As the creator of Weird Frontiers I'll say that production value is definitely hard to beat with Deadlands, but you might find some things you dig about Weird Frontiers if you gave it a look. Reach out if you'd ever like the material, and thanks for shining the light on a genre that is often overlooked❤
@@DaveThaumavore Just don't drop the book, your feet will not be happy! LOL I snagged the whole DDC Rpg Weird Frontier's and its gonzo fun but huge... HUGE!. lol
ABSOLUTELY LOVE WF. My table has played DCC for 2 years straight now and is our system of choice. WF perfected an already amazing system and the setting and book is wonderful. Can’t say enough good things about your game. Thank you for making a quality Weird West game.
David, you've got a very solid game with Weird Frontiers. Let me encourage you to consider making some more traditional character options, maybe as an expansion on the core rules. Personally, I'd love to see gunfighters and gamblers and marshals and rangers and Indians (Native Americans, but that's not what they called them back then), maybe Civil War veterans, criminals, prospectors, etc. If those could become full-fledged classes rather than just backgrounds, you'd have a fantastic system with maximum flexibility.
A few years ago, maybe 2020? I moved from my latest imploding DnD group over to a different table at the game store where Deadlands was happening. I have a bunch of different RPGs going back decades in my personal collection but somehow never connected with Deadlands prior to this point. Deadlands is way cool indeed and I got nearly all of the available SWADE era stuff. Deadlands Noir, Deadlands Hell on Earth and Deadlands Lost Colony. But I started getting every other Savage Worlds setting I could as well: Rippers, ETU, Holler, Weird War I, Flash Gordon, Rifts, Necessary Evil (deluxe era), and even started picking up the Companions (Fantasy, Horror, Super Powers...) I like how condensed it is. I went from lugging about 7 different DnD books plus all of the spell/monster cards made to speed up the game, to maybe lugging around 3 much smaller digest books. Also, no more four hour long combats that are the focal point of the entire session. With Savage Worlds, the combats take minutes rather than hours.
Great video. Deadlands is somewhat dear to my heart. It and Shadowrun were two of our groups favorite settings to play in after we stopped playing D&D (we were burnt out on the setting more than the rules etc). With Western Movie reruns on TV all the time it was an easy setting to get into. The closeness of most of the tech and lore already established from watching movies like Outlaw Jose Wales and the Man with No Name series all we needed to do was add the horror. I started with the first edition, latter played in Reloaded and finally Savage Worlds. I am interested how other weird west settings/ttrpgs arrange the formula. I cannot wait to see the upcoming reviews. For me the Deadlands setting has a lot of nostalgia attached to it.
Just a heads up, you were a seasoned character in the Test Drive not a Novice. The advances at the bottom culminate to a first level Seasoned character.
@@DaveThaumavore yeah a first level Novice in Deadlands can have a max of 2 edges (I think). 1 from being Human and 1 if you use your hinderance points to buy one. There might be some other cases where you could have more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Then every advance you can choose a hindrance as your advancement option. I think the Test Drive might add an Edge for every advancement for Gunslinger, which is kinda where characters like that really thrive.
Wow, what a timing I was just researching SWADE and deadlands as an option from my new homebrew setting. There were quite a few videos on it, but not an overview like this so thank you very much for the immaculate timing! I'm still a bit unsure mostly due to how integral the benny system is to the game and there are a few classes that simply don't work. I wish there was a MY0 engine game for the weird west.
Bennies are absolutely crucial to SW. It adds a ton of fun and most SW GM guidelines suggest being very generous with handing out bennies. There is also Weird Frontiers, which is a DCC style weird west game. It's very good as well.
@tine1012 As someone with a wall of GURPS, I am conflicted about mentioning that they have a Wild West sourcebook. I love everything about GURPS until I try to run it - it runs slow as molasses in my experience. Plus back in the day we ran it from our PCs because it was not feasible otherwise. There is also the upcoming High Noon At Midnight from Cypher, which has some real Deadlands vibes coming from it. Way way back there was Boot Hill from TSR, which was ridiculously lethal but definitely has a nice stripped down feel to it. Plus there was Aces and Eights I believe which is very much realistic Wild West in an updated Boot Hill sort of way, though not connected to Boot Hill in any way.
