Ave Caesar! Weird Wars: Rome Kickstarter is underway.

Sound the trumpets! Send messengers to the four corners of the Imperium! The Kickstarter for Weird Wars: Rome is underway!

As can be expected from Pinnacle, they doubled their goal in less than 24 hours. Digital add-ons will be awarded to backers as they are reached, and since the book is more-or-less done, the PDF will be available as soon as the campaign is over with the print release scheduled to drop around Saturnalia... I mean, Christmas.

This actually comes at an opportune time as I have recently read some of Richard Tierney's Simon Magus stories and I'm on a bit of a historical horror kick right now. While it will most likely be set in the Weird Wars universe, I'm pretty sure that the rules can easily be ported out to work with Realms of Cthulhu. I've got a couple of contubernia of plastic legionaries from Warlord that I'm painting up now that should do quite nicely for this.

Tis a prize that's more than worth a few sestertii.

(This is turning into the all Savage Worlds crowdsourcing blog, isn't it? Well, that should be changing soon enough.)

New Kickstater: Ronin: Chrome & Shadow

Yeah, I'm back again. So much to talk about, so little time.

Anyway, I just thought I bring up a new product looking for Savages to back it. Ronin: Chrome & Shadow is a new savage setting from Glove & Goggle Labs that bills itself as a "post-apocalyptic cyberpunk setting for Savage Worlds. Massive metroplexes, syndicates and megacorps in an irradiated wasteland..." Here, I'll let the setting's creator, James Barbery, make his pitch:

Currently, all of the pledge levels are only offering a .PDF of the game rather than a physical copy. James writes: "This is, unfortunately, intentional. A print edition is planned, but it will be included as an add-on because the book may need to be offered at or near my cost in order to be priced fairly to you. That means that I need to make sure that the project will be out of the red (which happens the second I hit goal) before I make any promises."

However, if you want a preview at what Ronin has to offer, as well as a glimpse of the setting, monsters, and character examples, you can download this free sneak peek .PDF.

Another Homemade GM Screen Idea.

A couple years back, Tim Snider over at The Savage Afterworld came up with his own handy-dandy homemade GM screen that he built with a couple of three-ring binders, page protector sleeves, and duct tape. While snooping around at Google+, I came upon this YouTube video that's along similar, albeit simpler lines.

Hmmmm... Interesting. I might go one step further and hot-glue the binders together for a more lasting bond and to save on binder clips. One problem I considered is that a lot of tricksey publishers are now coming out with GM Screens that are printed in landscape rather than traditional portrait formats. While they do make landscape-style binders, they're much more expensive and harder to find than the standard binders you find at the office supply aisle of your local big box store.

The best workaround that I can think of is before printing your GM screen sheets, reduce them to about 80-75% then trim off the excess. They might not look as pretty and the print will be a touch smaller, but they should fit.

Anyway, I'll make one of my own and let you know what I think.

Goodbye Lappy

My Baby. 2009 to 2013 Requiescat in pace

Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that my Presario CQ60 laptop, despite all of my best repair efforts, died at approximately 11:30 PM CST this evening. This machine helped me create many, many blog posts, slog though Java and ASP.Net, entertained me when I was down, and connected me to the world. It's hard drive will live on as soon as I find an enclosure (most of my Mu files are on that drive). Donations to the next of kin can be make out to the Help Mark Buy a New Laptop Fund.

And now, a moment of silence for the deceased.

On behalf of a grateful nerd, I thank you.