This is a well-constructed Savage Worlds setting. The new edges, hindrances, and character backgrounds are really inventive. I can't wait to run it in the new year. I also can't wait for the upcoming adventures and supplemental material.

I found this not only entertaining but packed full of the information required to get involved in the game, and formatted for easy transferring to the Fantasy Grounds tabletop I use. Very little wasted space in repetition, I am excited about trying out this setting. This is the first time I have encountered a game involving time travel to this extent and the mechanics are clearly spelled out.

I've been playing in this setting for about a year now, and I love it. My friends and I have great fun. As with all things Savage, its Fast Furious Fun. We can concentrate on the action and the story, and not on the minutia of rules.

And you can have dungeon crawls or wilderness exploration or city based intrigue. You could be fighting giant scorpions in the ruined desert temple one session. Facing off against a black wizards' lackeys in the bowels of his dark lair. Or contend with the cut-throat deals in the back alleys of a large city.

This is a great buy for the price. The setting has a colorful Miami-Vice-meets-Indiana-Jones vibe to it, with room for an X-Files episode here and there. If it were a video game it would be called "Grand Theft Auto: Tropicana". I give this setting book four out of five stars. Let's start with the weaknesses then get to what's good about Tropicana.

I'm not giving Tropicana five stars because it's missing some elements that one expects in a fully-fleshed out Savage Worlds setting. I hasten to add, however, that if the authors had provided these missing elements it would have justified adding another $10 to the price at least, so you're still getting a good value for the money - you just need to be aware that the book does not include some things you might be expecting, such as:

1) Pre-written adventures. The book does include a single one-sheet adventure, also available as a free download, and it's actually pretty good for a new group getting started in the world of Tropicana, but to adventure further you will have to create your own adventures, at least until more Tropicana products come out. And since there is only one adventure that means there is no...

2) Plot point campaign. I expect this will be a future product as well, but for now you're on your own to create a series of adventures linked by a common plot line.

3) Pre-generated characters. Granted, creating PCs in Savage Worlds isn't hard, but some players (like mine) happen to dislike the detailed work of creating a PC; they don't want to work on fiddly character details, they want to adventure right now! Including pre-gens in the setting book would make the game much easier for a group to "just pick up and play".

4) No map of the world. The authors have stated they will provide this in a future supplement, but really, when was the last time you picked up a world book that did not include a map of the world? I'm of mixed thoughts on this. The authors did state the map omission was intentional and I respect that "theater of the mind" design choice, but I still think a map would help draw the GM and players more deeply into the world.

5) Little or no magic/weird science. This world is nearly magic-free, except for some hoodoo-chanting natives in the jungles surrounding the capital city of San Jose. That isn't bad, necessarily, and there is room for the PCs to encounter the occasional alien artifact or cursed jungle totem, but if you like your game to have a strong occult/magic/weird science flavor this isn't for you. The magic/weirdness in Tropicana is more subtle and rare, like a sprinkling of spice rather than a primary flavor.

So what do you get that's good? Wow, how about:

a) Lots of opposing factions, each with a unique flavor. In addition to the expected criminal elements in Tropicana you also have university researchers studying strange anomalies at the bottom of the sea just off the coast, that is, when they aren't busy exploring the jungle interior which no civilized man has yet seen and is rumored to be littered with ruins of lost civilizations. You have your rebel band that wants to overthrow the government in San Jose, opposed by the San Jose's military, so you can wage military jungle campaigns if you want to. You have crooked politicians at the top and honest but tough cops of the Guardia Civil at the bottom who try to keep the lid on crime despite the overwhelming odds. Spies, soldiers of fortune, jet-setting socialites, surf bums, lonely authors - they're all around you in Tropicana!

b) Competition rules. The world of Tropicana is very macho and characters are always competing to out-macho the other guy. You can have a dance-off to see which character has the most rockin' moves on the dance floor, line up a row of shot glasses filled with the local fire water and have a drink-off against your main nemesis, or play baccarat against a foreign spy while dressed in black tie at one of San Jose's infamous casinos. Oh, and car races...you can have lots of those because they're very popular in San Jose. All these competitions, and any you can make up yourself, are handled by a single set of simple and fun rules.

c) Seduction rules! Okay, think James Bond here. The ability to succeed in the world of Tropicana often turns on how well your character can Persuade (as in the Savage World rules) members of the opposite sex (or otherwise I suppose) in what is essentially a card-based mini-game. Cool fun for those players mature enough to handle it (or not, which can be fun too).

d) Disguise rules. Moving around in Tropicana disguised as someone else gets a well-fleshed-out treatment. This gives Players (as opposed to PCs) an opportunity to stretch their acting skills if they're so inclined, by having their PC pose as someone else for a while and attempting to avoid discovery, just like you've seen in those Mission Impossible episodes.

e) Rules for Shadowing that dangerous suspect around the streets of San Jose. Shadowing is another mini-game that turns what would be a simple dice roll into something more detailed and fun.

d) The Tropicana Jukebox. Some game groups will like this, others not, I expect. The idea is that each player and the GM contributes four songs to a mix tape/file (so a group of four players and one GM would contribute 5 x 4 = 20 songs). When action occurs in-game, the GM plays a random song (using the shuffle setting on his computer or boom box) and whichever PC has his/her song play (any of the four songs that player contributed) is the star of that scene and gets a free Benny, playable only for the duration of that song. Okay, I can see this being fun the first few times you do it, but after a four-hour session I think the novelty might wear thin. Or maybe not; I haven't tried it yet. The people who have actually gamed it and have written about it seem to love it.

