Upcoming Livestreams!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 08:05:10 PM

We have two livestream games to announce!

First, Thursday, October 14th will see a very special game for a long term fan and Denver gaming community VIP. Join us at 7:30PM at https://m.twitch.tv/evilbeaglegames/.

On Saturday, October 16th, join us and Rook & Rasp for a very different kind of game—an epic smack down between some of Freedom Squadron heaviest hitters and some of VENOM’s top bosses! The action starts at 12PM at https://www.twitch.tv/rookandrasp!

I’ll be GMing both adventures, so wish me luck (or happy birthday on Saturday)!

—Sean Tait Bircher

Spotlight on the Academic Vocation Framework
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 04:35:39 PM

Spotlight on the Academic

The academics and analysts of the Freedom Squadron Archives catalog and review a repository of information and artifacts, acting as the core historical records and "deep research" service of the entire GOF. Their chief priority is unraveling the history of VENOM Commander, hoping that understanding his past will help predict his future schemes.

The Vocation Framework most often found in the Archives is the Academic, a scholar like The Mummy’s Evie Carnahan or The Da Vinci Code’s Robert Langdon. More experienced in the halls of academia than field research like the Archaeologist, the Academic supports any field of research. This means Academics can be scholars of the occult like Hellboy’s Professor Bruttenholm and Ghostbusters’ Peter Venkman or mathematical theoreticians like Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm or Sherlock Holmes’ enemy, Professor Moriarty!

The head of the Archives is the mysterious Archivist. Despite being mentioned in the original Commando’s Manual, no name or game stats have ever been assigned to the Archivist. If you back the General Steel Wants You! tier for the Academic Vocation Framework, you can choose to make your character the Archivist, a Legendary Rank member of Freedom Squadron’s High Command!

Academic

The halls of academia form one of the least-known fronts in the war against VENOM. Academics’ years of study and experience endow them with the knowledge and critical thinking necessary to unlock secrets and devise unique solutions. Freedom Squadron needs heroes capable of navigating the labyrinth of libraries, secret archives, and data dumps to uncover VENOM’s centuries-long schemes.

Academics in Freedom Squadron tend to be former professional educators and researchers. Their time in the halls of academia makes them proficient in working around the red tape found in hierarchical administrations. Their emphasis on study goes beyond the mind; like all Recruits, they must meet Freedom Squadron’s demanding physical and training requirements, making them far from meek bookworms.

Hero’s Journey (Three Rolls)

Academies come from the greatest centers of learning in the world. As such, their first roll must be from the following tables: Higher Education, Intelligence, or Logistics. In addition, they are capable members of any team. The other two rolls may be from any table for which the hero qualifies.

Academic Abilities and Bonuses

• Content Experts: Years of classes and studies lead to a level of expertise not found outside of academia. All Academics start with a d6 in their choice of two of the following skills: Battle, Electronics, Logistics, Occult, Repair, Science, or Tradecraft.
• Professional Development: Academics acquire skills to better navigate bureaucracy and the classroom. They start with a d6 in Computers, Persuasion, and Research.
• Scholar: Hailing from such centers of education as Yale, Oxford, MIT, University of Tokyo, Empire State University, or East Texas University, Academics are highly intelligent and tops in their class. They start with d8 Smarts and a d8 in Academics. They get one free reroll on Academics rolls.

Mugs, Phone Cases, & T-Shirts Available for Backers in the Lower 48!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 10:08:18 AM

The good news is that mugs, phone cases, and t-shirts featuring your choice of the Freedom Squadron logo, VENOM logo, or carded character of your choice are now available as Add-Ons!

The bad news is that we can only ship these to the Lower 48, so they won't be available to Alaskan, Hawaiian, or non-US backers.

P&O PDF for Digital Only Backers and a Revised P&O Sneak Peek!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 09, 2021 at 04:46:40 PM

So...

Between family emergencies, illnesses, and surgeries, updating the Kickstarter has fallen on my inexperienced shoulders... and I goofed up.

New Add-On

I added the PDF copy of the revised Plans & Operations cards as an "anywhere in the world" reward rather than a "digital only" reward, blocking it from being added to digital only reward tiers. While I can't change the existing reward, I  have just added a Revised P&O PDF DIGITAL ONLY add-on to let digital only backers add it on!

Plans & Operations in Brief

For those not familiar with the Plans & Operations rules, they're a special set of rules designed to integrate the planning stage of a mission with actual game play, Plans & Operations is also intended to bring out the technical abilities and social skills of heroes that aren't as combat-intensive.

