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The Action Deck is a not-so-standard set of 54 poker cards for use with the Savage Worlds roleplaying game by Great White Games (www.peginc.com).
The cards are of the same thickness and materials as the poker decks we are all familiar with, but rather than being 63mm wide and 88mm tall, the cards in the Action Deck are 88mm wide and 120mm tall. In other words, they're almost the size of two standard poker cards placed side by side. This gives the cards a nice meaty feel and while they felt different when shuffling, my less than oversized hands had no problems getting the job done.
The deck comes in a sturdy box of heavier stock than the standard poker deck, but the box is oversized for the cards. Within the box is a clear plastic tray, that the cards rest in, to fill the void. I must say I'm rather mystified by the dimensions of the box. It's too big for two standard sized poker decks and not big enough for two oversized action decks. For storage purposes then, the Action Deck will have to use the tray to keep the cards from sliding around in the box, or one could simply use a rubber band and forego the box entirely.
The back of each card depicts a startling, and perfectly creepy, closeup of Smilin' Jack the undead jester as well as the Savage Worlds title. The face of each card bears a resemblance to the back cover of the main Savage Worlds book. That is, the background has a heavy canvas texture, the color of aged papyrus, and the border is a blue star-chart-looking design. The numbered cards (2-10) are then completed in the usual way: with the appropriate number of symbols arranged in a familiar fashion on the card and with the corresponding number and suit symbol in the upper left and lower right corners. The artwork that completes the face cards is themed according to suit: spades are fantasy, hearts are pulp, diamonds are science fiction, and clubs are horror. Each has it's own unique piece of art drawn by Cheyenne Wright and colored by Zeke Sparkes so none of the jacks are the same, none of the kings are the same, and so on. Of the 18 face cards, 10 of them feature art that can be found either on the covers of the main book or as a facing page for one of the chapters. All of them are extraordinarily well done in both color and detail. The two jokers feature full body depictions of Smilin' Jack himself. One of these has Jack surrounded by fluttering Action Deck cards and you can actually see the artwork depicted on each fluttering card. The other joker features Smilin' Jack with two pistols standing in a Jack-in-the-box loaded with fireworks. Deadlands fans will note that the second card is a little darker, but otherwise there's really nothing that might mark either joker as red or black.
In play the Action Deck is hands down superior to a standard deck in that it's easier to see the cards, they're much more colorful and more fun.
The real question is whether the deck is worth the $20 price tag. If you're not playing a lot of Savage Worlds, or collecting unusual poker decks, then probably not. The cards are akin to a GM screen or Savage Worlds Bennies - you *can* play without them, but once integrated into the game session they're just so cool it wouldn't be Savage Worlds without 'em.
