Sunday, July 13, 2008

Black Canaan - Savaged!


You know it was a good game when you’re still talking about it the next day!

Last night I ran my first session of Savage Worlds, and a good time was had by all.

It was a Pulp setting using “Seasoned” level characters and an adventure in the Louisiana Bayou country adapted from the short story “Black Canaan” a pulp classic written by Robert E. Howard.

The players were my oldest minion Anthony, and four other good friends. We had one experienced Deadlands player but everyone else was totally new to the system, though we caught on real quick.

As all gamers out there know, you can read and reread the rules till you can quote passages verbatim and you can roll up dozens of characters but none of it compares to actually sitting down and playing the game.

We soon learned what edges we should have taken and what actions worked for the group and what didn’t. Combat was really quite different from anything we had ever experienced, and that wasn’t a bad thing it was just different. We soon wrapped our heads around things like the extra D6 that all PC's get to roll, and the fact that if for instance, you do a D8 damage and happen to roll an 8 you get to roll again, and if you roll another 8, then you roll again -and so on.

Our first combat encounter wasn’t fast and furious but it sure was fun. Each encounter thereafter went smoother than the last. And what started as a one shot pick-up game may very well turn into a regular game of choice. We have another game tentatively scheduled for week after next, at which time I turn over the GM duties to one of the other guys and actually get to play!

5 comments:

  1. I didn't even know a game existed based on "Black Caanan. Cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Black Canaan adventure was a homebrew adventure I came up with. But wouldnt a series of adventures based on REH's non conan works be cool? like his El Borak tales and such?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Black Canaan adventure was a homebrew adventure I came up with. But wouldnt a series of adventures based on REH's non conan works be cool? like his El Borak tales and such?

    ReplyDelete
  4. The thing I can say about Savage Worlds is that it's fun to play, as in, I actually enjoy the mechanics as much as the role playing, and I don't think I've ever been able to really say that about any RPG before. It's very easy to GM too.

    I had one Savage Worlds session where I ran two full fledged combats and two smaller engagements in the span of four hours. Fast and furious indeed, and almost miraculous to someone used to combats taking up an entire evening's play.

    All in all, a good game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome to Savage Worlds.

    It is teh awesome.

    ReplyDelete