive process work? Your creative productions include RPGs and also novels, CYOA books, comics and live action shows. Is there an overlap, influence, contamination that seeps into how you conceive, play and create RPGs?

Mauro: I’m now the creative director of all the RPG and gamebook lines in Acheron Games. I lead a composite staff of writers, artists, developers and other contributors. I usually try to work on POP CULTURE as a whole subject, from which to extract tropes, ideas, features and quotes. This is the way I approach RPGs, even in their mood, their atmosphere. Ruleset comes later.

TLM: Two Little Mice is made up of Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano, Simone Formicola, and Daniela Giubellini. Rico and Simone are both writers and they focus on the development and writing of the games, while Daniela is the artist behind the beautiful illustrations in our books.

Before diving into the RPG scene, we produced a tv series released on Amazon Prime Video and several plays for theatre. These days we are also working on a graphic novel that should be delivered to our backers shortly. We take inspiration from many sources; Broken Compass, for example, was clearly the product of our shared passion for both movies and travel.

4 Both Brancalonia and Broken Compass were launched on Kickstarter, with very successful campaigns. The perfect example of how crowdfunding was supposed to work: small publishers gathering funds for large projects.

Through the years, though, it has become more and more important even for the “big players” in the RPG industry.

Do you consider that unfair? Or is the presence of big publishers beneficial to the small ones? Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

What’s your overall experience with Kickstarter campaigns?

Mauro: Kickstarter is a tool publishers can use for their projects, and in this way it’s neutral. For us in Acheron, an international crowdfunding portal is the way we can directly reach an audience worldwide: players living in the USA, UK, Australia and so on. The point is not the money, the fundraising, but the visibility our games can have, and the direct connection between creators and players. 

It can’t be unfair, if everything is used in transparency. I like this system, I adapted very well, and I will use it again, when needed.

TLM: Many of our projects over the years have been founded with the help of Kickstarter and we are very grateful to have such a platform. When big players also use this platform, they help introduce it to a greater public, which then has a chance to discover the smaller companies there. In our opinion, and as proved by our experience, this coexistence doesn’t work against indie companies. It’s not unfair for larger companies to use this platform, so long as they do it responsibly. But this goes for everyone, big or small.

In future, we’d love for both creators and backers to come closer to the philosophy behind crowdfunding campaigns, both explaining clearly and accepting the risks they involve, and striving for a better communication on all sides.

5 Italian style. Is there any such thing in RPGs? How “Italian” are your Brancalonia and Broken Compass? Rules, setting, concept, approach, anything you think may apply. Has it been a key element for success?

Mauro: Acheron IS a producer of Italian-style concepts, IPs, games and fiction. It’s our mission: “Made in Italy, shared worldwide”. We are expressly devoted to Italian-ish settings, novels, lore, pop culture and so on. Of course we also like stories and settings with completely different flavor, BUT we use “Italian stuff” as a distinctive trait, to introduce ourselves and to be distinguished from other publishers.

In our case, it definitely has been a key element for success.

TLM: Italian style is famous all over the world in many sectors, from design, to fashion, and for many other artistic products. We like to trace our love and attention to details back to our traditions, our history, and the many beautiful things our Country has to offer, and we hope to keep sharing our love for peculiar things with others. It would be hard to say if there is such a thing as an “Italian Style RPG”, but the cultural wealth that surrounds us is a great inspiration for our imagination, and there’s no doubt it played a role in the creation of our products. In many ways, Broken Compass is NOT an Italian game, but we believe that our novel approach to a genre so dominated by the American perspective played a role in our success.

6 Inclusion and representation of minorities in RPGs are a hot topic. How do you address that? 

Mauro: We try the best we can. Our saying, for Brancalonia, is that we are “social justice knaves”, and everything in the setting is planned to be "cosmopolitical", inclusive and respectful, even if in an ironical way. Our most frequent trick is: take a stereotype and then subvert it. This way you get to use the tropes that you want to, but you can create more than that, representing a lot of differences. 

