Some newspaper clippings.
Big Apple Dateline
ROGER CARLYLE, the playboy whom everybody knows—or knows about—is quietly leaving New Yawk tomorrow to check out the tombs of Egypt! You’ve seen the cuties ROGER has found in the nightspots. Who can doubt he’ll dig up someone—er, something—equally fabulous from the Egyptian sands?
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, April 4, 1919
CARLYLE EXPEDITION EMBARKS FOR ENGLAND
Led by the fabulously- wealthy playboy Roger Carlyle, the Carlyle Expedition departed this morning for Southampton aboard the crack British steamship Imperial Standard.
Contrary to earlier reports, the expedition will perform researches in London under the auspices of the Penhew Foundation before continuing to Egypt next month.
Readers may recall the enormous party which Mr. Carlyle, now 24, gave at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel upon reaching his majority. Since then, scandals and indelicate behavior have become Carlyle’s trademark, but he never has become tarnished in the eyes of Manhattanites.
Members of the expedition have been reluctant to reveal their purpose in Egypt.
OTHER EXPEDITION MEMBERS
Renowned Egyptologist Sir Aubrey Penhew is assistant leader of the team, and in charge of excavations.
Dr. Robert Huston, a fashoonable ‘Freudian’ psychologist, accompanies the expeditio to pursue parallel researches into ancient pic- tographs.
Miss Hypatia Masters, linked in the past to Carlyle, will act as photographer and archivist.
Mr. Jack Brady, intimate to Mr. Carlyle, accompanies the group as general factotum.
Additional members may be secured while in London.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE April 5, 1919
CARLYLE DEPARTS EGYPT
CAIRO (AP)—Sir Aubrey Penhew, temporary spokesman for the Carlyle Expedition, indicated Monday that the leaders are taking ship to East Africa for a ‘well-earned rest.’
Sir Aubrey debunked rumors that the expedition had dis- covered clues to the legendary wealth of the lost mines of King Solomon, maintaining that the party was going on safari “in respite from our sandy labors.”
Roger Carlyle, wealthy New York leader of the expedition, was unavailable for comment, still suffering from his recent sunstroke.
Discussing that unfortunate incident, local experts declared Egypt entirely too hot for Anglo-Saxons at this time of year, and suggested that the young American had not been well- served by his democratic enthusiasm, rumored to have led him to personally wield pick and shovel.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, July 3, 1919
IMPORTANT VISITORS
MOMBASA (Reuters)—Leading members of an American archaeological expedition arrived here on holiday from digs in Egypt’s Nile Valley.
Our Under-Secretary, Mr. Royston Whittingdon, held a welcoming dinner for them at Collingswood House, where the wit of Sir Aubrey Penhew, expedition co-leader, was much in evidence.
Accompanying Sir Aubrey are two Americans, youthful financier Roger Carlyle and medical doctor Robert Huston.
The party leaves inland tomorrow, for Nairobi and hunting.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, July 24, 1919
CARLYLE EXPEDITION FEARED LOST
MOMBASA (Reuters)—Uplands police representatives today asked for public assistance concerning the disappearance of the Carlyle Expedition. No word of the party has been received in nearly two months.
The group includes wealthy playboy Roger Carlyle and three other American citizens, as well as respected Egyptologist Sir Aubrey Penhew of the United Kingdom.
The expedition left Nairobi on August 3, ostensibly on cam- era safari, but rumor insisted that they actually were after legendary Biblical treasures.
Carlyle and his party reportedly intended to explore portions of the Great Rift Valley, to the northwest of Nairobi.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, Oct. 15, 1919
ERICA CARLYLE ARRIVES IN AFRICA
MOMBASA (Reuters)—In response to clues, Miss Erica Carlyle, sister to the American leader of the lost Carlyle Expedition, arrived in port today aboard the Egyptian vessel Fount of Life.
Several Kikuyu-villager reports recently have been received concerning the putative massacre of unnamed whites near Aberdare Forest.
Miss Carlyle declared her intention to find her brother, regardless of the effort needed. She brought with her the nucleus of a large expedition.
Detailing agents to coordinate supply and other activities with Colony representatives, Miss Carlyle and the remainder of her party depart for Nairobi tomorrow.
Her companion, Mrs. Victoria Post, indirectly emphasized Miss Carlyle’s purposefulness by recounting the rigors of the voyage aboard the Semite ship.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, March 11, 1920
CARLYLE MASSACRE CONFIRMED
NAIROBI (Reuters)—The massacre of the long-missing Carlyle expedition was confirmed today by district police representatives.
Roger Carlyle, New York’s rollicking playboy, is counted among the missing.
Authorities blame hostile Nandi tribesmen for the shocking murders. Remains of at least two dozen expedition members and bearers are thought found in several concealed grave sites.
Erica Carlyle, Roger Carlyle’s sister and apparent heiress to the Carlyle family fortune, led the dangerous search for her brother and his party. She credited Kikuyu tribesmen for the discovery, though police actually found the site.
