About
Nutshell
Retribution is a supernatural fantasy setting for Savage Worlds, requiring a copy of any edition of the Savage Worlds rulebook. With some patience and creativity, it can be converted to other systems.
Key Points of Interest
- PCs can be any of the six primary races (human, elf, dwarf, orc, gnome, half-folk) or hybrids of them.
- If a PC dies, there is a chance she will be transformed into a playable ghost (spirit).
- Besides the general fighter, cleric, magic-user, and other, familiar character types, Retribution offers Edges and Hindrances to create specialized characters such as unjailers who work to free entities who have been bound to this plane unwillingly, necromancers who study mastery of the dead, exomancers who have the power to work with extraplaner beings, and others that add to the Retribution experience.
- Necromancy is more than just animating skeletons or raising the dead as zombies, covering also medium arts, binding spirits, and working with other aspects of death.
- Exomancy is much like necromancy, but applies only to those who come from beyond the mortal realm.
Play Possibilities
Venture across the sea from the original homelands to Agador to escape a troubled past; seek to restore your ancestral village, leading to any number of options; portray a group of ghost hunters who want to banish any who don’t belong; assemble a group to search for relics of bygone days; work the trade routes, protecting merchants and finding adventure; be part of the burgeoning Agador Guard, who keep out pirates, or at least keep them under control; quest to release trapped spirits or try extra-planer entities who mean harm; or become part of the new political structure satisfying your own interest in power.
Retribution Setting Summary
The Great Betrayal – the civil war of Agador – led to the sundering of the veil between the physical realm and many others. Play in a world where the planes of existence have leaked into Agador, introducing ghosts set upon retribution for their deaths, allowing entry of previously unknown entities, and upsetting the natural order of the land.
Many are dead-set on wreaking havoc or have other mysterious agendas. However, not all are hostile. Some seek unjailers who can send them back to the planes from which the magical attacks and malicious intent pulled them. Others wish to explore what is here. There are those who are trapped by necromancy or exomancy. A few see themselves as new guardians of Agador.
This is a land of opportunity and peril. A place where the natural and supernatural collide. The Great Betrayal nearly destroyed all who inhabited it, but survivors and questors choose not to let it die. Join the ranks of descendants who are determined to restore order and bring renewed prominence to the island nation. Come to Agador to prove your strength and test your mettle. Break the cycle of Retribution.
Backstory
More than a hundred years ago, elvish explorers discovered an undeveloped island. They set up camps and cataloged their discoveries. Word spread across the other lands. Intrigued, many sailed to new lives. For decades, the fledgling island nation grew in peace, with small settlements taking hold near the shores and in the wilds in between.
Side by side, all manner of people worked the land: its fields, stones, and trees. Some sought more than they had. Whispered half-truths spread from small town to port city and all assemblies in between, sparking unrest. One by one, allies turned upon each other, seeing foes where friends had stood.
Fighting broke out. Families were divided. Civil war consumed the nation. Just as the violence reached its apex, some who’d been searching for answers – suspecting Agador had been sucked into a manufactured crisis – found proof of their hypothesis. It was too late.
Each side had ramped up all manner of fighting, engaging the deadliest of magical attacks and counterattacks that any had ever seen. Alas, in a fearsome display of power, the fighters of Agador did something none knew was possible and was not at all intended: they tore into the veil between the physical world and that of the dead. The recently departed flooded back into the mortal realm. The chaos did not stop there. The act reverberated across planes, allowing creatures beyond their imaginations to cross into their world.
In the span of just a few minutes, the civil war – The Great Betrayal – ended and a new, much more desperate one began.
And Now
It’s been 50 years since the war ended and Agador united to defend itself against those who don’t belong. While many of the unearthly beings have been dispelled, banished, or otherwise stopped from occupying the physical world, the fabric holding the planes apart has never completely healed.
Several leaders are attempting to rebuild Agador, returning it to the splendor and purpose it achieved before The Great Betrayal. They’ve reached out to the faraway homelands inviting adventurers, merchants, and anyone else who will come in peace. They’ve rallied descendants of the first settlers, as well, hoping to harness their ambition as heirs of lost settlements. It is up to those who accept the challenge to quell the ongoing quest for retribution while aiding in the reformation of the once-proud nation.
Designers
Retribution is the product of Vickey A. and Robert (Bob) L. Beaver, longtime roleplayers and Obatron Productions co-owners.
Bob co-wrote Tunse'al Setting Guide and related products, has contributed to Savage Insider, and has playtested for various companies, including Savage Mojo and Greymalkin Designs. He GMs on a regular basis.
Vickey is the other writer on all Tunse'al products, the Editor-in-Chief for Savage Insider, co-writer on Caladon Falls (Savage Worlds, published by Savage Mojo), writer of "Swords of Catthulhu" (found in Worlds of Catthulhu), and writer of the Mimicling and Treant Sapling entries in Baby Bestiary, which sold out promptly after Wil Wheaton mentioned it at Gen Con 2015.