TLM: When designing Broken Compass, we came to realize that the genre that inspired us (let’s call it “archaeological adventure”) historically hasn’t been the most inclusive or respectful in the representation of other genders and cultures. Our objective was to bring the genre into the present, adapting it to a modern society and leaving its problematic traits in the past. Representation and diversity have always been a cardinal element of our creative ideals, and we often had to go against the reference material and find different ways to stay true to them.

We are proud of having created Broken Compass as a game with people of many genders and nationalities, and proud of our fans and backers who appreciated and supported our choices.

7 Let’s see how good you really are as role players. Now you are Hollywood screenwriters and must write a short email to convince Mr. Warner Bros to produce a movie or tv show based on your games. Go!

Mauro: Brancalonia is “fantasy with no money for CGI”. Think Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach with blades instead of guns and that’s it. What could possibly go wrong? 

TLM: With the fifth Indiana Jones in the works, Jungle Cruise in theaters, and a movie based on Uncharted that’s already going through post-production, we think Hollywood knows already that the archaeological adventure genre is ready for a revival. It would be hard to come up with anything that could rival such colossal productions!

8 Licensed games. If you could buy any franchise/IP for an RPG, which would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make.

Mauro: I’d go with some Italian crime story, but with an ironic mood in it. Inspector Coliandro would be a great game.

TLM: Without leaving Italy, it would be great to work with the great people at Bonelli. We think coming up with an investigative rpg that lets players become “Nightmare Investigators” like Dylan Dog would be a fun and interesting project.

9 I’m sure the four of you already have at least ten other ideas for new RPG products that you might be publishing in the future! Am I right? Can you share what’s on the design table? 

Mauro: Brancalonia and Inferno will go on for a while with extended lines. A new idea for the future could be “Fascists from Yuggoth”, a pulp-weird adventure game in a fascist empire that never fell, thanks to some crazy alien lovecraftian tech. In the game, you will be part of the international antifascist brigades and fighting against this evil Italian tyranny, their legionaries and their mad scientists, up and down the Mediterranean Sea.

TLM: We think we’ll stay at the House for a while and, as already announced, work on the second edition of our very first role-playing game: Household. There are more surprises ahead, but nothing we can tell you yet.

10 My regular final question: please point us to a song you think we should listen to, game related or otherwise.

Mauro: We spoke about Italian stuff, so my suggestion is a piece by Ennio Morricone from “My name is nobody” OST: “Il Mucchio Selvaggio”. It’s a not-so-known spaghetti western music I really love very much.  Again: so Italian!

TLM: Ok, we’ll give you three, one each.

Rico: The beast of pirate bay (Aurelio Voltaire) 

Simone: Aerials (SOAD)

Daniela: Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim)

Thank you Mauro, Rico, Simone and Daniela! Bye!!

Mauro: Ciao Giuseppe!

TLM: Thank you Giuseppe, ciao!

Ciao!

This ends the interview with Mauro and the Two Little Mice.

If the interview made you curious, go check out Brancalonia and Broken Compass!

And stay tuned for more interviews!

Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! Hit the comments if you want me to interview your favorite author, artist, publisher or other RPG-related person!

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).

My TOP 5 Zine Quest 3 Projects FOR NOW

Zine Quest 3 is the third edition of Kickstarter's RPG event showcasing small RPG projects in the shape of zines, and is going strong with hundreds of cool brand new mini-games and supplements for existing RPGs.

I'm in there too with Lands of Legends, the OSR six-zine set I've concocted together with my good friend Mauro Longo.

So many projects, in fact, that it's hard to figure out what are the coolest offerings. So here's my personal TOP 5 of ZQ3 projects FOR NOW, and in no particular order. More and more projects are coming in the next days, until the end of February,  so a second round will surely be in order!

The Lair of the Manticore

A Micro-Dungeon Adventure and mini-campaign setting for several systems: Savage Worlds, 5e, Swords & Wizardry, and Tiny D6. 

This one by Frank Turfler Jr. is an obvious choice for me: an old school dungeon, with stats for THREE of my favorite rulesets!

It also features several interesting stretch goals, including an amazing old style character sheet!

The Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade

A series of Old School dungeon adventures by Gothridge Manor, (with stats for Old School Essentials), focused on Lady Ingrade's crypts: the lady feared a filthy group of adventurers would violate her in death, so she compulsively built crypts to lure in tomb raiders and dispatch them with deadly traps and creatures.

Bonus points: maps are drawn by Rob Conley!

Superstition

A solo journaling rpg about creating rituals you don't actually believe in, for the sake of your community. This one struck me immediately because of the parallelisms with one of my favorite Spanish novels: San Manuel Bueno Martir. This one launches on Feb the 10th, but I was so intrigued by the theme I contacted the creator Alberto Furlan to get to know more about it, and can't wait to pledge!

MechTek

A tabletop role playing game with minimalist art, where you play a mech pilot and mix-and-match parts to build your own mech and fend off invading alien forces. I love mechs, and simple games, this looks perfect!

Tactical Deck

An original single-player roleplaying/strategy game about infiltration, espionage, and careful use of resources. The game begins as you, an operative of D.I.C.E (The Department of Infiltration and Covert Extraction), parachute down onto the roof of the Royal Flush Corporation headquarters; a 52-story skyscraper (represented by the deck of cards) that has been taken over by an unknown terrorist organization. I LOVE games that create content using cards!

And then there's my thing: Lands of Legends!

A set of 5+1 Old School zines packed with tables to create and run sandbox/open world campaigns!

It's just hit 100+ backers and is 500%+ funded and racing through stretch goals to fill up the sixth Companion zine with awesome tools, check it out!

New projects pop up everyday, so I'll surely post more soon!

About Fighters & Warlords

 Fighters & Warlords is one of the latest SWAG-licensed products for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, designed by Cyril Ronseaux, it continues his series of fantasy supplements which includes Wizards & Mystics, Bards & Minstrels, Companions & Familiars, and Tomes & Prayers. Cyril's works all share the same approach: each offers a variety of optional rules, functioning as add-ons.

The focus of Fighters & Warlords is combat, both ranged and melee. The book (53 pages) is packed with options.

The first section of the book is about medieval weapons, both melee and ranged, including black powder weapons. Let me say this straight: this chapter alone (23 pages) is worth the price, if you plan to run a fantasy (or historical) game. Why? Because it lists a LOT of weapons, and makes them interesting and different, while staying true to the FFF spirit of Savage Worlds. The sheer amount and variety of weapons means more interesting options for players, which is always good.

The second chapter introduces new Edges. Some of these were, in my opinion, sorely needed and are very good to finally have, such as those empowering two-handed weapons, which have no dedicated Edge in Savage Worlds core.

Weapon Proficiency is also introduced. It is an Edge which replaces Trademark Weapon, and offers unique effects for each weapon category, so I consider this a good addition too.

The next session is about Combat Options, i.e. specific maneuvers such as Reload, Grapple, or Trip. This chapter does a great job at both clarifying existing mechanics (such as Grapple), and/or adding more options (such as FORCE THROW for Grapple!)

Exactly like the other books in the series, the final chapter consist of a group of "sample characters". These eleven characters are presented at various ranks, from Novice to Heroic, and can be useful both as premade player characters or as NPCs. Each includes an interesting background and a sort of combat guide explaining how to put to use their Edges, skills and gear.

All in all this is a very good book, highly recommended if you enjoy a deeper combat, with more options for your players, and it is also part of a bundle collecting all the fantasy Add-Ons by Cyril Ronseaux.

The Holiday Dungeon Bundle!

 As a way of celebrating the holiday season, we've put up a special, limited time bundle with four Gold & Glory products!

So what's inside? Let's take a look!

 Gold & Glory - Seven Deadly Dungeons: The acclaimed core book, a toolkit to play classic fantasy dungeon adventures with close to no preparation, with Savage Worlds Adventure Edition. It features a random character generator that actually works, two new arcane backgrounds, setting rules for dungeons, simplified encumbrance, LOTS of new monsters and magic items, the Dungeon Deck system, and the titular Seven Deadly Dungeons: seven dungeon adventures that you can play dozens of times, and will always be new and engaging, thanks to the randomizing of the Dungeon Deck system.