Among other expedition members believed lost are Sir Aubrey Penhew, noted Egyptologist; New York socialite Hypatia Masters, and Dr. Robert Huston. Many bearers also are reported dead.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, May 24, 1920
MURDERERS HANGED
NAIROBI (Reuters)—Five Nandi tribesmen, convicted ringleaders of the vicious Carlyle Expedition massacre, were executed this morning after a short, expertly-conducted trial.
To the end, the tribesmen steadfastly refused to reveal where they had hidden the bodies of the white leaders of the expedition. Mr. Harvis, acting for the Colony, cleverly implied throughout the trial that the massacre was racial in motivation, and that the fair-skinned victims were taken to a secret location, there to suffer the most savage treatment.
Miss Erica Carlyle, defeated in her efforts to rescue her brother, left several weeks ago, but is surely comforted now by the triumph of justice.
—NEW YORK PILLAR/RIPOSTE, June 19, 1920
Some Savage World Rules from the test drive pdf...
Combat
We don’t call these “Savage” Settings for nothing. Sooner or later, your hero is going to find himself hip-deep in trouble. Fortunately for you, Savage Worlds keeps the fighting Fast! Furious! and Fun!
initiative
To help the Game Master keep track of who goes in what order—and add a healthy dose of excitement—we use a deck of playing cards to determine everyone’s initiative. (And yes, of course we sell a special Savage Worlds Action Deck!)
Deal in characters as follows:
Every Wild Card is dealt a single card. Any allies that player is controlling act on his card as well.
Every type of Game Master troop, such as all zombies, all wolves, and so on, share a card. (If a type of opponent is set-up in two or more groups, such as two wolf-packs on opposite ends of the playing area, you should give each group a separate card.)
The Game Master then counts down from the Ace to the Deuce, with each group resolving its actions when its card comes up. Ties are resolved in suit order: Spades are first, then Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
The Joker is Wild!
Jokers are special. A character who is dealt a Joker gets to go whenever he wants in a round, before anyone else or at any point later, including automatically interrupting another’s action if he wishes.
In addition, the hero adds +2 to all trait tests made this round, and +2 to damage!
Reshuffle the deck after a Joker is dealt to any character.
hold
A hero may choose to wait and see what happens by taking a Hold action. He may then go later in the round if he chooses, and can then take his action normally.
A Held action lasts until it’s used. If a character has a Held card when a new round starts, he’s not dealt in.
Interrupting Actions: If a character on Hold wants to interrupt an action, he and the opponent make opposed Agility rolls.
Whoever rolls highest goes first. In the rare case of a tie, the actions are simultaneous.
movement
Player characters have a Pace of 6, meaning they can move that many inches on the tabletop in a round.
Characters may also choose to run. This gives them an additional 1d6” of movement but inflicts a -2 penalty to any trait tests performed that round. This isn’t a trait roll, so there is no Wild Die and it can’t Ace.
melee attackS
A character may make one Fighting attack per round. Roll a Fighting skill roll and compare it to the opponent’s Parry. On a success, your character makes a melee damage roll based on the weapon in hand (see Damage). With a raise, you add an additional +1d6 bonus damage for that strike as well.
Withdrawing From Close Combat: Whenever a character retreats from melee, all adjacent opponents get an immediate free attack (but only one—no extra attacks for Frenzy or wielding two weapons).
RanGed attackS
The Shooting skill covers everything from pistols to rocket launchers. You’ll notice missile weapons on the weapons chart have a set of numbers under “Range.” This is their Short, Medium, and Long range brackets. Hitting a target at Short range is a standard Shooting roll with a TN of 4. Shooting a target at Medium range subtracts 2 from the roll, and Long range subtracts 4.
Weapon ranges, by the way, are designed for the table-top and using miniatures. For a quick conversion, every inch on the tabletop equals 2 yards in the real world. A target at 25”, for example, is actually 50 yards away from the attacker.
Cover: Subtract 2 from the attack if the defender has minor cover (half cover or full light cover such as brush), and –4 if the defender has substantial cover (about 2/3rds cover).
A prone character has minor cover (-2), but standing back up costs 2” of movement. While prone, defenders subtract 2 from their Parry and Fighting rolls.
You’ll find a number of additional situational combat modifiers and some other special types of attacks in the full rulebook.
damaGe
After a successful hit, the attacker rolls damage. When rolling damage, add the results of the dice together to figure your total damage. All damage rolls can Ace as well, which means that you keep rolling and adding whenever damage dice Ace. You got that right, friend. Even the lowliest goblin can put down a legendary hero with a really lucky roll.
Ranged Damage: Ranged weapon damage is fixed, such as 2d8 or 2d6+1. A Colt .45, for example, does 2d6+1, meaning you roll two six-sided dice, add them together (along with any Aces), and then add +1 to the total. Heroes don’t get Wild Dice on damage rolls—those only apply to traits.