She has also edited, proofread, or playtested for Savage Mojo, Cumberland Games, and Greymalkin Designs. She GMs at conventions, stores, and special events, hosts RPG-related seminars, and is a G*M*S Magazine co-host for the RPG podcast.
How We'll Use Funding
Funding pays writers, editors, layout designers, illustrators, and external vendors such as printers, Kickstarter, and USPS. Although shipping is listed separately, it counts toward the funding goal, so what you see raised includes that and any add-ons.
Add-Ons
To allow for some customization of your perks and to prevent having even more reward tiers to read through, we've got some add-ons. More will be added if we hit certain stretch goals. If you see add-ons you want, simply increase your pledge by that amount. Additional shipping may be required, which we'll determine before the end of the Kickstarter so you know how much to adjust your pledge. Hopefully, we'll have an automated tool in place by then, but just in case, you should keep track of what you want so when the time comes, you'll know what you had in mind. Please note, many add-ons are included in our upper-level rewards.
DIY Minis PDF (minis of all six primary races, plus characters to match) - $4
Diaries of Agador PDF (fiction from the point of view of canon characters across time) - $5
GM Screen PDF (inserts for 8 1/2" x 11" screens) - $5
GM Screen Print (9 x 18 game board bi-fold) - $15
Agador Map Board (10 x 10) - $12
Extra Copy of Retribution Quick Starts and Side Treks Print (20-page volume excerpting key parts of setting guide to get world flavor and jump-start playing via quick start segments and adventure seeds for side treks) - $8
Extra Copy of Retribution Setting Guide Soft Cover Print (MSRP $25) - $20
Autumn Online Game (4 hrs via Roll20, max five players), Limit 4 (verify availability before pledging) - $40
Winter Online Game (4 hrs via Roll20, max five players), Limit 6 (verify availability before pledging) - $40
Legacy Playtest Kit (See Adventurer Legacy pledge tier for Legacy Playtest Kit description) - $25
Upgrade to Hard Cover (Inheritance or above, charge per upgraded book) - $35
Upgrade to Faux Leather (Inheritance or above, charge per upgraded book) - $50
Shipping for Stretch Goals/Add-ons - Varies depending upon exact selections, but ranges from moderate for US to it's-not-our-fault-crazy-expensive-are-you-sure-you-really-want-print for outside US. To minimize shipping headaches on our end, all shipping will be via flat rate post. Those outside the US are responsible for whatever customs charges are applicable upon receipt.
Stretch Goals
We have them! Do you want them? Alrighty! We'll at least give you some ideas. As the project gets underway, we'll add some snazzy graphics to relay them, but we'll start here. We have stretch goals for amounts of money raised, Legacy rewards being claimed, and social media buzz.
Money Raised - Unlocked goals result in add-ons available for purchase, more illustrations, additional pages, and more.
Legacy Rewards- When enough Legacy rewards are claimed, characters created through the Legacy Playtest will be gathered into Retribution: Legacy, a compendium of characters for use as NPCs and PCs. The more that are claimed, the more that happens.
Social Media Buzz - Campaigns are fueled by word of mouth. The more people who see it, the better the chance it has of success. The more we see this campaign talked about in forums, shared via Facebook, tweeted about, and otherwise tagged, the more we will throw in goodies for all backers, regardless of pledge level. Privacy settings may prevent us from knowing all Facebook shares and posts, but links posted in Comments and tagging Obatron Productions can help! One-shots, adventure seeds, fiction, and even issues of Savage Insider can be unlocked here. Back the project and spread the word with the hashtag #RetributionRPG to help unlock our Social Media Buzz stretch goals.
Special Thanks
Thanks to the many people who played Retribution games over the last two years! Your feedback helped us get to where we are.
It is with great appreciation we acknowledge Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate for allowing us the use of "Dark Legacy" from The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates. Follow the link for more information about that and other CDs, many of which would work extremely well as background music as you play Retribution.
Risks and challenges
Obatron Productions has previously produced its debut RPG setting, Tunse’al (funded via Kickstarter), and multiple issues of Savage Insider, which is like an RPG book in many ways. We already have established writers, editors, illustrators, layout designers, and playtesters at our disposal.
The single biggest risk to the project is a personal tragedy, which is unlikely, but – in the real world – possible. If something horrible should befall one or both co-owners, the project could fail to come to fruition.
The next biggest and much less tragic risk is delay. Sometimes, despite our most valiant efforts to the contrary, circumstances beyond our control disrupt our schedules. We have estimated delivery times in good faith, but a delay in any part of the production chain can create a domino effect that pushes out other parts of the schedule. Something being one day late, can easily mean something else will then be four days late.
In the event that there is a delay, we will keep this project updated.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterSupport
Funding period
- (34 days)