 Gold & Glory - Old School Gaming in Savage Worlds: A simple guide to enrich and empower the old school style in your Savage Worlds games - wether you're playing Gold & Glory or not! Topics such as player skill vs character skill, risk/difficulty/reward, linear and non-linear adventuring, attrition, and Gold & Glory as a toolbox for YOUR games!

 Gold & Glory - Solo, GMless and One-on-One Adventures: The best-selling guide to play Gold & Glory games in a variety of modes. Also includes the Abstract Clues system, which you can use in ANY type of game, and rules for hiring various types of henchmen, a useful resource for solo and one-on-one games!

 Gold & Glory - Ebenezer's Gold: A festive-themed dungeon adventure by acclaimed Savage Worlds guru Richard Woolcock, and part of the Deadly Dungeon Hosts series. Will the heroes find Ebenezer's Gold, or will they fall victims to his greed, just like him?

The limited time Holiday Dungeon Bundle is available at a special price at DrivethruRPG!

About the Inn Between Worlds

 Inn Between Worlds is a supplement for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, designed by Robert Sullivan, and released under the SWAG license.

It has immediately piqued my interest because of the unique type of content, which I'm going to explain now.

The first chapter of the book describes the Inn (which doubles as a caravanserai or modern hotel, so as to suit the current campaign type), detailing the structure and all its locations. It includes a sort of mini-game to randomly generate the features of the Inn, with the option of involving the whole group in the process, making it the core of a session: a cool idea IF you are going to use the Inn as the home base of the group, or the center of a small campaign. All the relevant, possible features of the Inn are described in detail, so they are ready to use. Note that the download also includes fully detailed maps of both the caravanserai and hotel versions of the Inn, if you don't want to generate your own.

The second chapter details all the relevant NPCs: owners, staff, and customers.

The third chapter describes the "Cascade": a tearing in time/space that turns the Inn into a multidimensional location. That's why it is an Inn Between Worlds, and the cool idea that you may use to connect various Savage Worlds settings. This chapter has random tables for locations and encounters through the Cascade, and then tables for random destinations: the cool thing here is that each destination result is briefly described, and also includes a small list of possible published setting books that may be used for that destination!

The fourth chapter is about encounters and plot hooks revolving around the Inn, including a few bizarre creatures and tables to get the party involved.

The last chapter introduces a few new Edges and Hindrances and a new Arcane Background and powers, all related to the Cascade and its effects.

As you can see, the book is designed to be plugged into any type of campaign.

The book states classics such as Hodgson's House on the Borderland and the films The Saragossa Manuscript, The Cell and Being John Malkovich, along with M. C. Escher's art, as its sources of inspiration: such works clearly contributed to the inter-dimensional features of the Inn.

One interesting feature of the book is that it makes ample use of references to the TV Tropes, instead of detailing typical story elements that may come into play in association with various places and NPCs.

As a whole, is the kind of supplement that's suited for GMs who like to cook their own campaigns and adventures, and are happy to find ready-made locations, foes, and adventure hooks. This includes dropping most of the book (and Inn, and time/space fracture) as is, in settings such as Deadlands or East Texas University, which can definitely handle all the weirdness going on; or picking just the interesting bits.

All in all, it is a very atypical supplement, with a lot going on, and one which will require some extra GM work, but full of ideas and re-usable bits. Considering the price (just $2.50 at the time of writing, which makes me forgive the very basic layout), I definitely recommend it if you think you might want to make an inn, hotel or similar establishment the centerpiece of a campaign or the setting for some adventures (even without the Cascade thing). It may serve as a Rippers Lodge for sure!

10 QUESTIONS TO: Allan Wroe

Allan Wroe is the mind behind The Secret Files of Section D, an officially licensed Pulp / Espionage Roleplaying Game setting for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

Allan has previously written an adventure for Triple Ace Games' Hellfrost but this is, as yet, unpublished and believed to be scheduled for the Hellfrost Second Edition… But now he’s taken the big step! He got his Ace License from Pinnacle Entertainment Group and is launching his setting book for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

But who is Allan? Allan is a nice guy from Manchester (and the word for that is Mancunian, believe it or not!). He’s worked in the print and packaging industry and IT Recruitment, but is now determined to make a career as an author, designer and publisher. He’s got a clever, amiable sense of humour and knows how to pour it into his writings.