Рік тому+8
Deadlands was siome of the most fun I had in TTRPG... The Setting feels just right... And the Wild West Tropes are at least as well known as the fantasy ones, so the description "Wild West, but with Monsters and Magic" is enough for most players to grasp how it works. I actually lifted a few characters from "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." back in the day, as that is a bit less horror but just as weird :)
I have been running a Deadlands Noir game for about 2-3 years. My own scenarios/storyline, but love the system. Even updating slowly from SWB to SWADE has been relatively easy. Although we are using the OLD Lore, since the game STARTED with the OLD Lore.
I haven’t got these new materials, but I need to resume a campaign we’ve let languish. My players made great characters: Gentleman Jim seeks his fortune as a Huckster, and Tracker Sadie stays on the move, because the calvary unit into which she was conscripted disbanded without official authorization when the Civil War was winding down.
I won't lie, I was a real stickler for wanting to scour Amazon and suck to find the original 1st edition books for Deadlands. HOwever, this video may very well have changed my mind.
An amazing setting for an amazing system (Savage Worlds). Though I typically run it a bit more "subdued" than the gonzo setting as-is. Less steampunk and more horror creeping in. Like "Deadwood" or "Hell on Wheels" meets Call of Cthulhu.
I’ve been running Savage Worlds since RIFTS made the jump to this rule set. You coined a perfect phrase to describe one drawback of running the game, Edge-Stacking. I write out what each Edge does on a separate sheet of paper for the players (and myself) to help us remember what each one does. If you’re not using your Edges properly, then you’re missing about 75% of what makes Savage Worlds so unique.
Had an amazing time running my first Deadlands campaign a few years ago (although we started off as a three-shot so we did the super fast advancement, and then continued as a campaign and I forgot to tone that down...oops). Just got Headstone Hill and can't wait to run Deadlands again! It's so thematic, and I love the weird west setting.
One of my all time favorite settings. Played in multiple one shots, a couple short campaigns, and even ran my own adaptation for 5 years. So much lore, and a solid pulp horror feel
I had a really fun time with the SWADE Deadlands and think I preferred it overall to the old versions. The updates to the world were well-considered, too. Horror at Headstone Hill gave us a massive campaign and I really recommend it if you want the TTRPG equivalent of Fallout or Skyrim as far as the use of locations and side quests (luckily the main quests are a bit more compelling than Skyrim’s). As far as alternate Weird West systems, have you checked out Ghosts of El Paso? I’m preparing to run a campaign of it now and it’s been great fun to read so far.
Great overview! I've been with Deadlands since before the first Savage Worlds version, and I really feel that the Adventure Edition era of Pinnacle/Savage Worlds is the highest point in the company's history for quality of production, presentation of material, and overall creativity.
what I love so much about Deadlands, is up until this last revision there was virtually zero retconning of the story... it just moved forward (yes I know there were a few things from the very early days) so all the old supplements still mostly work.
I'll be honest the chi master isn't to bad but I wish they'd give an example like a Chuck Noris martial arts ranger. Also there going to be doing a mexico expansion and a Canadian expansion soon.
Thanks for this thorough look. Learned a lot, knew about it for a while but never played it or knew anyone who had it. Not sure what system I'd prefer to play something like this in, though. What about Dogs in the Vinyard or Dust Devils next?
My party and I really enjoyed it. But we also are curious about "the old gods of appalachia." Either way, we enjoyed Deadlands' mechanics better than Dogs in the vineyard. Though that's another game not to sleep on as well.
+1 to an Old Gods of Appalachia review. Would fit in nicely with Dave's review of Holler, which is another Appalachian horror game but in SWADE. It was out on Kickstarter right before the Old Gods Kickstarter.
Autogyros are what James Bond used in You Only Live Twice. they differ from helicopters in that the rotary wings are not powered instead they have a prop like a small plane.
