Arbor Productions & Battlefield Press

rbor Productions die bisher als Lizenznehmer von Mutants & Masterminds auf sich aufmerksam machten werden ab diesem Jahr das Rollenspiel Savage Worlds unterstützen. Bisher sind 3 Settingbände geplant. Zum einen Dawn of Legends dann Hardboiled und zu guter letzt War of the Dead. In der Mitteilung von Peginc dem Lizenzvergeber heißt es:

We like to occasionally shine the spotlight on some of our licensees. This is the first of a more in-depth look at who these companies are and what they’re doing.

Arbor Productions is a publishing company based in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in role-playing games, interactive media and bringing the RPG experience to families and the next generation. Our staff is an interesting group of people who all share the same goal: producing fun and unique games that push the envelope of RPGs as we know them.

Previously known for the Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting under the Mutants & Masterminds “Superlink” license, Arbor Productions made the move to the Savage Worlds family in the summer of 2008. Now, in 2009, Arbor will be unveiling two of its three settings in print for the Savage Worlds system as well as print and PDF supplements. We begin with Dawn of Legends and then celebrate GenCon with Hardboiled. The third setting, War of the Dead, should see release in the final quarter of 2009/first quarter of 2010.

Dawn of Legends is our flagship release. Set to hit store shelves in late Spring/early Summer, DoL brings effect-based, Four Color comic book action to Savage Worlds. Utilizing an all-new effect-based powers system, DoL allows gamers to do all the amazing things seen in comics. Packed into the book is the detailed setting of Neo Earth, tips on creating a comic book saga, a Heroic Path to help you flesh out your character’s background, rules for making a Super Team, new uses for bennies, new edges and hindrances and over 100 powers plus the rules to create even more. Once DoL releases, support material will immediately be available on the Arbor Productions website. GM Screen inserts, One-Sheet adventures, adventure cards, props and a series of Plot Point Campaigns… all for free. Better unpack your cape and mask… the Dawn is coming.

Following Dawn of Legends will be its first supplement, Inside Solitaire. Ever wondered what lay behind the walls of the only Maximum Security Prison facility for super-humans in the United States? You’ll find out inside the pages of Inside Solitaire. A roster of over 60 villains, new Edges and Hindrances, rules for playing villains and creating villain teams plus the new Infamy rules all await you behind Solitaire’s walls.

Hardboiled takes the Film Noir genre and turns it on its ear by adding in the dark embrace of the supernatural. Set to debut at GenCon 2009, Hardboiled allows gamers the chance to take a step into the darkness by playing Patchwork Men, Succubi/Incubi, Vampires and Werewolves. But that’s not all, magic exists and everyone is touched by it. Most can manage to turn on a light from across the room or light a cigarette with their finger, but only the confident (or the insane) do more than dabble in sorcery. True sorcery is powered by souls so you’ll need to ask yourself: are you ready to sacrifice your fellow man?

In this hard bitten world, death is always right around the corner (sometimes literally). Death isn’t necessarily the end, though. When Death comes calling and says that your number is up, fate may sneer in your direction. Humans have a Lucky Number. If that number comes up when you die, you’re coming back from the grave… but not quite like you were.

Inside the pages of Hardboiled, you’ll find the lowdown on the city of Dashell, new edges and hindrances, rules for Soul Sorcery, tips on creating the Noir feel and our new benny mechanic: Slipping a Mickey. Life is hard and the streets are mean, are you ready? All of the same support we have for Dawn of Legends will be given to Hardboiled as well.

Prior to Hardboiled being released, Arbor will be releasing an adventure anthology for Hardboiled called Harsh Tales. Using pregenerated characters from our website, gamers will have four 8-page adventures to tackle, some Dirty Secrets (Hardboiled One-sheets) and a Harsh Tale generator. Get a taste of the hard life with Harsh Tales on PDF in February.

Harsh Tales II: Death and Betrayal will be our first print supplement for Hardboiled. Making use of video media, players will be able to view the very person whose murder they are trying to solve. In the vein of movies like 8mm and Black Dahlia, Death and Betrayal will push the interactive element of gaming to a new level.

And that’s not all! Arbor Productions is proud to announce the Families Who Game program. The goal of the program is to use role-playing games as a method for both bringing families closer and as an educational tool for kids of all ages. From social interaction to mathematics, problem solving to lessons of morality, role-playing games can be a teaching tool for them all. Families Who Game is not just an educational program, but a fun program to bring more interest to our hobby.

With the aid of our Dawn of Legends superhero setting, the Families Who Game program helps get kids away from the TV and involved with their families at the gaming table. Kids are invited to our booth at any Con that we attend to create a Dawn of Legends character of their very own and then use that character in an adventure ran by us later in the day. While making a character and playing the game, kids will be using mathematics skills and the game itself provides social interaction, problem solving and poses the question of right and wrong. The great thing is, they have a great time and do not even realize that they are learning!

Beyond that, there’s the Daring Kids Club- an email newsletter that kids can sign up for to receive monthly hero reports, including character bios, heroic tales, character art for coloring and nifty props for “fighting crime”. All that superhero fun, and it’s free! This is just the beginning for Families Who Game. We have much more in store like a series of Young Adult novels and coloring and educational books featuring heroes from Dawn of Legends. There’s more, but we have to have some secrets.

Arbor Productions is: Lee Szczepanik Jr. (President and politician in another life), Mike Dukes (Vice President: Creative Director and masked vigilante), Anna Lunsford (Vice President: Director of Operations and Gang Ring Leader) and John Polojac (Assistant Line Developer and Neo guru).

Dann reihen sich noch Battlefield Press in die Schlange der Lizenznehmer zum Rollenspiel ein. Mit Sherwood – The Legend of Robin Hood will der Verlag weniger magiebehaftetes dafür mehr heroisches, säbelrasselndes Rollenspiel ermöglichen.
Dazu heißt es:

Battlefield Press presents the long awaited campaign setting Sherwood: The Legend of Robin Hood for Savage Worlds

Welcome to Sherwood Forest, a place of myth and legend. In this exciting campaign setting written by Wil Upchurch and Marc Gacy, you will find everything you need for your Robin Hood Savage Worlds campaign setting. This book includes:

• Weapons and armor from the time
• New Edges and Arcane Backgrounds
• Gazetteer covering Robin Hood’s England
• Characters from Robin Hood Legends
• Feats of derring-do and archery contests
• Mythic beasts and faeries

This book is a campaign setting designed to be used with the Savage Worlds Core Rulebook.

Links:

• Arbor Produktions
• Battlefield-Press