Gifts for Savage Worlds GMs

As any Savage Worlds player knows, you need a deck of playing cards for initiative. Why use a plain old deck of cards when you can have something special that will play into the setting of your game?

Here are a few that I found.

World War Ii Airplane Spotter Cards — Each card give three different silhouettes of an allied or axis aircraft. Perfect for any WWII game or any game with lots of aviation. Naval Spotter Card Game: 1940′s-1960′s — Like the aviation cards, but with seagoing vessels.

Also on the WWII front are the WWII Propaganda Poster Playing Cards, with each card giving you a different poster image.

Running a zombie-themed game? There are a few decks of zombie-related cards: there are the Zombie Post Apocalypse Playing Cards, Bicycle Zombie Playing Cards and Zombie Survival Playing Cards. The latter two feature survival tips for the eminent zombie apocalypse, which happens tomorrow, I hear.

For an old-west or Deadlands game, try either Pharo Playing Cards or the Civil War Illuminated Poker Deck, both of which add a touch of authenticity, as they have squared corners and are uncoated, meaning they are authentic, but difficult to shuffle and handle (seriously — I used to own a “vintage replica” deck of cards, they are hard to shuffle); or you can go with Bicycle’s 1800 Vintage Series Playing Cards, which give a distressed, old-timey look with the modern convenience of plastic coated cards. One thing I have NOT found is a coated deck with pips but no numbers in the corners (which is what at least I think of when I think of old west cards).

These are just a few of the decks I’ve found while looking for cards for specific settings, and there are dozens more fitting just about any setting you can imagine.