I collected the Doomtown card game but never got to play it with anyone. I liked the lore behind the setting. This new edition might be fun to collect but again, my players barely have the time for a rules light D&D game.
Ever tried Cowboy World? It's a PbtA and there a section for weird west too. I couldn't find any review for this game, though it's a very good alternative fot the old west setting.
Is there a good VTT that would allow for a card deck as a ransom tool? Used to play DD way back and this video just had all of those memories resurface. Unfortunately, my friends are now all over the place so using a VTT is the only option. Cheers!
Thanks for the review! That was interesting, as always. I played Deadlands a few times, and while I'm not always fond of the rules, the atmosphere is amazing I didn't know there was a Malifaux rpg, I only knew the miniature skirmish game. I'd be curious to know more about it. Iron kingdoms was great in its D6 incarnation and Infinity is interesting too, so I'm always curious about miniature to roleplaying game conversions.
There is a sidebar about "reducing" the access of the fantastical to play up the more terrifying feeling of being relatively normal folks in a western-horror setting. "Cowboys vs Zombies" is a term they use. But trying to lose it all might be buying the book only to then not use most of it which seems not very useful.
As long as you have a GM emulator (e.g. Mythic), you can play this solo. I recently did a review/overview of Mythic, which came out with a new edition: ua-cam.com/video/p-dfIKeng_w/v-deo.htmlsi=uZPSW_cpGbjdzyZQ
ABSOLUTELY, I have been playing it solo myself and it's quite a lot of fun. I use the Mythic Game Emulator v2 and @dicegeeks's Wild West roll table for a homebrew adventure.
As a fan of Savage Worlds I have Deadlands on my list of games to run. It is a very rich setting and I enjoy darker themes, so it just works. I am also a Malifaux player, so Through the Breach has me very interested.
Why do you say that? Deadlands is probably one of the first Weird West TTRPG games, but the genre is as old as the Wild West itself. Deadlands is probably more Horror than Fantasy, imo. Also, fwiw you're not wrong either... on DriveThruRPG's publisher portal, Weird West is actually under the Fantasy parent group not the Historical parent group.
Yes, that's the intention. Leaning more alt-history horror fantasy, as mentioned. There are some purist Wild West RPGs out there if that's your thing, along with universal ones like GURPS with some period equipment & such in a sourcebook.
Short answer - NO or To some people maybe. To me and my Deadlands players group - Deadlands Reloaded is way better than the Adventure Edition. This one was very disappointing rules wise. The quality of the book is top notch tho.
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As the creator of Weird Frontiers I'll say that production value is definitely hard to beat with Deadlands, but you might find some things you dig about Weird Frontiers if you gave it a look. Reach out if you'd ever like the material, and thanks for shining the light on a genre that is often overlooked❤
You made that 908-page tome of legend? Wow, yeah I might be interested!
@@DaveThaumavore Just don't drop the book, your feet will not be happy! LOL I snagged the whole DDC Rpg Weird Frontier's and its gonzo fun but huge... HUGE!. lol
ABSOLUTELY LOVE WF. My table has played DCC for 2 years straight now and is our system of choice. WF perfected an already amazing system and the setting and book is wonderful. Can’t say enough good things about your game. Thank you for making a quality Weird West game.
@@Acmegamerlost a toenail that way.
David, you've got a very solid game with Weird Frontiers. Let me encourage you to consider making some more traditional character options, maybe as an expansion on the core rules. Personally, I'd love to see gunfighters and gamblers and marshals and rangers and Indians (Native Americans, but that's not what they called them back then), maybe Civil War veterans, criminals, prospectors, etc. If those could become full-fledged classes rather than just backgrounds, you'd have a fantastic system with maximum flexibility.
A few years ago, maybe 2020? I moved from my latest imploding DnD group over to a different table at the game store where Deadlands was happening.
I have a bunch of different RPGs going back decades in my personal collection but somehow never connected with Deadlands prior to this point.
Deadlands is way cool indeed and I got nearly all of the available SWADE era stuff.
Deadlands Noir, Deadlands Hell on Earth and Deadlands Lost Colony.