Melee Damage: Melee damage is figured by rolling the attacker’s Strength die and the weapon’s damage die and adding the results together. A hero with Strength d8 and a short sword (d6), for example, deals d8+d6 damage with the sword. As always, these dice can Ace! Don’t add Wild Dice to these rolls—heroes only get those on skill and attribute rolls.
Bonus Damage: Well-placed attacks are more likely to hit vital areas. If you get a raise on the attack roll, add +1d6 to the damage as well! (Bonus damage can also Ace!) Don’t add additional dice for more than one raise.
dealinG damaGe
After hitting, your damage is compared to the opponent’s Toughness. Damage rolls have successes and raises just like trait rolls. If the damage roll is less than the target’s Toughness, the victim is beaten up a bit but there’s no game effect.
If the damage roll is a success (equal to or higher than the victim’s Toughness) he’s Shaken. Place the figure on its back or mark it with a red gaming stone to show its status.
Each raise (additional 4 points) on the damage roll means the victim suffers a Wound. Extras only have one wound and are Incapacitated (simply taken off the table). They’re injured badly enough to quit the fight, and may even be dead (a simple Vigor check after the fight—failure means the victim expired).
Shaken
Shaken characters are nicked, bruised, or otherwise rattled. (If you’re familiar with games that use “hit points,” think of being Shaken as losing a few—there’s no real effect, but the character is slowly being worn down—the GM just doesn’t have to track all this minor damage!)
Characters can become Shaken by tests of will results, fear, and most commonly, damage. Shaken characters may only move half their Pace and can perform no other actions (including running).
A Shaken character automatically attempts to recover at the beginning of each action by making a Spirit roll. A failure means he remains Shaken (though he may move half his Pace as outlined above). With a success, the recovery check consumes the hero’s entire round but the character recovers and can remove his Shaken counter. With a raise, the character recovers instantly and may act normally.
If a Shaken character is Shaken again by a damaging attack, the character takes a wound instead. Getting two Shaken results is an effective tactic against opponents with high Toughness scores. Try setting up these foes with a test of wills to Shake them, then follow up with something a little more lethal.
Wild caRdS and WoundS
Wild Cards can take multiple wounds, and every raise on the damage roll inflicts a wound. Each wound causes a –1 penalty per wound to all further trait tests. A hero with 2 wounds, for example, suffers a –2 penalty to all trait tests.
If a hero suffers a wound and wasn’t already Shaken, he is Shaken as well.
Heroes can take 3 wounds before they’re in real danger of dying. Damage that would cause wounds after that leaves them Incapacitated. An Incapacitated character must make an immediate Vigor roll, applying wound modifiers.
Result Effect
Raise The hero is stunned. He still has 3 wounds, but is
Shaken, not Incapacitated
Success The hero is unconscious for an hour, or until healed.
Failure The victim is Bleeding Out and remains unconscious until healed. He must make another Vigor roll each
round and dies on a modified roll of 1 or less.
SoakinG damaGe
After taking wounds from a single attack, heroes may spend a benny to make a Vigor roll. A success and each raise on the roll reduces the number of wounds suffered from that attack by one. If the hero is left with any wounds from the attack however, he’s still Shaken as usual. (Don’t count the wound modifiers you’re about to suffer when making this roll.)
A character may only make one soak roll per attack. If a soak roll eliminates 3 of 5 wounds, for instance, a hero can’t make another soak roll for the other two wounds. The hero could spend a second benny to reroll the Vigor roll, however. This means that if he suffers multiple hits in the same round, he’ll need to spend bennies and make soak rolls after each hit—before the next one is resolved.
A hero can also spend a benny to automatically remove a Shaken counter, even after he’s attempted to make a Spirit roll to recover naturally.
Mental anguish rules
• Seeing a Mythos creatures (or other unspeakable horror), you must make a successful Spirit roll (TN = 4+Creature modifier) avoid mental anguish damage
• If you fail, the Mythos creature deals its mental anguish damage
o Keeper rolls mental damage roll against TN = your Sanity
o Success = shaken; raise = deals 1 madness point, 2 raises = deals 2 madness, etc. If already shaken (for any reason) take 1 madness instead
o Extras that fail will be panicked (i.e., flee, pass out, go fetal, etc.)
• Rationalization (soak): spend a benny immediately – only one soak attempt per mental anguish hit Smarts roll TN = 4, success removes 1 madness and each raise reduces madness by 1. If you remove all mental anguish, then remove shaken also.
InsanIty
A Wild Card goes Insane when he takes more than three levels of madness (after Rationalizing). Exactly how much madness is irrelevant—anything more than three means Insanity. The exact effects of what happens next are determined by checking the Insanity table.
Each level of madness causes a –1 cumulative penalty to his Pace (minimum of 1) and to all further Trait tests up to a maximum madness penalty of –3.
