MAD MAX: My Conversion

Hi

Sometime ago, I started to work on a Savage Worlds Conversion for my own Mad Max setting. After lots of drafts and attempts to get the feeling of the game that I wanted, I ended up scraping the use of Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds made a real easy conversion too. With Hell On Earth, Darwins World, and Broken Earth as source material I was able to get a good post apocalyptic setting. But I had some issues with the flavor of it. Mainly for me, it didn't capture the feeling of grit, diesel fumes and amalgamation of monster truck and roadsters.

I looked at a pile of other systems, one which I really liked.. Atomic Highway.. which looks fun and its FREE at DriveThruRPG. But again, not quite what I wanted. I wanted to use a system that I could have total control over, with out having to fudge or make up to many of my own rules to make it work and with out loosing any balance of the system.

I decided to go with GURPS. And I must say, its been a real pleasure to work with. I havent ran a GURPS game in years, its one of my favorites and is something I ran for a very long time in the 90s and early Y2K's. And its bringing back a lot of good memories.

Well I been busy the last week. I come up with several character templates to use if a player wanted to use. Here are the template ideas and my Waste Land Adventure Map made with Hex Kit (Bottom)


Road Warrior - Your wandering hero type

Imperator - A strong iron willed leader type

Organic Mechanic - Your Healer Type

Black Thumb - Your Mechanical Type

War Boy - Your crazy and fearless type

Raider - Your highly resourceful, and mobile warrior type

Wastelander - Jack of all trades survivor type

Ferrals - Your wild melee specialist type

And last but not least, my Wastelands Adventure Map..

My Fall/Winter Project: Of Things yet to come!

Well,

Here is a little teaser of what I have planned for this fall and winter season of gaming. Finally now starting to come to fruition!

Conan 2d20: The Eye of Thieves and the Lost City of Necropliysa

Tonight I played just a short one shot adventure scenario with a few of the guys. Two of my standard players couldnt make it so instead of the actual campaign game I am running. I decided to try out the adventure generator from the GM toolkit for Conan 2d20. See how it played out.

I gotta say, it created a pretty decent little scenario and I was pretty impressed.

So technically, there is the base rolls..  Here is a screen shot of it.

So working with this, and a few other rolls that are not above. Cults, locations, etc. Then I filled in the adventure with the details my mind created.

The party agreed to meet a bounty hunter and to track down a person who was suspected of having the the famous eye of thieves. The person was a member of a group of smugglers who were sneaking through the mountainous area of Khoraja; avoiding the steep tariffs imposed on regular merchants.

When they go to meet up with the bounty hunter, they discover that he was missing from where they were to meet. They tracked him to the location of which the smugglers were using as a camp, an old  profane ruined temple. Only to discover the bodies of the smugglers torn to shreds and still no sign of the Bounty Hunter.

At this point, night was in effect and they discovered tracks leading into the ruined temple to a room with no visible exits. A secret chamber no doubt!

Inside the chamber, they discover that a Draugr doing an evil ritual and using the body of the bounty hunter to summon through a portal a child of the outer dark!

The bad news, is the eye of thieves is not there, as the bounty hunter paid for bad info and was sent to his death on a fools errand. Meanwhile the party who happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time got to face two very nasty creatures. And of course, fame and fortune! Of course and jewels or items taken from the temple would have caused some pretty bad things to happen when it left the grounds. Causing a curse which would send despair to all in the party every day till the jewels are given away, sold or destroyed!

But that didn't happen (it should have but it didn't). The guys spent to much time searching through the ruins in the dark, only to disturb a mob of Ghouls, lead by a toughen Ghoul who came out from their various crypts and holes in the temple complex to feed on the already slain bodies.

One player got jumped and mauled pretty bad, before the group finally managed to control the situation.  Carnal Stink + Grapple + Bite = Bad News!!

After that I called it, as they would not have survived the main fight with the two baddies! Plus I was tired!

The archetypes involved
A Hyrkanian Horseman
A Nemedian Scoundrel
and a Brythunian Merc Captian.

It was a good test of some obscure rules, also put grapple to the test which just proves that its very very deadly!

We had a few rules discussions, kinda slowed things down a bit.. but I ended up learning a few things. The mod for Fantasy grounds worked much smoother, and the UI was more efficient. So much more with the combat tracker. The hard work in getting all the creatures entered into a decent format that worked with in the confines of the software really paid off.

All the effort into making my own module for fantasy grounds has been very rewarding!!
 

I would like to thank my players. I am happy you guys agreed to play and I hope you all had fun.

+Sean Phelan
+EW X
Last, but not least and certainly no unheard. Mr.  +Frank Falkenberg :)

Thanks guys, I had fun run through of the random adventure.

RPGaDay: Day 23 Best Layout! Something Wicked This Way Comes!

I really liked the darkness, and the sense of despair in any of the WH40K RPG books.. The layout was good and easy to read.. but they added the feeling of the universe in the books.. And with Black Crusade, I loved it! I thought it fit well!