But I started getting every other Savage Worlds setting I could as well: Rippers, ETU, Holler, Weird War I, Flash Gordon, Rifts, Necessary Evil (deluxe era), and even started picking up the Companions (Fantasy, Horror, Super Powers...)
I like how condensed it is.
I went from lugging about 7 different DnD books plus all of the spell/monster cards made to speed up the game, to maybe lugging around 3 much smaller digest books.
Also, no more four hour long combats that are the focal point of the entire session.
With Savage Worlds, the combats take minutes rather than hours.
I instanly fell in love with the whole idea of undead cowboys, magic and steampunk in big, shiny package
I played Deadlands back in the late 90's so nice to see you video and to see it's back.
Great video. Deadlands is somewhat dear to my heart. It and Shadowrun were two of our groups favorite settings to play in after we stopped playing D&D (we were burnt out on the setting more than the rules etc). With Western Movie reruns on TV all the time it was an easy setting to get into. The closeness of most of the tech and lore already established from watching movies like Outlaw Jose Wales and the Man with No Name series all we needed to do was add the horror. I started with the first edition, latter played in Reloaded and finally Savage Worlds. I am interested how other weird west settings/ttrpgs arrange the formula. I cannot wait to see the upcoming reviews. For me the Deadlands setting has a lot of nostalgia attached to it.
Great in depth review. Definitely would love to see more reviews on the weird west genre of settings, mechanics etc.
Just a heads up, you were a seasoned character in the Test Drive not a Novice. The advances at the bottom culminate to a first level Seasoned character.
Thanks. I was wondering why the starter characters were so loaded up.
@@DaveThaumavore yeah a first level Novice in Deadlands can have a max of 2 edges (I think). 1 from being Human and 1 if you use your hinderance points to buy one.
There might be some other cases where you could have more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Then every advance you can choose a hindrance as your advancement option. I think the Test Drive might add an Edge for every advancement for Gunslinger, which is kinda where characters like that really thrive.
@@_mawburn Technically you could start with three, if you spend all your hindrance points on it, but 2 is probably what most will take
"Auto-Gyro" is basically their version of a small steampunk helicopter. Looks kinda like the one the guy has in Mad Max 2. 👍
Just started a deadlands game with gf, great timing. Love this setting. This and the Holler setting for Swade is really great.
Wow, what a timing I was just researching SWADE and deadlands as an option from my new homebrew setting. There were quite a few videos on it, but not an overview like this so thank you very much for the immaculate timing! I'm still a bit unsure mostly due to how integral the benny system is to the game and there are a few classes that simply don't work. I wish there was a MY0 engine game for the weird west.
Bennies are absolutely crucial to SW. It adds a ton of fun and most SW GM guidelines suggest being very generous with handing out bennies.
There is also Weird Frontiers, which is a DCC style weird west game. It's very good as well.
Bennies are the very heart of any savage worlds setting. Some "classes" do take a lot of work for the player.
@tine1012
As someone with a wall of GURPS, I am conflicted about mentioning that they have a Wild West sourcebook.
I love everything about GURPS until I try to run it - it runs slow as molasses in my experience.
Plus back in the day we ran it from our PCs because it was not feasible otherwise.
There is also the upcoming High Noon At Midnight from Cypher, which has some real Deadlands vibes coming from it.
Way way back there was Boot Hill from TSR, which was ridiculously lethal but definitely has a nice stripped down feel to it.
Plus there was Aces and Eights I believe which is very much realistic Wild West in an updated Boot Hill sort of way, though not connected to Boot Hill in any way.
Deadlands was siome of the most fun I had in TTRPG... The Setting feels just right... And the Wild West Tropes are at least as well known as the fantasy ones, so the description "Wild West, but with Monsters and Magic" is enough for most players to grasp how it works.
I actually lifted a few characters from "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." back in the day, as that is a bit less horror but just as weird :)
I would love to see overviews of other weird west ttrpg like you mentioned.
Thank you for the work you put in.
