Howdy folks. I’ve received a few emails and had several posts on our forums from various gaming friends that were shocked to discover that we at little ol’ 12 to Midnight were able to get Shane Hensley to allow us to produce Last Rites for Savage Worlds. Heck, I was shocked! I’m gonna give ya’ll some inside information about us here at 12 to Midnight, and I hope you find it interesting.
The d20 OGL opened the door to anyone that had an idea and wanted to “work†in the gaming industry. I think most gamers at some time or other have said, “I can do that!†Well, we were no different. We developed a plan, set up the business, determined the hows, whens, and whys and jumped headfirst into the flaming cauldron of the gaming industry. We wanted an interactive website with active forums, cool links for GMs, and wanted to build a community of like-minded gamers. We wanted to produce quality products with lots of bells and whistles. I‘ve always believed that if you support your customers, they will support you. After spending many hours in developing Last Rites for d20 Modern, we spent many more editing, doing the layouts, and deciding on art and presentation, we thought we had a “quality†product. I had checked out Rpgnow.com and (my opinion) about 65% of what I saw there was not “quality.†We wanted to be different. Everyone involved in our endeavor recognized this was a “fun†second job, and none of us had any plans to quit our day jobs. Good thing too, as we were shortly to learn.
We released back in early August and were surprised when nothing happened…I mean for hours there were no sales. Nothing…not one! Hmmm, did we do something wrong? We had the coolest cover art, we had press releases, but not one sale. Finally, someone in Italy bought a copy. Whoo Howdy Frickin Hooo! We were in business, not much of one, but were there. It developed slowly and sales in August and September were steady…slow, but steady. Some good things did happen along the way however. Several industry pros bought copies and gave us good feedback. Not only the kudos, but also real editing feedback. We want to look professional and have quality products.
Then, Shane Hensley emailed us. He had bought a copy of LR and really liked it. He stated that he believed the fans and supporters of his game, Savage Worlds ™, should have the opportunity to play in it and asked about converting LR from d20 Modern to Savage Worlds. Wow. I was floored! As a fanboy, I’d played Deadlands and had watched as Pinnacle really became a force in the gaming industry over the last few years. Honestly, I had seen Savage Worlds, but hadn’t bought it or read it. My gaming group has historically been D&Ders, from 1st to 3rd editions, and despite playing everything else along the way (Cyberpunk, White Wolf, Wheel of Time, Fading Suns, Traveler, CORPS, Palladium, etc), we just had not been that interested in prolonged gaming with any other system. Man, were we wrong!
Shane personally converted LR to the Savage Worlds system, and after a week of reworking the layouts of the game, we put it up for sale early Friday morning (Texas Time). It began selling…alot. Not Monte Cook level, or The Game Mechanics level, but way better than we had ever done. Honestly, we have had more sales the first weekend of Last Rites for Savage Worlds than we had for Last Rites d20 from August to October! Thanks folks! It is appreciated more than you know!
Well, back to my journey. I have spent the past two weeks pouring over the Savage Worlds forums, yahoo group, and rulebook. I’m blown away. It truly is Fast, Fun, and Furious. The open-ended Ace rolls, the quick character creation, the ease of combat, and the lack of serious accounting I’ve gotten used to with the d20 system make it a great game! I admit it. I’m a convert. In fact, I’m planning on running the Ever Night campaign with Lance and company.
Does this mean I’m finished with d20 Modern? No. Of course not. Old habits die hard, and don’t forget that the d20 OGL allows us to be in the industry. Shane granted us a one-time license for Last Rites. We can only publish our adventures for Savage Worlds if Shane allows us to. Believe me, as long as he is willing to allow us to, we will. Of course from his end, he will want to be certain that our future offerings are “quality,†as he (rightfully) does not want to allow sub par products to be associated with the great game he has created.
So, if you have read this entire rant, I challenge you to pick up a copy of Savage Worlds. It is well worth the look. We are now hard at work on Weekend Warriors, and I have just finished our new tournament adventure, Innana’s Kiss. Who knows? If Shane sees ‘em and likes ‘em, they may be future releases for Savage Worlds. They are definitely good d20 Modern ones.
Finally, I just wanted to say to all the great SW and d20 fans that have bought Last Rites, …thanks! I hope we offered something worthwhile to your homegames. Let us know how it went. We plan on being around awhile, so stick around for the journey. I promise a “Horrific†time for all!
