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The Last Crusdaders is the Hell on Earth player sourcebook involving the Templars, the post-apocalyptic knight order of the Wasted West. These former Accountants/housewives have taken up a sword and a cause to fight for only those who deserve it. A different spin on your general goody two-shoes. They aint paladins. They're roughs who fight for the little guy ONLY when the little guy shows he deserves it and not a second before!

It begins with a first person perspective of the origins of the Templars written by one of their own. I usually dislike these first person accounts, but I have to say I found this one enjoyable and rich. From it's irreverant tone to an aside on soda pop, it was the enjoyable tale of Simon Mercer and his order. It has a lot of something previously unseen in Deadlands HoE. It's a mildly tragic tale (The origin of the Anti-templars adds a very poignant twinge) and more tragedy is to come. They're a grim, gritty, fun, and tragic bunch.

Then comes new edges and hinderances. The Relic swords are also interesting. But that's not where the fun stuff is. Templars are given opportunity for more power in the form of 'blessings' of martyrs to heroic causes. These martyrs are not the faceless 'entities' that gice others power, they have names, histories, personalities, and can become as much NPC as source of magical power. The Templar can lose blessings of one only to get blessings of another. These martyrs are embidiments of the heroic Grit of America, from streetcop to soldier to nurse to daredevil, the spirits of heroes past really do aid Templars and make for excellent role-playing hooks. Keep an eye out for the greatest RPG celebrity cameo I ever did see.

Then comes a walk on the other side of things. Players are offerred the chance to play Anti-templars. These righteous folks also right wrongs but feel the Templar's 'Tests of worth' are tyrannical and they seek the destruction of Templardom. For some reason these black clad warriors tend to shift towards evil. At first I just thought them essentially schismatic Templars, then a closer look made them something more sinister, and much more fun.

More miracles for all! Can't have a player guide without snacky new powers can you? And I have to say, I liked the new powers, they didn't detract from Templars and yet they weren't just copies of powers of other groups. Subtle, yet effective, righteous and yet understated at the same time, like a fine wine.

The Marshall's guide to Templar secrets holds a lot of teasers for upcoming supplements, but still has some good info, primarily on the Anti-templars. These boys just aint right. Fun, good gaming idea, and wrong in all the right ways. They grew on me.

And it ends with an adventure, a showdown with the lead Dark Templar. It's kind of a stock adventure and the general tone is one which was the only real shortcoming to the book. The HoE people are running a huge plotline and in order to tease the PC's, they have the PC's run the periphery of what's truly important while NPC's are out doing 'important' stuff. It's pretty much stated 'we're only letting you kill Modeen because he's already done the important bit'. It's an odd gripe, but I always want the PC's to be the centers of the story and NPC actions should play second fiddle rather than vice versa.

I mention this because Pinnacle has made this mistake before, particularly in it's Devil's tower adventures which had BOTH the NPC who's job is more important than yours AND a villain the party had to fight to the death but wasn't allowed to kill. Careful ladies and gents of Pinnacle, the PC's gotta feel important.

All in all, a good book. I really will find it an asset for my campaign.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Deadlands HoE: The Last Crusaders
Author: Shane Lacey Hensley Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Line: Deadlands: Hell on Earth Cost: 20$ Page count: 170 ish Capsule Review by Damon Sutton on 05/17/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Horror Post-apocalypse Old_West	The Last Crusdaders is the Hell on Earth player sourcebook involving the Templars, the post-apocalyptic knight order of the Wasted West. These former Accountants/housewives have taken up a sword and a cause to fight for only those who deserve it. A different spin on your general goody two-shoes. They aint paladins. They're roughs who fight for the little guy ONLY when the little guy shows he deserves it and not a second before! It begins with a first person perspective of the origins of the Templars written by one of their own. I usually dislike these first person accounts, but I have to say I found this one enjoyable and rich. From it's irreverant tone to an aside on soda pop, it was the enjoyable tale of Simon Mercer and his order. It has a lot of something previously unseen in Deadlands HoE. It's a mildly tragic tale (The origin of the Anti-templars adds a very poignant twinge) and more tragedy is to come. They're a grim, gritty, fun, and tragic bunch. Then comes new edges and hinderances. The Relic swords are also interesting. But that's not where the fun stuff is. Templars are given opportunity for more power in the form of 'blessings' of martyrs to heroic causes. These martyrs are not the faceless 'entities' that gice others power, they have names, histories, personalities, and can become as much NPC as source of magical power. The Templar can lose blessings of one only to get blessings of another. These martyrs are embidiments of the heroic Grit of America, from streetcop to soldier to nurse to daredevil, the spirits of heroes past really do aid Templars and make for excellent role-playing hooks. Keep an eye out for the greatest RPG celebrity cameo I ever did see. Then comes a walk on the other side of things. Players are offerred the chance to play Anti-templars. These righteous folks also right wrongs but feel the Templar's 'Tests of worth' are tyrannical and they seek the destruction of Templardom. For some reason these black clad warriors tend to shift towards evil. At first I just thought them essentially schismatic Templars, then a closer look made them something more sinister, and much more fun. More miracles for all! Can't have a player guide without snacky new powers can you? And I have to say, I liked the new powers, they didn't detract from Templars and yet they weren't just copies of powers of other groups. Subtle, yet effective, righteous and yet understated at the same time, like a fine wine. The Marshall's guide to Templar secrets holds a lot of teasers for upcoming supplements, but still has some good info, primarily on the Anti-templars. These boys just aint right. Fun, good gaming idea, and wrong in all the right ways. They grew on me. And it ends with an adventure, a showdown with the lead Dark Templar. It's kind of a stock adventure and the general tone is one which was the only real shortcoming to the book. The HoE people are running a huge plotline and in order to tease the PC's, they have the PC's run the periphery of what's truly important while NPC's are out doing 'important' stuff. It's pretty much stated 'we're only letting you kill Modeen because he's already done the important bit'. It's an odd gripe, but I always want the PC's to be the centers of the story and NPC actions should play second fiddle rather than vice versa. I mention this because Pinnacle has made this mistake before, particularly in it's Devil's tower adventures which had BOTH the NPC who's job is more important than yours AND a villain the party had to fight to the death but wasn't allowed to kill. Careful ladies and gents of Pinnacle, the PC's gotta feel important. All in all, a good book. I really will find it an asset for my campaign. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Deadlands HoE: The Last Crusaders