I can’t deny it, I am an avid Savage Worlds fan. I like the rules-light system and the original settings released for it. I think the first time I heard about Solomon Kane was when Pinnacle Entertainment announced “The Savage World of Solomon Kane”. When I started doing some research in the subject matter I was immediately intrigued. Solomon looked very much like the prototype of my favorite Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay career: the Witchhunter.

Solomon Kane is the hero of a number of stories written by Robert E. Howard, who is probably better known for his sword and sorcery stories about the Cimmerian Conan. Kane is a gloomy man, all clad in black who wanders the world to fight evil in all its forms. The stories are set into the late 16th and early 17th century, an era we don’t see that often in roleplaying games.

The first thing you’ll notice when you have a look at the game is the beautiful artwork. Usually the production quality of Savage Worlds products is already pretty high, but TSWoSK is definitely a highlight. The style of the cover and the interior artwork are a perfect fit for both the setting and the era.

The Savage World of Solomon Kane is a stand-alone game which contains all the rules you need to play. While the rules presented are more or less identical to the ones presented in the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition (read my review here), references to modern equipment, mad science, etc. have been left out, because they don’t fit into the genre. Since I already reviewed the core rules earlier, I won’t go into detail here. The book also contains a summary of all the Solomon Kane stories, but players and GMs are recommended to read at least a few of the stories.

One difference between the SWEE and the Solomon Kane game are the magic rules. The SWEE magic system has been heavily modified to better reflect the magic presented in the stories. Power Points aren’t used and there are only two Arcane Backgrounds (Sorcery and Shamanism) available. The most important difference is that while magic can be either used for good or ill, it’s always considered to be evil and ungodly by Kane and a lot of his contemporaries.

TSWoSK contains the obligatory Gamemastering section which does a good job of introducing new GMs to their job. But even veteran GMs can learn a thing or two when it comes to the particularities of the setting. There’s even a chapter dedicated to Adventure and NPC creation, which can be very helpful for anyone running a Solomon Kane game. As with any good Savage Worlds game, there’s of course a handy Adventure Generator which allows GMs to come up with a basic plot by rolling a few dice. Especially when you didn’t have enough time to prepare your game, the Adventure Generator can help you to improvise something in no time. The book also contains a plot point campaign which allows the characters to travel in the footsteps of the famous adventures himself. But you’re of course free to run your own stories as well.

Another highlight of the book is the vast background section. There are lots of information on the life in the times of Solomon Kane and pretty detailed descriptions of important persons and events during that era. Together with the locations described in the plot point campaign, the GM get’s a pretty good picture of the world in that era. The game also contains enough background information to run your own campaign set in Kane’s world or to just use the book for running other 16th/17th century games.

The 355-paged book concludes with a bestiary, a very good looking character sheet, the Savage Worlds templates (for you to photocopy and cut out) and a two-paged index.

In my opinion The Savage World of Solomon Kane is one of the best Savage Worlds releases so far. Especially if you and your gaming group are interested in the era, you get a lot of bang for the buck. The hardcover book is available at Amazon.com and probably your local gaming store, but you can also get the digital edition at DrivethruRPG. The lavishly illustrated PDF sets you back $35, the printed copy usually costs $5 to $10 more.

This review is based on a read-through of the book. The review copy in PDF format has been provided by the publisher.

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Don’t worry; this has NOTHING to do with all the electronic cooking games out there. This is about gamers and the food they eat when they game. Junk food and role-playing games are connected in poplar culture, and in all truth some games will devour prodigious amounts of chips and soda. Undoubtedly some groups try to eat healthy, bringing fruits and veggies to the table, but I suspect the majority of use would rather have some Mountain Dew than water! (For the record I don’t like Mountain Dew, I’d much rather have Jones Soda, but the Dew but it emblematic.)

There are things like Igor Bars by John Kovalic out there! These sound delicious, but are probably heart attack inducing. But my reason for this post is just not to share recipes (we can certainly do that) but to talk about how food could enhance gaming and set the mood for a game!

I remember when I first read Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home. It was during my Dragonlance period, having just finished reading the Dragonlance Chronicles and was getting my hands on everything Dragonlance. This was NOT a gaming supplement; it was a collection of stories, poems and recipes. Yes you read that right, recipes. I was so intrigued, it was like having the cookbook of a fantasy Inn, and it seemed like magic. This was back in 1988 and I didn’t cook at all. In fact I avoided cooking for years so I never got to try Tika’s recipes.