And there's more to the setting of course, but the above gives you a gist of the world flavor. So, if you like a world filled with bling, booze, and babes, where you drive fast sports cars, shoot your pocket Uzi at thugs, make money on the edge of the law and move your wealth around in secret bank accounts, then this is for you. Just be prepared to wait for follow-on products unless you have the time and energy to develop the adventures yourself.

If for no other reason, you should buy this book for the optional rules for disguise, seduction, and the Tropicana Jukebox. However, Tropicana has lots more to offer, as the best modern low FX settings out there. In addition, the agency creation and maintenence rules allow heroes to feel like they create something that grows and changes with them.

An interesting modern setting for Savage Worlds, of which I have found few that are suitable. It has a great mix of styles incorporated, with the criminal, espionage, and pulp themes working nicely if a GM wants a more subdued or outlandish feel. I think for more inexperienced GM's a few more plot points could have been added, which seems to be the Savage standard at the moment, but in general I am very impressed with this book.

As usual, GRAmel has outdone itself with Tropicana, a pitch-perfect setting for adventure, mystery, and action in a tropical banana republic. Set in the tiny, fictional state of San José, Tropicana weaves a complex setting suitable for a wide variety of games, drawing from a huge body of inspiration.

Geographically, San José is located near Guatemala on the Caribbean side of Central America. The mainland portion of San José is made up of dense jungles, a brown tropical river, a range of mountains featuring an active volcano, and numerous ancient Mesoamerican ruins and abandoned Spanish mines and other sites. Extending into the Caribbean is a peninsula where most of San José's population lives in small towns and the sprawling city after which the country is named. One part Rio de Janeiro, one part Cartegena, one part Miami, the city is a playground for drug runners, movie stars, spies, treasure hunters, gangsters, surfers, and low lifes. Numerous islands dot the sea near the peninsula, some converted into high-class resorts, others owned by billionaires, while others are empty or used for other purposes.

Part One ("Bienvenido a San José") is the largest individual chapter, discussing at great length the history of this little country, starting from its mysterious origins with the indigenous peoples and their strange practices, to waves of conquistadors and colonizers, to its struggles with piracy, to the modern era of drugs and politics. It also introduces the reader to a dossier of major players and organizations in San José, providing more than enough enemies and possible confederates for a long-running campaign.

Part Two ("From Tropicana With Love") explains how to make a character for use in this setting using the Savage Worlds core rules. It explains which skills, Hindrances, and Edges are disallowed or modified, and introduces some new ones. Here is also one of Tropicana's most interesting and flavorful additions, the selection of a type of music that represents your character, a vital part of your character's identity when used in conjunction with the "Tropicana Jukebox" rule described later in the book.

Part Three ("Hot Stuff") discusses suitable gear, introduces some new gear options, and has a quick method to determine availability. It also has a quick system for creating customized gear and vehicles.

Part Four ("They're Beautiful, They're Brilliant, and They Work for Me") details rules for creating your own agency -- a formal group of characters who can be hired to undertake various kinds of work. These groups can engage in private investigation, salvage and recovery, transport, protection, you name it. These rules have guidelines for creating headquarters, managing operations, and even determining hirelings, income, and renown.

Part Five ("Pulp, Action, and Weird") are the setting rules for Tropicana. There are a few new subsystems here -- really more like refinements of existing systems so the GM doesn't have to puzzle his or her way through it. This includes a system for handling competitions, disguises, events between adventures, gambling, seduction, shadowing, and the innovative "Tropicana Jukebox." The latter involves a player-created soundtrack for the game, where a randomized song at the start of each combat provides benefits for the character whose song comes up first.

Part Six ("Como Puede Ser Verdad?") is the Gamemaster's section, designed to help GMs put together possible adventures in this setting. It goes over different genre approaches, from horror to espionage to exploration. It also gives suggestions for types of characters and how to get them involved, expands on the Agency rules, explores possible opponents, and steps back to look at San José's role in international politics.

Part Seven ("Live and Let Die") is a Bestiary, starting off with typical animals one might encounter, such as giant leeches, monkeys, jaguars, and different kinds of swarms. Next is a long list of human opponents, giving stats for the henchmen and bosses of all the numerous gangs, militias, para-military organizations, and so on.