Plans & Operations functions as a series of three rounds—much like a Dramatic Task—with a more abstract passage of time involved and random variation in the skills used. The Game Master deals Challenge Cards from the Plans & Operations Deck. Each round, one or more players attempt to beat the Challenge associated with the card by narrating a short scene associated with the task at hand and rolling the relevant skill. After the last round, success or failure is determined by tallying the awarded success tokens. Success results in Mission Rewards; failure strengthens the forces of VENOM!

While we're talking about Plans & Operations, let's sneak in a preview of one of the ways it has been revised...

Challenge Cards

Every Challenge must be solved by rolling a skill associated with that suit of Challenges. The deck contains four suits:

• Covert Challenges call upon sneaky and undercover-oriented characters to take the lead. This is also where certain technical skills can shine as hackers and those who can defeat electronic security step in. The skills required to solve a Covert Challenge are Computers, Electronics, Notice, Research, Stealth, Thievery, Tradecraft, and arcane skills.
• Interaction Challenges best suit characters with good people skills. They may have to charm their way past bureaucrats, intimidate underworld contacts, interrogate captured enemies, trick neutral parties into giving up a piece of information, etc.. The skills required to solve an Interaction Challenge are Common Knowledge, Gambling, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion, Research, Taunt, and arcane skills.
• Tactical Challenges require military, physical, and combat skills to overcome. This might mean taking out a guard, shooting a security drone, climbing a wall, or otherwise dealing with a potential threat to the mission by aggressive or physical means. This rarely means all-out combat, though; if that happens, the mission is probably blown, or at least now requires combat play to resolve. The skills required to solve a Tactical Challenge are Athletics, Battle, Boating, Demolitions, Driving, Fighting, Notice, Piloting, Riding, Shooting, Survival, and arcane skills.
• Technical Challenges call upon a character's various areas of knowledge and study. These Challenges call deeply upon expertise outside of more physical skills. It's also where those of psionic or mystical nature can really shine with their more esoteric knowledge. The skills required to solve a Technical Challenge are Academics, Common Knowledge, Computers, Electronics, Healing, Logistics, Occult, Repair, Research, Science, and arcane skills.

Arcane Backgrounds and Challenges

The flexibility of Savage Worlds Arcane Backgrounds means that the same arcane skills can be used for Covert, Interaction, Tactical, and Technical Challenges depending on the power invoked. For example, invisibility lends itself to Covert Challenges, empathy to interaction, bolt to Tactical, and divination to Technical. Players must narrate how using a particular power justifies the use of an arcane skill on a Challenge.

Players do not pay Power Points for utilizing an arcane skill to beat a Challenge unless they want the power active at the end of Plans & Operations. Many Plans & Operations rounds stretch out over hours or days, giving the heroes enough time to recharge Power Points.

Roleplay in Plans & Operations

The Plans & Operations rules are meant to add an additional level of player-driven narrative to the Savage Worlds experience, but it can sometimes feel too much like a board game. GMs can encourage more roleplay by awarding bonus Bennies when a player…

• Comes up with a good plan that maximizes the success of the team.
• Invokes a Hindrance against themself. If the Hindrance doesn’t specify a mechanical penalty, the Game Master can assign a –1 penalty for Minor Hindrances and a –2 penalty for Major Hindrances.

For example, a rough-and-tumble street fighter with the Small Hindrance uses Fighting on a Tactical Challenge. Small’s penalty to Toughness only affects actual combat, but the player chooses to take a –1 penalty on their fighting rolls to reflect how they’re out of their weight class when taking on a pair of VENOM Scourges.

• Uses different skills each time they address the same suit of Challenges.

For example, a high-tech and science character who keeps choosing different related skills, instead of just using their Computers d10 each time.

• Uses a suboptimal skill to tackle a Challenge.

For example, the sniper with Shooting d12 chooses instead to use their Persuasion d6 to Support an Interaction Challenge because they have a cool story to tell about finding some old friends in the neighborhood where the operation is taking place.

The bonus Benny (or Bennies, if the Game Master feels the player really pushed their limits) is awarded after the roll.

-Sean Tait Bircher, co-lead developer of Freedom Squadron for Savage Worlds

Questions and Answers
over 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 09, 2021 at 07:51:24 AM

I've just updated the site with an FAQ that covers all of the questions I've seen so far. Please review it and post comments or send me messages if you need further clarification. I'm hoping the last question will add some fire to everyone's bellies to blaze through the stretch goals.

In a completely unrelated, totally casual, nothing-suspicious-here question for those already familiar with the setting, who are your favorite canon carded characters? Mine are, I admit, the characters I created: the super-soldier Catamount and his best friend Wally the mountain lion (first seen in the VENOM Assault: Villains & Valor expansion). Sure would be cool to get them on a t-shirt or phone case or something...

-Sean Tait Bircher, co-lead developer of Freedom Squadron for Savage Worlds