1 Hello Allan. First of all, tell us about The Secret Files of Section D, as if you were trying to explain it to my aunt!

Hi there, thanks for giving me the opportunity to chat about my baby! And ciao Zia Rotondo!

The Secret Files of Section D is a tongue-in-cheek game about the adventures of a group of fictional spies who work for a real world organisation. Section D of the Secret Intelligence Service existed in the late 1930s and ultimately became a part of the Special Operations Executive. Imagine Indiana Jones, Reilly Ace of Spies and Monty Python in one book!

2 What are the influences from any type of media that are more easily recognizable in Section D?

It’s hard to ignore things like the Indiana Jones and Mummy movies when you’re writing something like this so there is a definite influence there. X Company, a fantastic series about WWII resistance fighters, was also a big influence but shows the very serious side of clandestine operations in occupied Europe. 

Added to this are more comedic elements from TV shows like Blackadder Goes Forth and the sublime ‘Allo ‘Allo which both show the more farcical (or should that be futile) side of war. 

Lastly, we took a lot of inspiration from the “dime book” novels and comics of the era to establish the look and feel of the game. The Commando comic books also heavily influenced the art style. The artwork in the book is mostly provided by Mat McGawley but there are a  couple of other contributors as well. 

3 The Taster Edition of Section D shows a nice mix of pulp action and subtle humour. How are they developed in the full game?

A lot of this comes from the new Edges and Hindrances I’ve written for the game. For example, the Edge “Magic Laundry”, which is previewed in the Taster Edition, draws heavily on James Bond and The Last Action Hero. No matter what the hero goes through, they always look immaculate within moments. Humour around a game table almost always comes from the players so I’ve made sure there are plenty of tools to allow opportunities to try outlandish things. 

Worth noting is that the book presents the world pretty much as it was in 1938 when Section D was founded. The pulp and humour elements are built on the top of that but it’s often the case that the truth is stranger than the fiction!

4 You’ve released the Taster Edition free PDF of Section D a few weeks ago. What feedback have you received? Has it proved helpful?

We’ve had close to 500 downloads of the Taster Edition and most of the feedback received has been extremely positive. People feel the art style, while not like modern RPG books, is fitting for the time period (which is what we were going for) and the few Edges and Hindrances they’ve seen are appropriate to the setting. In general the look and feel of the Taster Edition was well received though a couple of people commented that the text spacing could have been a bit more generous. I’ve taken those comments on board and when layout starts for the full setting there will be subtle changes. 

I haven’t received any scathing criticism as yet so I’m taking that as a good thing!

5 You’re currently using Kickstarter to fund your first big project, which is the perfect example of what crowdfunding was originally designed for. Through the years, though, it has become more and more important even for the “big players” in the RPG industry.

Do you consider that unfair? Or is the presence of big publishers beneficial to the small ones? Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

It’s fair to say that Kickstarter is now the most used route to market for RPGs and Table Top Games in general. Without it, I think our industry would be a much poorer place. 

I don’t consider it “unfair” for the larger publishers to use Kickstarter at all, in fact I’d say a lot of them are now big publishers because of Kickstarter. The larger companies draw the audience to the platform and help the smaller ones get noticed. Pinnacle is a great example because they put out great products. I hope that by association, my product will also be seen as great. If Pinnacle trust me enough to give me an ACE license then maybe the backers will also give that trust. 

How would I like things to change? That’s a great question. One thing I would like to see more of in Kickstarter is support for retailers, particularly in the games industry. A lot of companies use Kickstarter to bypass the FLGS and I think as publishers we should be supporting them. That’s why The Secret Files of Section D Kickstarter has a retail pledge at a wholesale price. We want to open up that channel and build a relationship with game stores and gamers around the world. 

6 You’re an Englishman launching a setting about a British intelligence group, for a game whose audience mainly is from the US. Do you see a challenge or an extra value in that?

