Hello! This is (hopefully) the first part of the development log for the next version of Street Wolves. I’m hoping to share my journey with you and give you a glimpse into the world of an indie ttrpg designer as he (me) attempts a really big honking project.
The Savage Worlds Wall
While I love running and making stuff for Street Wolves: Turbo Edition and it’s my pride and joy, one thing became immediatly apparent after it’s initial success: it’s hard to get people into it, because it’s a Savage Worlds setting.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of people who play Savage Worlds and they were interested from the get go. And I’ve been able to convert people to Savage Worlds in order to play it, but it’s an uphill battle bringing it to a convention. You can see the interest dissipate in someone’s eyes when I get to the part of the Street Wolves pitch where I say, “And it’s a Savage Worlds setting that requires their core rules,” or something along those lines.
A lot of folks don’t want to buy two books for one game, especially if it’s an impluse purchase at a convention. If you get both Street Wolves and Savage Worlds in hardcover that’s 80 bucks. Of course, I try to counter this with: you can get the Savage Worlds core rules in pdf for only 10 bucks if you don’t need it in hardcover (so only $50 total). And also, you’re not just buying two books to play one game, it’s a gateway to playing other great settings. Now this works for some people, but not for a lot of others.
There’s also the matter of having my wagon hitched entirely on someone else’s business. I really would like to diversify and have a more indepentent option, especially since some recent events caused a reasonable stir in the ttrpg community.
The Alternate Street Wolves
I’ve been wanting to do a stand alone version of Street Wolves for some time. One that included the core rules along with all the other fun stuff that makes the setting great.
I’ve been looking at various SRD (system reference documents) that are free and allow you to use pre-made mechanics. I’m not a mechanics guy and I’d rather not reinvent the wheel. If something works thematically for what I want it to do and I can use it, I am going that route.
Now before we get much further, one of my main goals with this new version of Street Wolves is that it isn’t a replacement for the Savage Worlds version. I want it to be an alternative option. Much like Pathfinder exists as it’s own thing alongside Savage Worlds Pathfinder… I just happen to be doing it in the reverse order.
My idea for the new Street Wolves would be a version that is a bit less crunchy than Savage Worlds and also thematically be a bit darker, grittier, and less heroic than they are right now. I really like the idea of having two experiences of Street Wolves to choose from rather than it being simply a choice between systems.
Year Zero to the Rescue?
While looking around at mechanical options for the alternate Street Wolves, I stumbled upon the Year Zero engine and it looks promising. The mechanics are awesome. They’re light but not *too* light and a lot of bits and pieces lend themselves well to what I’m trying to accomplish with Street Wolves.
If you’re not familar with Year Zero it’s used in a lot of Free League’s games including Alien, Blade Runner, and Vaesen. The thing about the way they use the system is that there are heavy modifications for its different flavors. That’s great though, because to me that means it can be molded to fit a theme.
The other reason why Year Zero seems like a good fit is that Titan Effect is already going this route. Titan Effect is a popular third party Savage Worlds setting that is a bit like Metal Gear Solid. The creator, Christian Nommay, began work on his conversion some time ago and he’s put out a quick start. At 90 pages, it’s a pretty hefty quick start! Reading through it again strengthens my resolve that Year Zero could very much be a great direction for Street Wolves.
As far as Free League’s games go, I’ve read a bit of Blade Runner and Alien, but really gets my mind turning is The Electric State. It has a different, darker take than Street Wolves, but it does dip into nostalgia like Street Wolves (the 1990s instead of the 1980s) and has mechanics I think would work or at least be a good base, primarily their Hope and Tension rules that I could see playing out like on a cop show or neo-noir film.
The Next Steps:
This is all well and good, but I haven’t run any Year Zero games! I might actually hate it when I get it to the table. So the the logical next step is to actually run some games using the system to make sure I like it. Right now I’m planning on running The Electric State and Titan Effect as a test. After that, I’ll figure out the next step.
That’s all for now…
I’ve got a lot on my plate with having to spin up fulfillment of Dead Hand to getting Monster Truckers printed and out the door. Plus, I have a solo game I’d like to make before diving fully into a new version of Street Wolves.
Still, I’m going to keep plugging away at it in between stuff. Will Year Zero hold up for me in playtesting? Or will I have to find a new mechanical home? Stay tuned!