First Preview for Artifacts & Enigmas of World War II

Here's the first preview for Artifacts & Enigmas of World War II. 

-Nate

The Old Salt Mine

Refer to the map above for the following descriptions. The mine stretches for more than one thousand feet from one end to the other, petering out at one end and sealed by rubble at the other end (see below). Railroad tracks run most of that length, down the center of the mine. It is widest in the middle, of course, as indicated by the section inside the dotted lines; there, the ceiling is as high as the space between those lines. Along the sides, branch tunnels—where the miners initially pursued veins of salt—digger deeper into the surrounding mountain.

Machinery (Area A)

Located here is the equipment that makes the mine livable for those who once worked here. First there is a generator, powered by gasoline. Connected to it are other machines, including ventilation fans, a sump pump, and—perhaps most important—the lights. While the generator has not been used for decades, it can be put back in working order with a little bit of effort (Repair). Once that is accomplished, one can also activate the ventilations fans and lights, thus eliminating the dark conditions.

Supplies (Area B)

Various crates, barrels and other containers are stacked up in this area. Some of them are mundane, such as barrels of water; tools, lumber and hardware for assembling the shelving units; and the like. Others contain World War II-era military equipment such as rifles and hand grenades (use the stats for the M1 Garand and Potato Masher from SWADE pages 75 and 78). There are enough explosives to clear the tunnel exit, too; treat these like Anti-Tank Mines from page 79, except that they can be triggered from a distance).

Collapsed Exit (Area C)

At the other end of the mine the track leads into a pile of rubble and debris. This is the actual entrance to the mine, which the conspirators sealed shut after hiding their treasure here. Beyond this the tracks lead out of the tunnel and down the mountainside, back toward the towns from which the heroes made their approach. They have become overgrown with time and lack of attention, but they are still for the most part passable.

The Mural (Area D)

Refer to the section Puzzles, below, for more information about this mural.

People, Plots and Places of the Wild West: Cattle Drive

Now available from DrivethruRPG is "People, Plots and Places of the Wild West: Cattle Drive." 

This six-page PDF uses a variation of the Chase Rules to recreate cattle drives. It includes stats for cowhands, background information, and ten plot hooks, and is intended for use with Wild West settings using the Savage Worlds RPG.

-Nate

People, Plots and Places of the Wild West: Cattle Drive

Con of the North 2026: A Season Finale

For this and the past three years at Con of the North, I've been running scenarios that involve neo-Nazi antagonists. It started with an idea for one scenario that split into two. While I was writing “Infernal Devices” (for 2023), I realized that what the thieves were trying to steal would lead into a whole other scenario, which became “The Dead Man's Tale” (2024). “Crowning Achievement” (2025) stood on its own, and ended in a place that set up a potential showdown. Wanting to venture into new territory in the future, I wrote “The Thule Ultimatum” to resolve that arc. It sees the heroes being brought into the enemy stronghold—but first I needed to capture them.

That didn't go as I'd hoped.

I started with the heroes aboard a boat in the North Sea. Aboard the boat I put goons armed with stun guns, and thought I might be able to zap the heroes into submission. That's not how it worked. In the first session, I rolled Stealth for the villains as they surreptitiously tried to surround the heroes for an ambush. My roll was a Botch! Not surprised in the slightest, the heroes made pretty quick work of the villains. They then drove the boat into the enemy stronghold anyway and bluffed their way into having the evil Dr. Ingo Hartmann come aboard it, where they subdued him and his berserker bodyguard.

In the second session, the heroes still recognized the ambush; I rolled an 11 for Stealth, but so did one of the heroes for Notice. The fight proved to be a good deal tougher, however, and the bad guys had a couple of the heroes down on the ground with their stun guns. The heroes still won out, however. They drove the boat close to the stronghold, donned SCUBA gear, and went into the water. Thus they snuck into the stronghold, managed to steal some uniforms, and then claimed to be guards (Vaughn, Gavin, Jerry and Linh) who'd captured interlopers (Thaddeus and Magdalena).

Both sides found Professor Hall, strapped into a chair and hooked up to an IV, on top of the howe (burial mound) that the neo-Nazis had built as a nexus of evil arcane energy. My idea with that was that the players needed to solve riddles, to help Hall mentally and spiritually overcome three challenges from Norse mythology. The first group did so. In the second session, however, Jerry pulled his pistol and shot one of the guards, opening combat.

I tried to make the fight more challenging this year, since it seemed a little underwhelming in the second session last year. In addition to Dr. Hartmann, an occultist, I included a Wild Card berserker bodyguard name Hans and plenty of goons. I was pleased with how the big fight went in both sessions. The first table played with more of a run-and-gun style after helping Professor Hall solve the riddles. The heroes at the second table locked themselves in the chamber with the howe and fought the main bad guys, and then, as the remaining goons were cutting down the door with fire axes, burst out and made a run for it. Gavin had Dr. Hartmann in a chokehold with a combat baton, forcing the goons to hold their fire. That scene ended with Linh firing a flare into some fuel barrels, triggering a string of explosions, while Gavin broke the evil occultist's neck and dumped him into the water. It was fun!