Another great question. I certainly don’t see it as a major challenge, at the end of the day it’s a roleplaying game so, by definition, it’s supposed to take people out of their day-to-day life. Also, I think if you ask pretty much anybody to name a spy they’ll say “James Bond”. Ian Fleming was heavily influenced by Section D and the SOE when he wrote the initial Bond stories. 

I’ve had really good feedback from US based people I’ve spoken with and I ran three sessions for the recent Hollerween event which were really well received by a primarily US based audience.

There’s no reason at all why players couldn’t play a US agent, in fact one of the pregenerated characters in the Taster Edition is American. At the time of the beginnings of Section D, the US didn’t really have anything other than Naval Intelligence by way of a clandestine unit. Who is to say that an American wasn’t seconded to Section D to ultimately help set up the OSS?  

I will say at this point though, US based readers should have a read of question 9!

7 Inclusion and representation of minorities in RPGs have become a hot topic, recently. How does Section D address that? And I’m asking both as a product and as the in-game organization.

This is something I thought very hard about when I started planning the book because we’re talking about a different era with different attitudes and, let’s face it, some pretty horrendous things were happening in the world. 

The history of the real Section D actually gives the best answer to the “in-game organization” question so I’ll address that first: 

One of my best information sources for the game is a book called Section D For Destruction, superbly written by historian Malcolm Atkin. The book discusses some of the recruitment techniques for Section D and, for the time period, the methods were groundbreaking. Candidates were targeted (you didn’t apply for Section D, they found you!) for recruitment because they had a particular skill set and that was all. It’s worth mentioning at this point that most people targeted for Section D were experts in communications, journalism / propaganda, engineering and so forth. They weren’t “soldiers” for the most part. Gender, sexual orientation, religion and ethnic background were largely irrelevant, it was the skills that mattered. For example, It is now known that Section D’s upper echelons hid the fact that several of its agents were homosexual at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain. Section D recruited from all over Europe, and further afield, and trained agents to go into situations where a heterosexual, male, anglo saxon christian might stand out like a car at a bike show. 

So it’s safe to say, any character a player can come up with is likely to be fine from an historical point of view. 

As for handling the inclusion and representation of minorities as a product, that’s a tougher question. As I mentioned above, The Secret Files of Section D is set at a time when the world had different attitudes and while I certainly don’t share those attitudes, I can’t say  they didn’t exist.

In game terms, the GM will be advised on the historic attitudes of some people to certain others but also that bringing those into the game should probably be avoided. In some circumstances that may make roleplaying a certain situation a little less realistic but certainly more palatable. We want to encourage players to play any character they can dream up without boundaries. 

8 Let’s see how good you really are as a role player. Now you are a Hollywood screenwriter and must write a short email to convince Mr. Warner Bros to produce a movie based on The Secret Files of Section D. Go!

Dear Mr Warner,

Please read this like you are the movie trailer voiceover guy. 

“In a world where Nazi Pseudo Science, Miracles and Magic are real, and sinister figures stalk the shadowy corridors of power, a group of secret agents with an overriding mission to protect King and Country take on their greatest adventure yet.”

Cut to action montage: 

Silhouetted figures rappelling from a gigantic airship onto the roof of the British Museum

Fleeting glimpses of a high speed car chase through 1930s London

A huge brawl in a casino 

A deep volcanic cave in which stands a maniacal villain, a strange statue stands behind him bathed in a lava red glow. The villain speaks…

“You cannot stop me! Soon, you will be dead and the Fuhrer will live FOREVER!! Muahahaaaa”

Back to voiceover guy

“Can Section D save the world again and blow up some really big stuff? Find out in the new Section D movie, Trouble In Tripoli”

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

9 You’re quite the creative, so I’m sure you already have at least three other ideas for new RPG products that you might be publishing in the future! Am I right?

Absolutely right! The Secret Files of Section D takes the unit through to the end of WWII time wise. Section D doesn’t have to be a WWII game but the world changed in 1945. It’s worth noting that officially Section D was merged into the Special Operations Executive in 1940. We like to think, somewhere within the depths of the intelligence network, there is still a Section D for Destruction!