I have been running a Deadlands Noir game for about 2-3 years. My own scenarios/storyline, but love the system. Even updating slowly from SWB to SWADE has been relatively easy. Although we are using the OLD Lore, since the game STARTED with the OLD Lore.
I haven’t got these new materials, but I need to resume a campaign we’ve let languish. My players made great characters: Gentleman Jim seeks his fortune as a Huckster, and Tracker Sadie stays on the move, because the calvary unit into which she was conscripted disbanded without official authorization when the Civil War was winding down.
I won't lie, I was a real stickler for wanting to scour Amazon and suck to find the original 1st edition books for Deadlands. HOwever, this video may very well have changed my mind.
We are currently playing Deadlands Noir. It is a lot of fun.
An amazing setting for an amazing system (Savage Worlds). Though I typically run it a bit more "subdued" than the gonzo setting as-is. Less steampunk and more horror creeping in. Like "Deadwood" or "Hell on Wheels" meets Call of Cthulhu.
I’ve been running Savage Worlds since RIFTS made the jump to this rule set. You coined a perfect phrase to describe one drawback of running the game, Edge-Stacking. I write out what each Edge does on a separate sheet of paper for the players (and myself) to help us remember what each one does. If you’re not using your Edges properly, then you’re missing about 75% of what makes Savage Worlds so unique.
Had an amazing time running my first Deadlands campaign a few years ago (although we started off as a three-shot so we did the super fast advancement, and then continued as a campaign and I forgot to tone that down...oops). Just got Headstone Hill and can't wait to run Deadlands again! It's so thematic, and I love the weird west setting.
One of my all time favorite settings. Played in multiple one shots, a couple short campaigns, and even ran my own adaptation for 5 years. So much lore, and a solid pulp horror feel
A big fan of this setting. I have never played the game itself but I borrow from it for nearly every character I have. Especially the huckster class.
I had a really fun time with the SWADE Deadlands and think I preferred it overall to the old versions. The updates to the world were well-considered, too. Horror at Headstone Hill gave us a massive campaign and I really recommend it if you want the TTRPG equivalent of Fallout or Skyrim as far as the use of locations and side quests (luckily the main quests are a bit more compelling than Skyrim’s).
As far as alternate Weird West systems, have you checked out Ghosts of El Paso? I’m preparing to run a campaign of it now and it’s been great fun to read so far.
I took the Old Ways Oath in the last campaign I played, traveling from Dodge City to New Orleans was a hell of a trip
Great overview! I've been with Deadlands since before the first Savage Worlds version, and I really feel that the Adventure Edition era of Pinnacle/Savage Worlds is the highest point in the company's history for quality of production, presentation of material, and overall creativity.
Run a few adventures. My group fell in love with the setting and swade rules.
Just throwing this out there there was also "Six Guns and Sorcery" bringing Castle Faulkenstein to the west.
I miss the old system with poker cards, it was just so evocative to use them
what I love so much about Deadlands, is up until this last revision there was virtually zero retconning of the story... it just moved forward (yes I know there were a few things from the very early days) so all the old supplements still mostly work.
I'll be honest the chi master isn't to bad but I wish they'd give an example like a Chuck Noris martial arts ranger.
Also there going to be doing a mexico expansion and a Canadian expansion soon.
Thanks for this thorough look. Learned a lot, knew about it for a while but never played it or knew anyone who had it. Not sure what system I'd prefer to play something like this in, though.
What about Dogs in the Vinyard or Dust Devils next?
I’ve only played a single one-shot of Deadlands (this SWADE version) but I quite enjoyed it!
My party and I really enjoyed it. But we also are curious about "the old gods of appalachia."
Either way, we enjoyed Deadlands' mechanics better than Dogs in the vineyard. Though that's another game not to sleep on as well.
+1 to an Old Gods of Appalachia review.
Would fit in nicely with Dave's review of Holler, which is another Appalachian horror game but in SWADE. It was out on Kickstarter right before the Old Gods Kickstarter.
Autogyros are what James Bond used in You Only Live Twice. they differ from helicopters in that the rotary wings are not powered instead they have a prop like a small plane.