If you're a fan of any of the following, you'll enjoy this setting: • James Bond movies • Just Cause (videogame) • Clive Cussler novels • Grand Theft Auto • Burn Notice • Romancing the Stone • Scarface • Uncharted (videogame) • Mission: Impossible • Spring Breakers • Miami Vice • City of God

I was actually surprised to not find a list of inspirational sources in the Gamemaster's section, but pretty much any movie in a tropical setting, featuring spies or jungle mysteries or drug trafficking, and rife with action and adventure would be perfect.

One other flaw was the absence of a map, even a crude one, of the Republic of San José. I'm a visual guy, and knowing where things are relative to one another would be very helpful in piecing together a full understanding of this setting. It's still fully functional, of course -- and some might prefer a more fluid geography -- but for me a setting like this is deeply rooted in its geography. In fact, a player's map would also be very helpful. The creators mentioned a possible gazetteer in the future, which would be wonderful. But even barring that, I'd love to see a simple b&w PDF map, even better if lots of locations are on a layer than can be turned off and printed for a player's map.

Being a fan of explosive action, dark mysteries, and wild action, I love this setting and can't wait to run it!

As wildly popular as young adult fiction is these days, I've been kind of baffled that there aren't more game systems aimed at that market in recent memory. Adventurers! Academy does just that by providing locations, rules, and NPCs for running 'Harry Potter' style games using the Adventurers! rules. Characters start out as young adults at the academy and must survive their way through graduation, dealing with many staples of YA and fantasy fiction along the way; light-hearted quests, bickering houses and inner circles, kind and malevolent faculty trainers, fantasy versions of high school tropes, intrigue between the academy and the royal court, and of course the inevitable return of the Lich King upon which everything is founded. (None of these perils, of course, are quite as terrifying as the upcoming Spring Festival dance!) Adventurers! Academy is a pretty big departure from the other Adventurers! settings which are focused more on pulpy action and darker settings, and I think this departure gives the system a chance to show off how versatile it can be. Bottom line- this just seems like good ol' goofy fun. I might even have ranked it higher except that the creature cards are a little too setting specific, consisting mostly of NPC faculty and rivals for the PCs to navigate so they might not be of much use for someone just looking to pick up a few extra monsters for their own setting. In other words, I'm not sure there's a lot to borrow from this if your're not already a fan of the genre. Still, I can definitely recommend this one overall.

The latest addition to the Adventurers! line let`s us revisit school. The inspiration is very obvious, it only misses a sport played on flying brooms. In addition some of the rules can be easily combined with any of the other Adventurers! settings to play young heroes or emulate other YA stories. Worth a look.

The Adventurers! basic rules where already great, with this expansion you have everything to emulate classic DnD in a lean and light package. It is amazing how complete the game is with just the basic rules and this addition. There are even rules for player strongholds and crafting in it. I especially like the "Companies of Heroes" rule. Basically the party itself also gathers XP separate from the characters. The group can then buy special abilities for the group with these group XP. A cool idea that adds an additional dimension to the groups development.

Contrary to the other expansions The Dungeon does not contain a setting. But as it is clearly inspired by the worlds most famous RPG that should not be a problem. The included monsters will give you an easy start to play in whatever is your favorite fantasy world.

Let`s add another voice to the chorus of people saying: This is a fantastic achievement. Originally from a DnD background I have been drifting more and more to lighter RPG. From Savage Worlds through Barbarians of Lemuria and it looks like I might end up at Adventurers! It feels very much like Barbarians of Lemuria because it uses the same core mechanic, but manages to feel lighter and still more flexible than BoL does. this small RPG is an incredible feat and I must salute the author on this. It is surprisingly complete and very easily expanded upon. A game every Roleplayer should look at to see a great game does not need several hundred pages, sometimes 2 are enough. And I think the latter is much harder to pull off.

The King is (almost) dead and Excalibur stolen. It is the land of Arthurian legend with a lot more despair then hope. Dark machinations and intrigues, fae and other mythical foes, shining knights etc etc you get the idea. Just a few pages but no wasted space and full of great information to get a game in mythical Britain going in no time. The easy to use Adventurers! rules get some tiny tweaks ad a bunch of new monsters for your heroes to fight. Worth every cent.

Frankenstein, Dracula, Van Helsing, Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters, Solomon Kane and Ravenloft are all clear inspirations for this setting. While not the most unusual of settings it contains everything you need to run a game of Gothic Horror adventures with the Adventurers! rules. Mechanics wise it adds Sanity rules. One of my favorite kits in this line.

Nice addition to the Adventures! family of settings. A Fairy Tale world with a twist. I did not expect the mixture of fantasy and technology in this particular setting and thought I would get something more akin to Alice in Wonderland. But it is more gunpowder in fairyland. It is its own thing and good to have as a resource. How can you go wrong with this price of 2$ as well?

Great addition to the Adventurers! family. This time featuring a post apocalyptic world. A bit more ruined then Fallout, but somewhere around Mad Max sounds about right, at least that is what I would run with it. Contains everything you need, besides the base rules, and again manages to convey an interesting setting in only two pages. One less star because I hoped for more pre made vehicles and at least rules or hints on how to do car duels and vehicular fighting. It is in there but only rudimentary.