The second book handles the Cold War era which has some really interesting possibilities. The CIA and other agencies are introduced as sides change, enemies become allies and vice versa, and the arms and space races begin. It’s also the era of UFO paranoia and Project Blue Book etc. So the pulp and espionage elements are huge for this expansion. 

Next is the modern era expansion with much cooler gadgets and more dangerous villains. The battlegrounds may change but the threats are always very real!

I also have a whole bunch of adventure ideas to develop. Section D is supposed to be a little bit of off the wall fun but I have ideas for a more serious campaign which is rooted in actual WWII history rather than alternate history. It’s more gritty but if there’s a desire from players for it then it will get done. 

10 If you could buy any franchise/IP for an RPG, which would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make.

An easy question at last! I really want to make an RPG set in David Gemmell’s Drenai world. It’s a series I’ve read over and over since the mid 80s and I just love the way David wove his stories. 

I’d use Savage Worlds for the mechanical aspects of the game because it’s a perfect system for the world. Flawed heroes and really nasty villains abound and there are great big holes in the timeline that an RPG could easily operate in without affecting canon. 

I’ll let you into a secret. A couple of years ago I partnered with Triple Ace Games and we put a proposal to David’s estate to get a license to produce this game. We had fans, famous authors and even a member of David’s family on our side but we heard nothing back. I was gutted.

11 I know, they were supposed to be 10, but I have one more question before we say goodbye. Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.

On The Turning Away by Pink Floyd.

It carries a poignant message that is highly relevant in these difficult times. 

Thank you Allan! Bye!!

Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you and to everybody who has read this far!

Stay safe and Happy Gaming. 

So go check out The Secret Files of Section D!

Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! 

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).

About The Crypt of Doom

The Crypt of Doom is a Savage Worlds Adventure Edition dungeon adventure for 3-5 Novice characters, written by me.

The evil count has kidnapped lady Marianne, and it's up to you to rescue her!

This simple premise gets you right into the adventure, a fantasy/horror scenario which can easily be dropped into your regular campaign, or be played as an easygoing one-shot.

So what's cool about it? Several things, actually!

• It's FREE. Click the link and there you are.
• It's got LOTS OF RANDOM! Every time you play, things are always different.
• It's easy to use for solo or GMLess play. Just make your character(s) and follow the instructions on the page.
• It's got a simple back story that can be literally explained in four words (go rescue Lady Marianne), meaning it's perfect for games that focus on learning the rules, or just want a couple hours of fun bashing monsters in a gothic dungeon.
• It's a testament to the trappings concept when applied to creatures, with several monsters being simple reskin of stat blocks found in the core Savage Worlds book.

It is a horror/fantasy rescue mission with a strong Castlevania vibe, including several items that you can find which change how you interact with some of the monsters and traps.

It can be used with the full Gold & Glory book, or just with the core Savage Worlds rules.

At a personal level, I'm very happy with this little project because I was able to code a bit of html (with close to no experience before this!), and translate the random generation mechanics of Gold & Glory into an electronic thing.

This "translation" was not "literal". The electronic random generation lacks all the subtle intricacies of using a deck of cards like the tabletop version... because I wasn't able to code those, of course. When using the actual Gold & Glory dungeon deck system, you can't get the same result twice in the same room, for example, nor can you encounter the same hazard two times before consuming the whole deck and shuffling it again.

But what is lacking in subtlety is made up for in variety: I was able to put way more hazards, treasures and features than what I could usually fit into a regular pen and paper G&G dungeon: a huge amount of horrors and wonders, and several chained events and McGuffins that interact with each other.

So if you're curious, check it out!

About the "Deadly Dungeon Hosts" Adventures

This post is the follow-up to the one dedicated to the Gold & Glory - Seven Deadly Dungeons book and its basic supplements. 

This time we'll take a look at the line of "deadly dungeon hosts" adventures: dungeon scenarios designed by special guest authors, based on the Gold & Glory Dungeon Template. Let's see who they are and what they've come up with!