Allies & Enemies for Treasure Hunter Adventures

Available now from DrivethruRPG is "Allies & Enemies."

This short supplement, for use with Treasure Hunter Adventures and the Savage Worlds RPG, presents two NPCs with stats, plot hooks, and locations related to their activities. #FFFFebruary

-Nate

Allies & Enemies

People, Plots and Places of the Wild West: The Mission

 "The Mission" is now available from DrivethruRPG.com. 

This eight-page scenario, for use with the Savage Worlds RPG, sees the heroes recruited to accompany a band of pilgrims to reopen an old Catholic mission in the Southwest. There is more to the story, however, including evidence of a valuable discovery and a long-concealed murder. 

-Nate

People, Plots and Places of the Wild West: The Mission

2025 in Review

Here's a recap of the year for me in gaming. It has been a little bit quiet, which is okay. 

In 2024, my group and I struggled to find consistent play. We finished up a Star Wars campaign by the spring, and due to a variety of reasons didn't start anything regular in the fall. I did run some Savage Worlds for some of the guys, both Treasure Hunter Adventures and People, Plots and Places of the Wild West. For the most part we played virtually. 

That changed in 2024, when we regained a player and the group decided to start a Freeport campaign using the Pathfinder 1E rules. This gave me a chance to run the "The Ironjack Legacy" scenario from the big Pathfinder Freeport book released back in 2014. That took us all the way to summer break, and in the fall we started Plunder & Peril. Since we play every other week, that module has taken us until the end of 2025, but I have a couple of other scenarios in the queue for next year. 

Over the course of the year I released three one-sheet supplements for Treasure Hunter Adventures: "Ritual Magic," "Pandemonium" and "The Ossuary." This is all material that didn't find a home in other supplements; hopefully it's been useful for people. 

So far I've released a supplement and a short scenario for People, Plots & Places of the Wild West: "Military Fort" and "A Horse Without a Rider." I have one more ready that I plan on releasing before the end of the year, a longer scenario. 

My two biggest writing projects of the year were both for Treasure Hunter Adventures. First there was "Artifacts & Enigmas of the Knights Templar." After focusing on the American Revolution last year, this seemed like a natural follow-up. That disbanded order is so steeped in legends that it was easy to find material. I also added "O.S.S. Report on the Holy Alliance," exploring an organization that I found intriguing. 

Lastly, I released one little Spelljammer scenario for D&D 5E: "Kith and Kin." That had been fermenting in my brain for a while, and I finally finished it on a day when my son was home from school sick. I still haven't picked up the new D&D books from 2024, and don't have much of an impetus for doing so since I'm not playing it right now. Still, I hope one day to run another Spelljammer campaign using Graveyard of the Gods, and I think "Kith and Kin" would be the first scenario for doing that. 

-Nate

Appendix N for People, Plots and Places of the WIld West

This entry will present the books that I've read as research for my People, Plots and Places of the Wild West series. I will try to work through them in order, starting with the ones I read for PDFs released in 2024. 

-Nate

Appendix N for People, Plots and Places of the Wild West

Title: The American West

Author: Dee Brown, with photos edited by Martin F. Schmitt

Publisher and Date: Touchstone, 1994

Overview:

This book is an excellent, thorough overview for the history of European settlement in the American West, from the first fur trappers in the wilderness to the end of what people call the “Old West.” It is, in my opinion, a great place to start reading about the topic, from which other books can fill in details about more specific elements.

Title: The Rivermen

Author: Paul O'Neil

Publisher and Date: Time Life Books, 1975

Overview:

This book focuses on river activity in the Old West, especially steamboats. It was quite helpful when I was writing supporting material for “The Riverboat.” The last chapter tells of the steamer Far West and its race to bring survivors and news from the Battle of the Little Bighorn back to Bismarck, which was a gripping tale.

Title: Fort Robinson and the American West, 1874-1899

Author: Thomas R. Buecker

Publisher and Date: Red River Books/University of Oklahoma Press, 2003

Overview:

This is a good example of a book that focuses on a specific topic. It tells the story of this fort, from the events of its construction, through its role in numerous conflicts with Native people, to a time when it was becoming obsolete. While it could be a bit dry at times, it provided many useful details while I was working on “Military Fort.”

Title: The Soldiers

Author: David Nevin

Publisher and Date: Time Life Books, 1975

Overview:

This is an example of pairing a Time Life Book with another text. Specifically, I read it along with the Fort Robinson book mentioned above. It complimented that book well, providing a solid overview of life in the frontier Army, especially while the soldiers were on trail.