The only time I had an edible prop in a game was during a Star Trek Adventure where the game master had Romulan Ale available for us. It wasn’t truly the legendary alcoholic beverage of the Star Trek universe, we were all still underage, but water with food coloring. I barely remember the adventure (sorry José) but the pitcher of blue liquid in the middle of the table really captured my imagination. And by the way, that last link has some nice recipes for mixing up alcoholic versions of the Romulan Ale, Star Trek party here we go!

Since then I’ve embraced the joys of cooking and the old storage room with the fridge and microwave has actually become one of my favorite rooms in my house. I love cooking and often cook for my players. My famous and artery clogging Gordopletas® have graced games and geeknics alike. Still I have NOT actually created a dinner to enhance a game.

When I began my current campaign, which is a pirate/swashbuckling themed Pathfinder RPG game, I wanted to take my players out to a restaurant called La Guarida del Pirata (The Pirate’s Hideaway, beware that last link is in Spanish) a pirate themed seafood restaurant. We didn’t go but I cooked for them, we watched a movie and discussed campaign expectations and character generation.

It was a great experience BUT I missed the opportunity to make food part of the experience. I want to change this, I really want to find an opportunity were I can cook for my players and make it part of the gaming experience. Perhaps we have a dinner party in game and then have food in real life. I want to play a zombie game for Halloween, I can already think of some possibilities. Brains!

Do you integrate food into your gaming? Do you cook or prepare something special for your players?

I better dig out the Leaves form the Inn of the Last Home. I’ll keep you update of my attempts to bring food into my games in a meaningful way.

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Wyatt Salazar is somewhat like a RPG blog nephew to me. Back in the day, when he wasn’t one of the more popular D&D 4th Edition bloggers out there, I was one of the first people who linked to his blog “Turbulent Thoughts” (Warning: Not For The Faint Of Heart!). 

Like me he likes homebrew systems (and even created one of his own) and recently he has finished writing a review about my own "Warrior, Rogue & Mage” game. Please head over to “The Spirits of Eden” and check out what Wyatt has to say about my little rules-light game!

And while you’re there, don’t forget to read the funniest review on the internet!

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As you all know I am not that fond of D&D 4th Edition. While I loved a lot of the changes from D&D 3.5 when I first read the new core books, I didn’t like how combat worked in D&D 4th Edition. For me I totally lost immersion in the game world in the moment we started to place our miniatures on the battle map.

When they announced D&D Essentials some time back, I was at first not that interested. It looked too much like a marketing ploy. But I also had some hopes that the newbie-friendly “Red Box” would allow gameplay closer to what I am comfortable with. And while D&D Essentials will be fully compatible with the current D&D 4th Edition line, there’s some hope that the rules in the Red Box are closer to my comfort levels.

Since the box only sets me back mere 14 Euros at my favorite online shop, I thought, I should give it a chance. It’s of course possible that I will not like it, but that’s a risk I am willing to take.

Are you planning to get the D&D Essentials Starter Set, too? Or have you given up D&D completely? As always I am very interested in your thoughts on the subject.

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Some time ago I had the opportunity to give away a free copy of Dicebook, a PDF reader and dice rolling app for the Apple iPad. But since I haven’t had an iPad myself at that time, I couldn’t give it a try myself. But that changed last week, when I finally got my new toy.

Dicebook by David Dunham is definitely one of the better PDF readers on the App Store. It doesn’t have the number of features like for example Goodreader has, but it’s a solid and fast PDF viewing application. Dicebook allows the user to set bookmarks and jump directly to pages, but there’s no search function. I hope David can add this feature in a future update.

But what makes this app special is the integrated dice rolling featuru. Now you don’t have to bring your dice or close your PDF reader every time you want to use your dice roller! The dice roller is customizable, so you can add new die and roll types. I was delighted to see that Fudge dice are included. If you are an avid D&D player you can easily set up a new rule that allows you to roll up your attributes (roll 4d6 drop lowest) for example.

Overall Dicebook is worth its low price of just $1.99. If you use your iPad at the gaming table, you definitely should check this app out, you won’t be disappointed. You can download Dicebook on the App Store (Just click the link to the right).

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I found this and I had to share it.

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