Diogo Nogueira: Garden of Bones

The Garden of Bones was created by a powerful necromancer to be given as a present to a love interest of theirs. Once the gift was rejected, the necromancer turned the garden into a place of nightmares and horrific creations they built to externalize their frustration. It fell into obscurity after the ages passed away, and it became a myth.
Now, a scholar with sinister interests has located a map they believe to lead to this mythical garden and desires to be taken there to admire the garden and possibly collect the legendary Ghost Lotus.

The Garden of Bones is a legendary place covered in mystery and peril, full of dark wonders and incredible treasures. Sages have talked about it for centuries but very few have ever discovered its location. But now an expedition to this mystic place is being organized.
This Gold & Glory dungeon adventure features unique rewards and a very dangerous environment, a worthy challenge for truly Heroic characters!

Diogo Nogueira is the acclaimed author of neo-OSR games such as Dark Streets & Darker Secrets, Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, and Lost in the Fantasy World.

Due to its theme and features, The Garden of Bones can be dropped into any fantasy, grimdark, or sword & sorcery campaign, including settings such as Lankhmar or Beasts & Barbarians.

The art for this one was made by Matteo Ceresa, who tried to homage Mike Mignola's style.

Richard Woolcock: Hightree Warren

Families of grubby little goblins frequently make their homes in the mountains to the west, where they breed like vermin, and hoard stolen treasure in their deep, dark caves. Brave adventures sometimes seek out these underground warrens, purging the goblin infestation and reclaiming their ill-gotten riches.
Several weeks ago, the famous paladin Molgrim Silverblade led his companions on a holy mission to root out a large band of goblins. Only one survivor returned from the doomed expedition, and he had been hideously mutilated and driven half-mad.

Hightree Warren is a perilous dungeon, populated by vicious goblins, and filled with traps and other nasty surprises. Set in the world of Saga of the Goblin Horde and written by Savage Worlds guru Richard Woolcock.

Richard Woolcock: Ebenezer's Gold

“It’s my gold, I tell you! All mine! I will never give it up! Never! Bah, humbug!”
—Ebenezer’s last words.

The cruel, wealthy money-lender Ebenezer has passed away. Somewhere inside his mansion, or below it, there must be treasure beyond imagination! Who cares if people speak of ghostly apparitions and other strange events...
Ebenezer’s Gold is a festive-special dungeon adventure, and the second written by Richard Woolcock!

Andrea Mollica: The Halls of the Damned

Don’t you dare to walk alone

in that ghastly, cursed dome.

Family blood drops down the tree,

tears are there where hope should be.

Be life spurned, be light banned

from within the Halls of the Damned!

A fallen Strider, a shameful secret left buried for centuries, and a party of heroes who dare enter a long-forlorn castle on a solitary mountain peak in search of the fabled Ring Of Yore and, maybe, the truth.

The Halls of the Damned is a Castlevania inspired dungeon adventure written by game designer and novelist Andrea Mollica, the same author of Guardians of Sol-Tau. The adventure has a strong horror/gothic theme, and can be adapted to any Gothic Horror setting where you may have heroes storming a castle infested with goulish monsters, werewolves, ghosts and vampires!

Courtney Campbell: Cravenpeter's Dream Auction

Maximillian Ernesto Cravenpeter Esquire the Mediocre, a powerful archmage, is publicly retiring and is holding an auction for his eclectic and exotic items. Maximillian, a powerful wizard in no way overcome with paranoia and petty concerns, has always had little trust or respect for anyone who would covet his things. As a security measure he has contacted the Green Feather agents—fae mesmerists, who have agreed to hold the auction in a dream within Maximillian’s psyche. This works flawlessly, protecting both the clients and the auctioned objects, as long as no deep psychic disturbances exist. A renowned wizard named Max the Mediocre has no psychogenic trauma, obviously.

Cravenpeter's Dream Auction is a special adventure written by OSR master Courtney Campbell that can be played as an alternative to the usual Carousing, Magic Research, and Offerings to Solis... assuming the heroes have enough gold to make bids at Cravenpeter’s Dream Auction!

For those who don't know, Courtney Campbell runs one of the most interesting OSR blogs out there: Hack & Slash, and is also the author of the cool Megadungeon 'zine.

The art in this one is by Courtney Campbell himself, with some coloring by our usual layout artist Matteo Ceresa!