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 21! Its a Fighters Fantasy!

Fast, Simple, and one of the best fantasy worlds ever written!

Ill answer this by leaving a link and a Picture!

http://arion-games.com/aff.html

RPGADAY 2017: Day 20 Best out of Print..

Hmmm, its hard to say.. I do not really thing anything is truely out of print anymore.

But a major source of RPGs now are either DriveThruRPG.com And I would hazard a guess most other people would also pick this site.

Anything Onebookshelf is usually my primary spot for searching for goodies.

RPGaDay 2017: Day 19 Best Writing!

Best writing.

I think it would be the entire Beasts and Barbarians by GRAmel. Not so much based on the originality of it all, but for the shear content of it. Between source books, Adventures and supplements include just volumes and volumes of history and background info that is totally phenomenal!

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 18: What is the most played!

The most played in my life?

That is an interesting one for sure! So far, the RPG I played the most has been GURPS, still! I hosted GURPS games almost exclusively from the very late 80s to the early Y2K era. And I would say almost every weekend if not more.

 Even now, after all these years playing other systems, mainly Savage Worlds, and most recently 2D20. GURPS is still the King of the Hill!

RPGaDay. A Game Come True!

I never new it was being worked on.. but boy, am I happy!!

WOOOOOOOOOTTTTT #theexpanse That was my #RPGADAY #RPGADAY2017 Day 2 wish!! Thanks @GreenRoninPub https://t.co/XrJZSJxpbQ

— The JollyGM (@jclocke75) August 17, 2017

RPGaDAy 2017: Day 17 - Longest Owned and Not Played.

I can say that there is not an RPG that I own, that I have not played. But there are RPGs that I have own and have not played for a very long time.

I would think, that the oldest game that I own that I have not played for a very long time would be my  beloved GURPS.

I use to run a lot of post apocalyptic themed games with GURPS. Alot with the Chassis and Cross Bows themed games based on SJ Games, Car Wars.

Only reason why I drifted from GURPS was when 4th edition came out, I had no interest in getting all new books. Not that I needed to. But I was running GURPS solid since the 90's and I wanted a change and I felt like that was a good time to step away.

Don't get me wrong, GURPS is a great system!

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 16 - As is!!

I have been on a very high 2D20 Conan Kick since the kickstarter was announced. After playing many many hours of it. I have learned that this game has so many intricate details that if you try and changed something, it effects something else. (Balance wise)

The good thing is, with this game I have yet to even consider changing it or adapting it. Its a great system! I love Conan, I love 2d20, and I love DOOM!!!

RPGaDAY 201: Day 15 What RPG Do you Enjoy Adapting the Most... So Say We All!!

Of all the great systems out there, there is not one system in my opinion that makes adapting settings easier then Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds, you can literally convert any setting that is out there. And its unique ability to capture the feeling of the setting really well is also an added bonus!

I adapted several settings for use with Savage Worlds, but my favorite one is BattleStar Galactica

With the Savage Worlds Ruleset, it was a breeze to adapt. I am actually considering revising it again now.

If anyone is interested you can check out the adaption here.!

So Say We All!

PS. I am also have been working on a Mad Max: Fury Road Conversion as well. Thanks to Savage Worlds!

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 14 .... Open Ended Play... Wars of Weirdness!!

I really think anything Weird Wars related would be a great opened ended campaign. Weird Wars has always had a special place in my gaming heart.

It all started as a kid reading the awesome Weird War Tale Comic Books!

It then went to Weird War GURPS, which was a total riot to run! 

Which then morphed into the Savage Worlds Weird War Series..Which are all awesome, Tour of Darkness, ROME, Weird Wars Two, but Weird War One takes the cake... so much info and imagery to pull from!

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 13: A Game Changer

Back in 2014, I wrote a blog about an experience that I had. And now that I think back to that experience, I personally believe that, that was the time when I had so much fun and so did my players I decided to loosen things up a bit, and start moving my RPGs to games that are more designed to allow the players and the GMs to have even more creative licence with their own story telling in a session.

Instead of retyping it, here is the blog of that night...

After that night, I started to look for different games, with different mechanics. Games like FFG Star Wars, and then the 2D20 systems like Conan, and then on to games designed by Free League such as Corilios for example. All great systems that allow a lot of interaction from the players to the story telling.

That night, when I allowed my players to take an already liberal system such as Savage Worlds, and let them tell their own story really opened up my eyes to a lot of other great systems and techniques for running games.

RPGaDAY 2017 Day 12: Best Interior Art!!

Ok, this is a very easy one for me.. I really REALLY like the art from Free League's "Coriolis"

Actually, Free League really seems to know how to fill all their RPGs with really great art

From Mutant Year Zero, Tales of the Loop, and everything else they do is just totally awesome and inspiring to play! The whole Arabian Knights in Space theme for Coriolis is totally genius!