I collected the Doomtown card game but never got to play it with anyone. I liked the lore behind the setting. This new edition might be fun to collect but again, my players barely have the time for a rules light D&D game.
Ever tried Cowboy World? It's a PbtA and there a section for weird west too. I couldn't find any review for this game, though it's a very good alternative fot the old west setting.
Is there a good VTT that would allow for a card deck as a ransom tool? Used to play DD way back and this video just had all of those memories resurface. Unfortunately, my friends are now all over the place so using a VTT is the only option. Cheers!
Thanks for the review! That was interesting, as always. I played Deadlands a few times, and while I'm not always fond of the rules, the atmosphere is amazing
I didn't know there was a Malifaux rpg, I only knew the miniature skirmish game. I'd be curious to know more about it. Iron kingdoms was great in its D6 incarnation and Infinity is interesting too, so I'm always curious about miniature to roleplaying game conversions.
Ive been thinking getting either Deadlands SWADE or Deadlands Classic but I dont know which.
personaly prefer clasic,
That adventure box set looks delicious
Weird frontiers! I'd like a review on that!
nice videdo, thanks for sharing.
Is it easy to play it with no fantastical elements and it just be an alternate real world west?
I would say no, not at all. The weird west elements are woven throughout both the mechanics and the setting.
@@DaveThaumavore Thank you!
There is a sidebar about "reducing" the access of the fantastical to play up the more terrifying feeling of being relatively normal folks in a western-horror setting.
"Cowboys vs Zombies" is a term they use.
But trying to lose it all might be buying the book only to then not use most of it which seems not very useful.
Thanks for this review. Can this be played solo?
As long as you have a GM emulator (e.g. Mythic), you can play this solo.
I recently did a review/overview of Mythic, which came out with a new edition: ua-cam.com/video/p-dfIKeng_w/v-deo.htmlsi=uZPSW_cpGbjdzyZQ
There is also a solo adventure called The Crater Lake Chronicles. I don't think it is that impressive, but it is not bad either.
ABSOLUTELY, I have been playing it solo myself and it's quite a lot of fun. I use the Mythic Game Emulator v2 and @dicegeeks's Wild West roll table for a homebrew adventure.
@@gaidenn3937 thank you for letting me know about "The Crater Lake Chronicles". ; )
Man, you mustve hated Shanghai Noon then...
Yes.
Love Deadlands Reloaded
It was before Savage Worlds. Now it's just a shell.
I really wish the 20th Anniversary book was POD
Yes it is.
A personal favorite
Ha! For once your review won't cost me any money because I already own it!
It wqs the best until the reboot and the change to Savage Worlds.
Deadlands is a fun setting, though SW as a system has been a miss for me, which is too bad.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Haunted West, the weird west RPG from Chris Spivey.
As a fan of Savage Worlds I have Deadlands on my list of games to run. It is a very rich setting and I enjoy darker themes, so it just works.
I am also a Malifaux player, so Through the Breach has me very interested.
Dude, we're in sync. Stop coming out with reviews of games I just bought, it's starting to freak me out
No, you get out of MY head!
Yes.
Awesome!
The short answer is yes.
Yes. yes it is.
So many wild west systems don't really want to be wild west games. This game is pretty much a fantasy game.
Why do you say that? Deadlands is probably one of the first Weird West TTRPG games, but the genre is as old as the Wild West itself. Deadlands is probably more Horror than Fantasy, imo.
Also, fwiw you're not wrong either... on DriveThruRPG's publisher portal, Weird West is actually under the Fantasy parent group not the Historical parent group.
Yes, that's the intention. Leaning more alt-history horror fantasy, as mentioned. There are some purist Wild West RPGs out there if that's your thing, along with universal ones like GURPS with some period equipment & such in a sourcebook.
Yes. But go ahead!
Would love for you to review Sword World 2.5e
Short answer - NO or To some people maybe. To me and my Deadlands players group - Deadlands Reloaded is way better than the Adventure Edition. This one was very disappointing rules wise. The quality of the book is top notch tho.
The best Weird West is Genesys
Laughs in frontier scum