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The Book Itself
Dogs of Hades is a 160 paged full color hardcover. The cover depicts two Greek nobles in the foreground and an Athenian warrior with spear and shield in the background. The art ranges from some pretty odd looking pieces to some really well done works.
Chapter Breakdown
For Players (Pages 3-51)
Dogs of Hades’ main setting location is the Garden of Athena, or Athens. A planet amongst several that is very Earth-like and contains the majority of the Athenians in population. The Athenians worship the Greek pantheon of Gods, and their technology comes directly from the Gods themselves. For many years the Athenians thought they were the only power. Then as they expanded further into space they found lots of other planets inhabited. These barbarians were assimilated into or ruled by Athenian culture. The Athenians were the only ones with power until they came across the Sakalids. The Sakalids were a complete opposite to the Athenians. The Sakalids knew only war and had completely loyal unity amongst themselves. The Athenians and Sakalids went to war and after several years forged an uneasy cease fire, and have divided the known worlds between them.
Dogs of Hades gives additional rules for Savage Worlds to emulate the setting. New edges and such allow for characters to be made that fit several archetypes seen in the realm. Hoplite warriors, Logician advisors, slaves, barbarians, and diplomats are just a few of the types of PCs one can make for Dogs of Hades. Logicians are one of the more interesting types of character. They are basically mentats from Dune. Logicians (mentats) are basically humans whose brains function closer to computers than the usual emotional state. Logicians are the only ones in the setting who know the skill of Astro-Navigation which allows space travel. Along with several new Edges and Hindrances there are several that are specific to Logicians.
There are several modifications to the basic SW rules to add more flavor to the setting. For instance, several physical hindrances such as one leg or one arm have an added negative to the hindrance of -1 to Charisma. The explanation for this is that Athenians see the body as a temple and a representation of their link with the Gods. Another interesting trait is Hubris. Hubris is a minor hindrance that can only be taken if the PC has Luck or Great Luck. Athenians believe everyone has an equal amount of good and bad luck. Hubris makes the player draw a card at the end of each game, if it is lower than the number of karma he or she spent, they immediately gain the Hindrance of Nemesis. This Nemesis hindrance means the character has drawn the attention of a Nemesis and suffers the negatives of the “Wrath of the Gods.” There are also rules for formation fighting. Greek-like formations with shield and spear such as shield walls are in these rules.
The Athenians are very strong in their faith in the Gods. Dogs of Hades supports this idea with rules for Divine Aid. Each God can be called upon for aid in a specific form related to their domain. However, there are consequences for those who do not show their worship for the Gods or do not hold up their end of the bargain. The Dogs of Hades setting is rather primitive when it comes to science fiction. Starships are just for travel; space is more like crossing the ocean in a swashbuckling setting, than an infinite expanse of unknown like Star Trek. Virtually all higher technology are gifts from the Gods not inventions of the Athenians. Helios has given them solar power cells, Zeus has given them energy lances, and Athena gives them the Aegis shields. The setting is very much ancient Greece with this types of things tacked onto it, instead of any natural progression.
For GMs (Pages 52-160)
Warning: possible Spoilers.
The GM section begins by telling you the “secret history” to the setting. Apparently there was a huge war called the Pulse War. The Pulse War is described as humans completely and utterly destroying themselves with technology. Towards the end of the war a scientist decided to save some of humanity by filling a generation ship and launching it into space. Those in charge engineered the colony which went to a terra-formed planet (Athens) to be like Greek society of history. Those in charge were known as Formers, some broke away and became known as Deepers. They eventually went into a large war with each other also and one of the Formers decided to give the Athenians Crystal Drives to travel space. It was the Former’s attempt at allowing humanity to survive. However the Formers drove off the Deepers. Worried that the other Formers would be mad for him helping the humans, he talked the rest of the Formers into splitting up and surveying out other areas of the universe.
Apparently the actual Greek Gods watched all of this from afar and when the time was right actually stepped in with their new followers easy as pie. Dogs of Hades has plenty of the mythological aspects of ancient Greece too. Monsters were created by the Gods, or the Formers put mysterious beings on the planet. Some magic is here and there as well.
The book finishes with a Plot Point style adventure that is in nine parts and twenty Savage Tales that can be used to fill in the gaps between or used on their own. The adventures are around the same as the core book. They run the PCs through several ranks of power, and consist of some epic levels of heroism and our generally good about not causing a GM to railroad the players. Each adventure comes with write-ups for every figure encountered. The book finishes with several maps of the planets and Athens. These maps are nice looking, but a lot of the land is void of any markings. I do find myself wishing that the adventures showed more of the dimension and time crossing of the Suzerain core setting. To me the appeal of Suzerain is the kitchen sink aspect mixed with its delicious advice for dimensional and temporal travel. So in my opinion I want to see this aspect crammed into all of the realm books.
Overall
Dogs of Hades is not my type of setting, but I am sure it is for many. The setting is very interesting and there is a lot of potential. If you like Dune, want a Dune like world, but with Greek trappings it is perfect. The book stands up to the same standards as the core book. It really comes across as Greek Dune. I believe this is a good beginning for Savage Suzerain‘s Realm books and I look forward to seeing many more. Even though the setting is not my cup of cake, it is an interesting setting that is just one of the many possibilities in the dimensional hopping Suzerain setting. As I stated previously I wish that it incorporated the kitchen sink, dimensional hopping aspect of Suzerain more into this book. I can appreciate wanting each realm book to cover its own, but I truly feel Suzerain’s selling point is the promised hodge-podgery of future realm books all ready to be combined into the Suzerain setting. Sure a GM can add all of this on their own with little to no effort; I would just like to see it more built in and understood throughout the products. Still I believe it is a good sign of things to come for Suzerain. If they put out many more settings using the same formula it would still be worth the price even without my wants.
Ratings
Style is getting a 4. The full color art has some odd pieces, but for the most part it is excellent. The layout is easy to read and sticks to the core style. The books being split into two basic “chapters” of Player’s and GM’s section is nice. The art of the setting has a 300 in space feel.
Substance is getting a 4. The game adds even more to the Savage Worlds rules. The setting is interesting and everything needed to run an awesome game of Greek Dune is there. The “secret history” feels a little cheesy at points sounding Synnibarr-ish, and I wish the book linked the setting to some more grand “over-setting” of Suzerain. Still it is a well done setting as a whole.
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