But for me Coriolis for the WIN.. hands down!

#RPGADAY #RPGADAY2017

Here are some samples..

RPGaDay 2017 Day 11: Revive a Dead RPG? I know what I would choose!

I like this question! I have seen some pretty interesting responses to this. Along with some really good suggestions. (Points towards +Matt Stark)

If I only have the choice to choose 1 dead (Seldom played, or Has not changed in X amount of years, or in a outdated RPG system) then I would choose Palladium's ROBOTECH game line.

Back when this RPG game out, in my humble opinion was the only time that the introduction of MDC actually worked OK. The first book, Macross, was awesome! little skimpy on details but over all a lot of fun to play. Slowly, like other Megaversal systems, power creep started to edge its way in and balance started to fall to the wayside.

But I would love to see a ruleset, designed to give a fresh breath of life to ROBOTECH. Its an awesome setting, fun to play. I would still play it now, and I even ran a Savaged Version of it for awhile, a few years back.

Now that I think about it even more, MEKTON ZETA, by R Talsorian could easily be a good medium for it.

But if a new ROBOTECH RPG was released tomorrow, and its not related to Palladium Books. I would be all over it.

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 10 Where do you go and get reviews?

Day 10! Reviews!


Well, this one is hard for me to answer. As I find most online reviews, either on Youtube or personal blogs usually a poor way of getting a really good review on RPGs. As most times I feel, its people reading about a game or setting that they havent really played or are use too, and more focused on the quality and the look of the book and product.

"Oh, I dont like the spine, the paper is to glossy, the fonts are really easy to read.. blah blah blah" I find little value in those.

Now, when I do want a review of an RPG, sure I do read and watch some of these I mentioned above. But I try and watch actual game broadcasts to see the action on the table for its face value. That way, I can judge its mechanics in action, and I can judge the play value on the players and how they interact with it.

So the short answer would be YouTube and Twitch.

RPGaDAY 2017: Day 9 A good RPG for 10 Sessions

Wow..

OK, this can be a tough one. For me, it would be a type of RPG that awards XP points based on how you play vs what you kill. As these games tend to have a steady growth rate for characters.

So systems I like play for that length of time would anything from the below list. But I feel this type of list is more dependent on the GM\Players then the systems used.

But here are my choices.

2D20 Conan,
FFG Star Wars,
Savage Wolrds,
WarHammer 40K

RPGaDay 2017: Day 8! Advanced Fighting Fantasy

Day 8!

A good RPG to play in sessions 2 hours or less.

Well, I must think that Advanced Fighting Fantasy (now Arion Games) would be ideal for sessions that short. Its a very simple and fast system to run and is also great for beginners.

The Fantasy Setting is also pretty in depth, and has a very nice dark Gothic undertone to it.
#RPGaDAY #RPGaDAY2017

Last note, they also released these books again back several years ago, and is readily available to anyone if they decide to check it out.

RPGaDay 2017 Day 7! Most Impactful Session

This was way back in the early 90s. But I will always look back at that day as a very rewarding session.

It was the time I introduced my cousin, who was still in Grade 9, and I was graduated from High School then. But he asked me to host a game with him and his friends, as they always wanted to try roleplaying.

So I wrote up a Car Wars adventure, using Steve Jacksons CarWars Compendium rules. There was a scene, where the guys were crawling through an airduct and they lost their light, so one of them took out a zippo lighter to use it.

They were having trouble visualizing what it would look like. So I took out my own zippo, and I turned all the lights off in the house, and I played the rest of the scene using nothing but one zippo for light on the table.

It was at that moment that they got hooked on roleplaying, and they have been my regular gaming buddies ever since... Great time!

RPGaDay 2017 Day 6!: If I could game everyday for a week!

Ok, Day 6! This is something that I always wanted to try, and it is very similar to a few others. I would love to hold a fundraiser, where the GM would host a marathon adventure campaign, and players and GM would raise money for each hour that they play per day during a live during a broadcast.

So, if you had multiple GMs and games with multiple players and run games every day of the week.

#RPGaDay 2017  

My own 2d20 Conan FG Ruleset - Brief Overview

RPGaDay 2017 Day 5!

Ok... Now its on to day five of this!!

Lets see...

For me, that is a tie between +Modiphius Conan The Barbarian Source Book and Gramel's Beasts and Barbarians French Hardcover Core Book!

Both Awesome in their own right!

RPGaDAY 2017

Day 4!!!

OK, so what RPG have I played the most since last August? Well that's an easy one... Its easy to say I put in 10+ hours a week for a good stretch of this year!

Why So much? Simple really; its a great system that allows players and the GM to really tell their own story! For me, its fun to play RPGs, but I really LOVE the story telling aspect of it. And this game system really hits it home for me. PLUS its CONAN!!!!!

2D20 Conan by +Modiphius

#RPGaDay 2017