Holy crap. It’s been a long time since I posted anything about Savage Worlds but this one is worth it. I’ve been keeping my eye it since the guys at Reality Blurs have been talking about it and have waited anxiously for it.
I have to admit that this game takes advantage of all of my weaknesses. First, it’s for Savage Worlds. Second, it covers two of my favorite RPG genres (Spies and Supernatural) and throws them into the martini shaker for damned near the perfect cocktail (see I’m even using their tag line).
The core background fluff is that characters are Agents of Oblivion, hence the title. Basically, you belong to a super secret spy organization fighting all the nasty creepy crawlers in the world. That’s the basic premise. The good news is that it takes sort of the tool kit approach to setting and give plenty of advice for GM’s to create the kind of campaign they want. Anything from bring Realms of Cthulhu and playing a Delta Green style campaign, to alien and terrestrial conspiracies, normal monster hunting or just plain mundane spies. There’s also advice on setting the feel of your campaign from cinematic to gritty. As I read through the book, my mind started to put together a weird that would end up being like a cross between Dresden Files and Burn Notice.
On the crunch side, Agents of Oblivion adds some really nice stuff. It has setting specific Edges, Hindrances and Skills that tweak Savage Worlds for the setting and genre. There’s a couple of things that I found were really neat. The Single Use Devices or SUD’s. This is basically your system for all those nifty spy gadgets that we idolized when we were kids. Then there’s there’s the Resource Point system. Because spies don’t pay for their own equipment and such. This can grant characters temporary Edges, gear and Perks. As a GM, I would have a feeling of both dread and amazement upon hearing a player utter the words, “I call in an air strike.”
Now there are a couple things I’m not crazy about but they are things that are easily ignored or fixed. First, some of the equipment is just too much like cyberwear for me. Yes, I know it’s bleeding edge but in my mind there’s this divide between cyberpunk and classic spies. It’s sort of like how some folks hate black powder weapons in their fantasy games. It’s like that. So no real biggie. Also there’s isn’t much of bestiary in the core book (but one is on the way!). There is a system for generating nasties as well as plenty of other Savage Worlds sources to get your things that go bump in the night. So once again, something minor that is easily fixed.
While I’m ranting on Agents of Oblivion, I might as well throw out my wish list. I’d really like to see a supplement that deals with making more supernaturally based player characters something with sort of Hellboy feel to it.
Overall, Agents of Oblivion is a solid Savage Worlds setting. There’s plenty of little things to plug into other games and the setting is flexible enough you can bring stuff from your other sources (like Realms of Cthulhu or the Horror Toolkits). Well worth the $10.
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