RPGnet Newsletter #93

RPGnet Newsletter #93 April 4, 2016 Kickstarter Spotlight This week, the Newsletter brings you a special double edition of our Kickstarter Spotlight feature, looking at two campaigns for new Savage Worlds supplements from Pinnacle Entertainment Group, both based on popular pulpy Dark Horse comics. [Fear Agent]( transmutes to Savage Worlds form the comic of the same name, a sci-fi setting involving two-fisted (or two-raygun?) action against the backdrop of a desperate future for humanity in an interstellar war. [Goon]( keeps the adventures here on earth, with the players playing criminals dealing with an occult world of zombies, robots, and changelings. Rather than prattling on further, let's have the folks at PEG speak for themselves. As the Newsletter always does, we reached out with some questions, and they were kind enough to provide some answers. We've edited them for length and formatting, but not for content, and can't thank the folks at PEG enough for taking the time out to chat with us. Newsletter: Running two simultaneous Kickstarter Campaigns for pulpy-comic-book-style settings seems like it might risk splitting your market. Why run both simultaneously? Jodi Black, COO and Managing Editor: First, we see a lot of cooperative marketing between the two settings. Fans of one are probably fans of the other. We certainly are. Second, itís a proven process for us! We first ran a "Double Kickstarter" for Deadlands last fall: one for the 20th Anniversary Edition of Deadlands Classic and one for the final Plot Point Campaign for Deadlands Reloaded: Good Intentions. While there's a lot of crossover between the two projects, we wanted to offer stretch goals uniquely tailored to each setting. Finally, since both projects will be ready to ship at the same time, we can combine Kickstarter rewards so they ship in one package (one pledge from Fear Agentô RPG and one from The Goonô RPG). This saves shipping costs overall, which we pass along to our supporters as a credit in the PledgeManager (survey target May 2017, shipping target November 2017). Newsletter: You mention that both the Goon and Fear Agent books will be printed in "graphic novel format." What does that mean? Will there be a printer-friendly version for PDF-only backers? Jodi Black, COO and Managing Editor: We moved to graphic novel format three years ago, which means our RPG books are basically the same size as most comic books. We were interviewed by Bleeding Cool about it [here](. The layout resizes easily on most tablets, phones, and screens in between. And all our PDFs have layers to help keep ink costs down when printing at home. Finally, our graphic novel PDFs can be printed two to an 8.5" x 11" page (and still very legible), or fit to the page (for slightly bigger print), or even print at "actual size" with room on the sides for hole punching or making notes. Newsletter: Will the art in the books be original, or is it a reproduction of art from the comics? Aaron Acevedo, Art Director: The books feature art from the comics with graphic design by Alida Saxon. Having the complete library of art from both The Goonô and Fear Agentô comics meant we were spoiled for choice. The hard part was figuring out what to cut. Newsletter: Both Campaigns feature main characters from the respective comics statted out for play. Were the various characters balanced against one another within their respective games (e.g., Heath with Mara) or was simulating their performance in the comics more the primary concern? John Goff, author for Fear Agentô RPG: We were focused on depicting the characters as they appear in their comics. That means the Goon is probably going to bust heads a little harder than the rest of his crew, and Heath is overall a little tougher than the other Fear Agents. It is their story, after all. However, that also means neither titular character is automatically better at everything than the characters around them. For example, Franky's a far better faceman than Goon, and Mara knows a whole lot more about how the universe works than Heath does. [Also,] [w]ith any licensed property, there's going to be established canon you don't want to tinker with. If you've read the comics (and if you haven't, stop right now, and GO DO IT--don't worry, we'll wait) you know that Heath Huston's story line is pretty tightly scripted. But the great thing about the comic is the creators not only opened up a vast universe of alien planets and star systems, they ripped it further open by introducing time travel and alternate dimensions, so even the sky wasn't the limit to the stories you can tell in their sandbox. Matthew Cutter, author for The Goonô RPG: There's a fine line to walk when you're in someone else's sandbox. In the case of The Goonô, there's an established storyline (with an ending!) out thereñand it's epicóso we took care not to tamper with that sequence. But others playing a licensed game maybe don't care so much about preserving comic book continuity. This book allows both, telling the GM exactly how the Plot Point Campaign fits into the overall continuity but also including the major villains from the comic's entire run, so groups can play their own version of the Goon's story if they prefer. Shane Hensley, President of Pinnacle Entertainment Group: Iíd been a fan of The Goonô for years when I stumbled across Fear Agentô. Both really sang to my little pulpy heart and I knew theyíd fit our game system perfectly. Fear Agentísô amazing action, art, and most importantly HUGE twists is something Iíd very much want to run as a GM or play as a player. Rick Remenderís tale of Heath Huston is a fantastic character arc, but along the way it creates infinite possibilities for others to adventure in as well. The Goonô is such a unique setting thereís just nothing else like it out there. Crime Noir with influences of pulp and Lovecraft? Expertly written with HUGE action, amazing characters like Heironymous Alloy and the Buzzard? Yes, please! -- Both campaigns run until April 17. Head over and check them out! New Columns Christopher Cecil published a new issue of Fuzzy Thinking: ["Exceptional Strength."]( Iustum put up some more Words on a Screen, this time looking at PbP campaign design in ["Of Railroads and Sandboxes."]( And, Brent Dedeaux of Tales from the Rocket House used some math to show how ["Simple Systems Get Complex, Fast."]( New Reviews Endzeitgeist kicked the week off with reviews of two supplements for Kort'thalis Publishing's Crimson Dragon Slayer RPG. First up was ["Slaves of Tsathoggua,"]( which features grinding difficulty with some balance between the setting's dark and surreal elements. Second was ["Descent into the Candy Crypts,"]( which is a traditional dungeon crawl in structure, but extremely weird and gonzo in trappings. Then, Shannon Appelcline gave us a review of the card game ["Saboteur,"]( a quick tile-laying game filled with bluffing and double-crossing, which make it ideal as a filler. Shannon also posted another Traveller-related fiction review from [his eBook]( of the same, this time looking at ["Slices of Life,"]( a well-written but unmemorable set of Traveller short stories set in the Gateway Era. Sign Off Have a good week, everyone. - Iustum Newsletter Editor --------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this email for {NAME} @ RPGnet ({EMAIL}). If you prefer not to receive this newsletter, please visit our [two-click unsubscribe](. If you have any problems with unsubscription, mail us at [ce@skotos.net](mailto:ce@skotos.net?subject=RPGnet Unsubscribe {NAME}) with your RPGnet account name. This newsletter is also available as [a column]( or via [RSS](.